Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:617;Page:13054] 
3.  
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education) 
: Is Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology’s use of $15 million of community education funding a good use of tertiary education funding; if so why? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)) 
: 
 The Tertiary Education Commission advises that the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology’s community education course has met current funding requirements. The question of whether particular programmes are a good use of funding will be assessed for the first time ever in New Zealand through the new Tertiary Education Commission profile negotiations with each individual institute which will be used for the first time next year. In the short term funding for community education in classification 5.1 has effectively been capped and the rules are being rewritten. All of this is a result of this Government’s tertiary education reforms in its Tertiary Education Reform Bill which the National Party voted against. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Is the Minister aware that this $15.3 million of funding which was meant for education purposes was used to do nothing more than distribute a Cool IT CD-ROM; that because of loopholes in the funding guide students had no contact with tutors whatsoever and that the millions of dollars were instead spent on paying schools and libraries to enrol students and bribe them with petrol vouchers movie vouchers book vouchers and phone cards to get them to sign up? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I am aware that Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology has a Cool IT course for computer training that covers four levels. Students can enrol in any one or all of those levels. For that they get a self-placed learning programme on a CD which takes about 8 weeks to complete. I am aware of all of that but I repeat to the member that he should be very grateful that the Labour Government is here because unlike his party when it was in Government we can do something about it. 
Lynne Pillay 
: Is the approach of deciding whether particular courses are a good use of tertiary education funding widely supported? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: On the whole I think it is. People do want a more strategic approach to the investment of tertiary education funding. However I have noticed there are at least two other opinions. I notice that Nick Smith as a former Minister of Education has said that institutions should be trusted to run themselves and not be interfered with whereas Bill English says they should be controlled. These contradictory opinions are typical. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Those comments were unnecessary to the answer. 
Bernie Ogilvy 
: Why is the Government so opposed to private education providers making a profit yet it permits the abuse and profiteering by State-owned education providers such as the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology all because equivalent full-time student funding does not take into account the actual cost of running the course? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The Government is against anybody making a profit out of taxpayer-funded education. Of course we want people to be able to run their institution in a way that produces a surplus they can reinvest in their institution but we are opposed to anybody making a profit out of the taxpayers’ education dollar. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: If there are no courses no follow-up and no assessments then what sort of “Ned Kelly education system” is he running? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Thank you for the honour! Adult and community education has been part of the education system since it began. Those courses are always very short and they have never under any Government had an assessment attached to them. I want to tell the member though that that now changes because we have a more strategic approach to investment; we want to make sure we get value for our dollar. Under this Government after a century or so of that tradition it is finally going to change. 
Deborah Coddington 
: Is it a good use of tertiary education funding for Te Wananga o Aotearoa to spend $2 million on a state-of-the-art waka which is 24 metres long with an 8-metre beam has two huge caterpillar diesel motors built to survey and is sitting at Auckland’s Maritime Museum waiting to take students on a spiritual journey to Rarotonga; and when will he answer my letter written 2 months ago asking him to deny that taxpayers’ money was used to build this commercial vehicle? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I will of course reply to the honourable member as soon as I possibly can. But I will say in relation to the wananga that members need to remember that the wananga has a large amount of money that does not come from the taxpayer. In terms of its funding base it had its own money prior to ever becoming a wananga. Of course it does things that need to be sorted out in terms of where that money comes from so in this particular case we may have to find out whether the money came from its own resources or from education sources. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Is the Minister concerned that some of the directors and shareholders of the company that came up with and profited from the Cool IT rort which saw the Tertiary Education Commission pay $795 for each CD-ROM distributed were senior staff members at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology and does he think it appropriate for these people to exploit loopholes in Government funding schemes in order to line their own pockets and will he allow them to remain in employment in this State institution? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: There were three questions there. The Minister may answer two of them. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The essential question is really about the two staff at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. I have been assured by the Tertiary Advisory Monitoring Unit which monitors ownership processes in organisations like this that the two staff members had a conflict of interest that was known about. They had nothing to do with the contracting process. That was handled in an appropriate fashion. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Does he have any concerns about the business relationships between the development officer at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology the chief executive officer at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology and the directors of Brylton Software? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Like all members of this House I would be concerned when hearing the details as they were first revealed to us. That is why we have asked whether there is a conflict of interest that has been handled properly. As I said to the member I have been assured that it was handled in an appropriate and proper fashion.