Tolley Anne: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Tolley Anne: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:661;Page:9492] 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 It is a bit rich is it not? It is easy for the previous speaker Maryan Street to come to the Chamber and talk about cuts but she was a Minister in the previous Government and was responsible for leaving half a billion dollars’ worth—half a billion dollars—of promises that were made during an election campaign with no funding in place to deliver on them. Someone else had to come in and clean up the mess. It is all very well for her to get holier than thou but someone else had to come in and clean up the mess. 
I want to talk in this Chamber about student engagement because that is what this Government has been focused on and the previous Government ignored it. In fact one could almost say that it was Labour’s dirty little secret. Let us talk about truancy. In 2006 a survey was done on truants and it found that almost 30000 kids were absent from school at any one time. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: How many? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: Almost 30000. Do members know what Labour members said? They said that it could not be accurate. They said that the report could not be true. There was a big tangi in the week when the survey was done so they said that it could not be true. What did Labour do next? The survey was due to happen again in 2008 and what did the Minister of Education do? He cancelled it because if one does not— 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I struggle to understand why the Minister brings up connotations of tangi as being relevant to her delivery. I think it is obnoxious and appalling. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I thank the member. These are debating points. But I refer all speakers as we did right at the beginning to the fact that we are debating the appropriations. It would be good if we could focus on the appropriations. 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: What has this Government done? The first thing I did as Minister was to say that we needed to define the problem and to have a report. In 2009 we carried out a truancy report and guess what? We found that 30000 kids were missing school on any one day. The problem was there; the previous Government just hid it and hoped that it would go away. What has our Government done? We have doubled the funding. Over the next 4 years we will put in an extra $4 million a year to address truancy. 
Hon Member 
: Oh that’ll make a huge difference! 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: It will make a hang of a lot more difference than was made under the previous Government. It could make twice as much difference because there is twice the amount. 
We have reviewed the district truancy services. We will pay more to the district truancy services. There is that wonderful electronic system with automatic texts to parents which has been so effective and we are putting in the incentives for schools. I give credit to the previous Government for setting up that system but it never did anything more. We are saying to schools that we will help them to get that. 
In addition to that though this is not just about attacking truancy. The other thing we have done is to develop our Youth Guarantee. Let us compare that with what the previous Government did. Do members know what the previous Government’s answer was to students leaving school without qualifications? It was to change the law to keep students at school until they were 18 so that they could not leave. It was called Schools Plus. When we came into Government we asked where the money was in the appropriations for Schools Plus. That money did not exist. It did not exist. Where was the policy work around the big announcement that the previous Prime Minister made? Where was it? It did not exist; it was just another flimflam from the previous Government. 
What have we done? At the beginning of this year with the money that used to go to support people learning Moroccan cooking Spanish and concrete mosaics 2000 young people got fees-free places at polytech—2000 people. Those 2000 young people had left school without qualifications and could have been on an unemployment benefit and there will be another 2000 next year. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Another 2000. 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: Another 2000 next year. That is what has happened to that money. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: She’s not managing. She needs more support. Come on guys you can do it. 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: It is like a screaming skull over there is it not? The Manukau Institute of Technology opened New Zealand’s first tertiary high school. We put a couple of million dollars into New Zealand’s first tertiary high school because that is an innovative way of keeping young people engaged at school. 
Then of course there are our trades academies. We asked for expressions of interest. We got 112 from around the country—112 people put forward propositions. They were delighted that a Government had asked them how they could help keep young people at school. We have taken 11 propositions from that and from the beginning of next year within 2 years of becoming Government we will have six or maybe seven or eight trades academies opening to provide good pathways.