5. Question No. 5—EducationTĀKUTA FERRIS (Te Pāti Māori —Te Tai Tonga) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 5—Education5. TĀKUTA FERRIS (Te Pāti Māori —Te Tai Tonga) to the Minister of Education: Does she consider the Waitangi Tribunal's report Kei Ahotea Te Aho Matua regarding the urgent claim made by Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori is of critical importance to the educational success and achievement of tamariki and rangatahi Māori?Hon TAMA POTAKA (Minister of Conservation) on behalf of the Minister of Education: Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Hei waha kōrero mō te Minita Mātauranga e mihi ana ki ngā mahi tongarerewa kāmehameha hoki a Te Rūnanga Nui. E mihi ana ki a rātou nā rātou anō i kerēme atu ki Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Kei au tāna ripoata ka mihi kāmehameha ki te taraipiunara.[Thank you Speaker of the House. On behalf of the Minister of Education I acknowledge the valued and significant work of Te Rūnanga Nui. I acknowledge them they who made a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal. I have their report and I greatly thank the tribunal.]We have set ambitious targets for education and committed to excellent outcomes including attendance and achievement and with tools such as structured literacy.Tākuta Ferris: Given that the Waitangi Tribunal described kura kaupapa Māori as a proven model" where "success has been achieved" what actions will she take to expedite the development and expansion of kaupapa Māori education as a means of closing the Māori educational achievement gap?Hon TAMA POTAKA: Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Hei waha kōrero mō te Minita Mātauranga [Thank you Speaker of the House. On behalf of the Minister of Education] the Minister is currently progressing a number of matters in relation to this report but particularly asking for advice on the report and when that advice is received back from officials she will give it due consideration.Tākuta Ferris: Given the report states that kura kaupapa Māori deserve effective policy now not later what immediate actions does she have planned to improve the policy framework available to kura kaupapa Māori?Hon TAMA POTAKA: E te Māngai o te Whare hei waha kōrero mō te Minita Mātauranga kei te kohikohi kōrero kei te noho kōrero rangatira ki te rangatira te Minita me ngā rangatira ngā manu noho mātārae o Te Rūnanga Nui katoa atu ki Te Matakahuki katoa atu ki ngā Kura ā-Iwi me ngā rōpū mātauranga nei ki te āta wherawhera i te ara te anga whakamua.[Speaker of the House on behalf of the Minister of Education the Minister is collecting information and is sitting to discuss leader to leader with the leadership the eminent leaders of Te Rūnanga Nui and also Te Matakahuki and also the Kura ā-Iwi and these other educational organisations to carefully consider the pathway the way forward.]And she will continue to meet on a rangatiratanga basis with the various officials and leaders of these big kura kaupapa Māori organisations to understand how to best support them.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Given that the National Party have brought in kura kaupapa Māori why is he being lectured on it?SPEAKER: Can you ask that question again? Sorry—[Interruption] Just a minute we'll hear the question—we'll hear it in silence.Rt Hon Winston Peters: I'm asking the Minister: given that the National Party brought in kura kaupapa Māori why is he now being lectured on it?Hon TAMA POTAKA: I stand with absolute pride that National-led Governments have continued to support the establishment of various kura kaupapa wānanga and kōhanga reo throughout the last four decades.Hon Kieran McAnulty: Point of order. I'm just interested to understand how the Minister has responsibility for the question around why is he being "lectured on it". It's not within his responsibilities. It requires him to speculate on the motivation for the question and I'm not sure that points of order or supplementary questions in order to make a political point are appropriate.SPEAKER: No they're most certainly not and I take the member's point. To be quite honest with you I've got to do something about these seats back here—the hearing that I get is not great. I can hear far more from the back of the House than I can from the front. So that's part of the point there. But those sorts of questions don't particularly help the order of the House at all.Tākuta Ferris: Will she commit to the Waitangi Tribunal's recommendation that the Government establish a stand-alone kaupapa Māori education authority to ensure greater Māori educational success; if not why not?Hon TAMA POTAKA: On behalf of the Minister of Education I will commit to receiving advice on the report that has been procured right now from the officials and once that advice is procured I will give it due consideration.Tākuta Ferris: Given the report cited the very poor state of buildings and infrastructure of several of the kura shown to them will she commit to reinstating the building programmes of the 15 kura Māori that have had their building programme stopped as a result of the Government's cost-saving measures; if not why not?Hon TAMA POTAKA: On behalf of the Minister of Education those matters really fall within the remit and the purview of operations rather than the Minister and I'll leave those for the ministry. However I will note that in Budget 2024 19 kura have been supported for renovation."