English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:622;Page:17629] 
6.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education) 
: What confidence does he have in the council and chief executive of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)) 
: 
 I have an expectation that councils of tertiary educational institutions operate prudently and in the public interest. My confidence in this council will depend very much upon its cooperation with the Tertiary Education Commission to demonstrate the amount of learner engagement in the online computing programme and its ability to restore the public reputation of the institution. Confidence in the chief executive is a matter for the council. I would expect that in assessing the performance of the chief executive the council would take into account a range of aspects of his management of the academic and administrative affairs of the institution. 
Hon Bill English 
: What action does the Minister propose to take in the light of public statements made by the chief executive on behalf of the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology that the institution believes that the Government’s proposal to withhold money is not lawful and that it intends to legally contest the Minister’s actions? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Of course in the process of answering questions in this House it is not in my competence within the Standing Orders to give legal opinions but I understand that letters have been exchanged between the Tertiary Education Commission and the institution as the member would probably have expected. My understanding is that the commission stands by its decision and intends to have the courses evaluated. 
Lynne Pillay 
: Does the Minister have the power to terminate the appointment of council members? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No. The Minister appoints only four members of a full council of between 12 and 20 members. The Minister has no power to terminate the appointment of any council member including the ministerial appointees. I would note that the power to terminate the appointment of ministerial appointees was only ever proposed in the tertiary white paper of November 1998. I can imagine the views of the tertiary sector if Mr English intends to revive that proposal. 
Hon Bill English 
: How can the Minister have confidence in an organisation that continues to employ Ms Vicki Buck whose private company received $5.5 million for the COOL IT programme after she has made public statements that as a shareholder in that company she expects a dividend from it which would represent private gain from the holding of public office? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The member will be aware that his own efforts to have the Auditor-General inquire into that matter and the efforts of the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology resulted in a report which he has already discussed. We have asked and answered questions back and forth across the House on that matter. In relation to confidence in the organisation I answered that question fully in the first answer. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister advise the House under which legislation he intends to withhold funding from the tertiary institution for legitimate courses that have been fully certified and supported by the Government; and does this precedent mean that he will start withholding funding from any tertiary institution when he does not like what it does? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No I do not intend to take the member’s advice—to sit at my desk and run the tertiary system as he says he will. Can I advise the member— 
Hon Bill English 
: Answer the question. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I answered the second part of the question and if the member will be quiet I will answer the first part now. It is normal business practice in both the public and private sectors where a funder does not have cooperation from a recipient of funds to offset a disputed amount against a subsequent payment. The commission’s monthly payments to institutions regularly include what is called a wash-up—both negative and positive—to reflect overs and unders that occur in the normal operational relationship between the two parties. What we are saying here is that the commission is operating in a perfectly reasonable and normal manner and will continue to do so.