Parker David: Christ’s College (Canterbury) Amendment Bill — In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
Parker David: Christ’s College (Canterbury) Amendment Bill — In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
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Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) 
: 
 I know that under the Standing Orders I am limited to four calls on any one part of a bill or clause. [ 
Interruption 
] Three is it? Well I will have to hurry up— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: No it is four. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: Four? 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: You are on your third. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I am on my third; that is right so I might be hard-pressed to get through all of the things I need to raise. But I could not really go past the preamble without talking about some of the things that are referred to in it in respect of these trusts and give some individual instances. One of the gifts that have become redundant was the Duncan Rutherford Prize to provide a prize for the 200 yards “Lady Jane handicap” running race. I am intrigued by that and I would like the member in the chair Nicky Wagner to explain the title of the “Lady Jane handicap” running race. It is not the “Lady Jane” handicap running race; it is the “Lady Jane handicap” running race. I do not understand what the “Lady Jane handicap” was. There is $14000 of unspent income in this account. I am confused as to what the “Lady Jane handicap” was that was of relevance to the 200-yard running race. That is one I would like an answer for. 
Paul Quinn 
: It’s a staggered start. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I heard Mr Quinn say it was a standing start. Another one I have is the 1947 gift of the prize for fives. There is now $7000 unspent income in that account. We are told that that is redundant because the fives courts were demolished so fives is no longer played. That seems pretty poor planning at the school to demolish the courts. Maybe that is excusable but we could have some explanation of that. 
Another one I would like an explanation of is the Balfour Prize an 1880 gift of $100. This shows how from little acorns large oak trees grow. 
Jo Goodhew 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I am struggling at the moment to work out how this relates to the preamble. [ 
Interruption 
] 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: No I do not think I need any assistance. I think the member is speaking about the trusts that exist and I think he is within the scope of the bill. But I am continuing to monitor. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: The Balfour Prize of a gift of $100—I presume it was pounds in 1880 but it is shown on our papers as being a gift of $100 probably £50 back in 1880—now has unspent income of $25000. I thought “How could that be?”. How could that be? Then I looked and I saw that it was a gold medal to be awarded annually to the boy passing the best examination in divinity in the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles in Greek—in Greek! I was convinced when I read that that there was a need for some change given that Greek is no longer taught at Christ’s College. I could agree with that change. 
Another one I found intriguing that the school had not been able to give out as a donation was the annual prize for coming second in the 120 yards hurdles—second! Now look ours is not to reason why. I do not know why the prize was second. I know that even at Christ’s College not everyone can come first. I wonder whether there was some sort of personal interest on the part of the donor who may be in the annals of history but who came second in the 120 yards hurdles. I would have thought that ever since that prize has existed there was someone coming second in the hurdles race. I would not have thought that Christ’s College could not spend that. 
I will now turn to a matter of some seriousness because there are a couple of examples that go the other way. For those ones that I made light of I can see why there is a need to vary the terms of the trust. But there are a couple that worry me. This was why the select committee said we needed to be careful. There is $245000 of unspent income in respect of the D and D Barker Memorial trust. The terms of the prescribed purpose of that trust state that it is a scholarship to be awarded to any boy who is or whose parent has been resident in Gisborne or the counties of Cook Waikohu Uawa Waiapu or Matakaoa and who is of New Zealand Maori ethnic origin. I find it very hard to accept that Christ’s College cannot find people of Maori ethnicity from Gisborne who are not worthy of that trust money because there are plenty of low-income boys in Gisborne who would benefit from a Christ’s College education. I for one would be disturbed if the money from that trust was not put to its proper purpose which is to bring boys from the Gisborne area who are from low-income families to help them get a good education at Christ’s College. 
I do not think it would be proper for Christ’s College to apply that for an alternative purpose because there is absolutely no doubt that the Gisborne area is an area of deprivation there is no doubt that there are many boys there of Maori ethnicity and there is no doubt that they would benefit from the high quality of education they would get at Christ’s College. So that is one trust fund that should not be applied in another way. 
There is another one called the Ernest Helmore Memorial trust. Again it was a generous bequest back in 1922. I will read out the purposes that were described to us at the select committee and the advice that we had from Christ’s College. The bequest was to assist parents in poor circumstances to send their sons to college or to keep their sons at college with the board to determine the selection criteria and the level of assistance. So there is a very very wide purpose already in terms of the criteria that can be used which the board can set. The purpose is clear: it is to assist parents in poor circumstances to send their sons to college. We are told that there is $99000 of excess income. The explanation we were given at the select committee was: “For any year in which there are no or few applications made and accepted the trust generates excess income”. I have to say that I do not accept that. I do not think the trustees of that trust or indeed the school are trying hard enough if they cannot find parents in poor circumstances whose sons would benefit from an education at Christ’s College. 
Although having made light of some of the awards—like coming second in the hurdles prizes for Greek or the game of fives when the fives courts have been demolished—I really think there is a serious issue that we got on to at the select committee. Although we agree with the preamble and other parts of the bill that will be covered later in this Committee stage we tightened up some wording to make it absolutely clear that the governing body needs to adhere to the terms of the trust where that is possible. In the two instances that I gave in respect of impecunious boys and boys of Maori ethnicity from Gisborne they can clearly meet that purpose of that trust. I will speak to some of my Maori colleagues from the Gisborne region—like Parekura Horomia Moana Mackey and others—and suggest that they tell some of their locals about this trust fund at Christ’s College that they should apply to utilise. That would be a good thing for those students and it would do justice to the original intentions of the generous donors who so many years ago gave money with the intention that it be spent for the benefit of low-income people who could otherwise not attend Christ’s College. 
I have some speaking time left but given the importance of this debate I will leave it to someone else rather than waste it with unnecessary comments on my part.