22 Jan 2016

Arrest Over Unpaid Student Loan - Laura Harris

From Afternoons, 1:14 pm on 22 January 2016

A Cook Island maths teacher arrested for not paying back his student loan, has been allowed to return home, after his family made a payment to Inland Revenue. Forty-year-old, Ngatokotoru Puna, appeared at Manukau District Court this morning, after being arrested at the airport on Monday. It was the first time the Inland Revenue had used its power to detain people with unpaid student debt. But the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA) says the action sends a 'chilling' message and says it could turn students 'into permanent refugees'.