Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19153] 
5.  
Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Is he satisfied the Government is doing enough to reduce medical student debt so that adequate numbers of medical graduates remain in New Zealand to work? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Considerable progress has been made; however this Minister is very rarely satisfied. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Can I ask the Minister therefore why the trainee intern grant of $16800 per year for final-year medical students who work in hospitals has not been increased in over 10 years when it now equates to an hourly rate of $2.83 for students who are unable either to do other part-time work or to receive a student allowance yet who still have to pay $10000 a year in student fees? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: This is probably because the very good education spokesperson for the member’s party has never raised it as a priority in a meeting with me. 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Can the Minister tell the House what steps the Government has taken to limit the growth in student tuition fees? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: The Government has overseen freezes in 2001 2002 and 2003 and a fee maxima policy; between 2000 and 2003 average university tuition fees have stayed about the same which contrasts with 41 percent growth between 1997 and 2000. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Can the Minister confirm that the children of people with New Zealand residence who live outside the country for up to 11 months of the year—the residents not the children—are entitled to State-funded education and that it is those sons and daughters who pack up for home after completing their New Zealand taxpayer - funded medical degrees who are the main contributors to the brain drain of medical graduates? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: There is a lot of anecdotal suggestion in that direction. It is something we have looked into and unfortunately for the member the facts are not absolutely consistent with the rumours and the gossip in that area. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Does the Minister’s answer to my original supplementary question mean that now that I have raised the issue with him he will look at it and consider making the $3.2 million investment necessary to keep our young doctors working in New Zealand particularly when 82 percent of the students are saying they intend to leave within 2 years of graduation because of student debt? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Student debt may be a reason for some people to leave but as far as medical students are concerned it is a relatively minor one. Because doctors are so highly paid one-quarter of all doctors have totally paid off their student debt within 3 years of their graduation. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Do the Minister’s answers to both those questions mean that now that the matter has been raised with him the Government will be moving to increase the trainee intern grant; if so when; if not why not? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I have had some excellent representations from the Minister of Health on that issue. Any move that occurs will be announced in the fullness of time at the appropriate moment and that Minister will get the credit.