Martin Tracey: Urgent Debates — Schools Canterbury—Proposed Closures and Mergers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Martin Tracey: Urgent Debates — Schools Canterbury—Proposed Closures and Mergers 
[Sitting date: 18 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5287. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TRACEY MARTIN (NZ First) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Speaker. I would just like to open by acknowledging that this is a very very difficult situation. It is difficult for Christchurch it is difficult for Waimakariri and it is difficult for all the areas of Selwyn that are involved in this. It is difficult for the Government. It is difficult for every single one of us in Parliament to try to do the best by the people the children and the families in Christchurch. But unfortunately I am going to have to say this was badly done I say to the Minister of Education. I do not know who advises you ma’am but again somebody has advised you badly about how to actually communicate and consult with communities. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Not the Chair. 
TRACEY MARTIN 
: I beg your pardon Mr Speaker. Somebody Minister has advised badly on how to go about this process. 
I want to take a moment to talk about the third round of consultation that the Minister is talking about and let us just talk about the first two rounds of consultation. The word “consultation” means to seek information and advice from and to take into account feelings and interests. The first two are quite clearly outlined in the  
Directions for Education Renewal in Greater Christchurch 
. The first round of consultation involved focus groups with invited stakeholders. It is of interest—how wide did that stakeholder invitation go? How many of the parents in these communities were invited to those focus groups? Were they advertised in the paper? Were they just the businesses? Were the principals and the boards of trustees also on that invitation list? It would be nice to know Minister because it is not actually documented inside this rather large document. Obviously you have very good staff to produce you a report but not necessarily very good staff to provide you with information about how to consult. 
Then there was an online survey. So an online survey—and we are just in the middle of a digital literacy inquiry actually—suggests that everybody has access to or the ability to go online to complete a survey. So that makes an assumption that all demographics inside an incredibly damaged area of New Zealand have access to get online to complete this survey. It also begs the question: how was the fact that this online survey was available for this input advertised? Were all the parents of these schools given that information in the link to the survey through their school newsletters? What is interesting is of all the hundreds and hundreds of people who are affected by this the number of submissions received. 
What is also interesting is the questions that were asked. Some of them have nothing to do with what it is that the Minister announced the other day—useful information perhaps but they are included inside this report and have no relevance. But one question that is relevant however is question No. 8 which asks how important it is to plan for fewer but larger schools where learners may get a richer experience even if it means children may have to travel a bit further. This was the least supported proposal by every submitter. It was the most answered question inside this survey from the ministry. It was the least supported proposal. Yet when it is dumped on these parents and communities this is actually probably one of the most strongly supported proposals by the Government and by the Minister. 
I would suggest that this statement that sits on the front of the  
Greater Christchurch Information Pack: an opportunity plus innovation to enhance education across Greater Christchurch 
 cannot be read in any other way than that the Government has decided to take a few ideas that some sort of elite educationalists or members high up in the ministry sitting somewhere in the middle of Wellington think would be a cool thing to do and has decided to launch it into this city. They may be a very cool thing to do Minister. They may be some great ideas but you have to extend the way you consult. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
TRACEY MARTIN 
: I beg your pardon—the Minister must extend the way they consult. 
I think once again the Government has underestimated the connection that communities have with their schools. Once again it has underestimated the people of Christchurch. They are realistic the people of Christchurch. They have lived through some disastrous times—a natural disaster never witnessed before in my lifetime and in the lifetime of most of the people in this Parliament. What held many of them together was that sense of community. What happens? We have seen it again and again and again when a Government—not necessarily this Government but any Government—has closed small schools rural schools has attacked class sizes and has gone into schools and without widening out the consultation beforehand and taking those parents with them has run into a brick wall. I can only suggest that the Government needs to learn from the way that it does these things that there is a better way and it is to not run a focus group and it is not to run an online survey. It is to actually participate on a one-on-one level and give the community some sense of real input that they might be able to trust. 
I also want to note that the Minister in a Maori Television interview last night did make mention that one of the criteria for some of these schools that have been selected to close was based on academic performance. That is the first time Minister that we actually start moving into this area. It is well known among charter schools in America that when there is a standardised testing regime if the school does not meet the standardised testing regime then the State comes in and closes you down. What happens unfortunately and why it is so prevalent around people who believe in charter schools is because they believe that another private business will pop up and actually fill that space. 
But I also recognise that in the same interview on Maori Television the Minister pooh-poohed the concerns by kura kaupapa that they would be merged into a single charter school. The Minister quite rightly pointed out that that legislation around charter schools has not come into this House yet; therefore there is no mechanism by which a charter school can be formed. She is quite right. But why should the people of Christchurch take any comfort from that Minister considering that just last week we had the Advanced Technology Institute Bill that needed to come into this House for its first reading but the establishment board had already been established? The Government continues to hold on to its one vote majority in this House to force things through. The fact that the legislation is not here yet is cold comfort. I think that the Minister her staff and the ministry’s staff need to go out there and be an awful lot clearer with regard to these communities and start building back up some trust. 
Also only in that last week the ability to have an elected body in the same area was denied to them by another Minister in this House. So trust is pretty thin on the ground in Christchurch. It is pretty thin on the ground actually in a lot of places throughout New Zealand. I think that this could be improved. I am more than happy to sit down with the Minister and help her to understand how that works— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! I have been very tolerant with the member but can I just advise her that every time she uses the word “you” she brings the Chair into the debate. She may not do that. 
TRACEY MARTIN 
: My apologies Mr Speaker. I will try harder. 
There is one other little thing and that is the billion dollars that is mentioned at the beginning of the opportunity plus innovation pack and that is great. That is wonderful. The Government is investing up to $1 billion over 10 years to develop Greater Christchurch. I have a question. Is this the same billion dollars that the rest of New Zealand has been told will be spent on them and their schools and their hospitals or is this another billion dollars being taken out of the future fund? Again it is not clear Minister. So there is an awful lot of information that has not been clear. If it is not clear to members of the House how can it be clear to the parents the children the principals and the boards of trustees that this is going to affect? 
I think in closing the only other comment I would like to make is that it is all very well and good to send out a letter on 5 September an email on 6 September and to follow up with a phone call on 13 September to the chairmen of the boards of trustees. These people predominantly are also in employment. They have jobs and real lives that they go on with while giving their evenings and what time they can to fulfil this governance role to their communities. To say to them that by the way there is a meeting in 8 day’s time at 10 a.m. in the morning that you need to take time off work for— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
TRACEY MARTIN 
: —sorry—and that it was required of them to take time off work to attend is I think outside the bounds of reality Minister. I think it is very hard. This message has been badly delivered—incredibly badly delivered—and really whoever is advising the Minister needs to do better.