Peachey Allan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Peachey Allan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:652;Page:1142] 
6.  
ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tamaki) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: What steps is the Government taking to fast track school building projects? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 The Government has announced today that it is bringing forward $216.7 million of spending on education infrastructure. Of this funding $28 million will be an additional capital injection straight away in this financial year and a further $189 million will be used to bring forward school building projects from the middle of this year. 
Allan Peachey 
: What types of school building projects will be fast tracked? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: There are a large number of projects. One example is the bringing forward of the construction of non-teaching spaces in over 60 schools across the country. Another example is a commitment to provide an initial investment of $34 million of information and communications technology infrastructure to schools that are most in need in order to make them ready for the high-speed broadband roll-out. 
Hon Chris Carter 
: How much of today’s school property funding announcement of $216 million is actually new money and how much comes from the extra $3.4 billion that Labour had already allocated to school property? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: I am pleased that the member has asked me that question. Labour never promised money to build a trades academy in South Auckland; we have. Labour never committed an extra $30 million of funding to the Upper Hutt schools that it froze capital funding for; we have. Labour never committed an additional $28 million of funding in this financial year to taking advantage of spare capacity; we have. Labour never committed extra capital funding for special schools and satellite schools; we have. The real school property legacy that we have from Labour is a comment in the pre-election fiscal update that told us that the previous administration under that member had not set aside any funding for the $429 million of capital injection that schools needed over the next 3 years to accommodate roll growth and regional population changes. 
Hon Chris Carter 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would like to ask for your guidance. Yesterday we had an issue when the Minister of Labour was asked a very simple question and she was asked to give a simple answer and lay it out clearly but she did not. I ask the Minister how much— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I listened carefully to the Minister’s answer. The Minister gave a very full answer to the member’s question. 
Hon Chris Carter 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was a simple one; it asked how much of it is new money. The Minister never answered that question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I have already ruled on the member’s point of order. 
Chris Hipkins 
: Can she confirm that the $30 million promised to Upper Hutt secondary and intermediate schools today will be additional to the $14.6 million committed by the previous Labour-led Government as the schools were led to believe during the election campaign; if not why not? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: I am delighted to refer the member to National’s 21st Century School Building Programme announced in October last year which made it very clear that there was an additional $30 million to go to the Upper Hutt schools. That is what we have said in all the documentation we have released today. That is considerably more than what the previous Labour Government spent and offered to those schools after freezing capital funding under three education Ministers destroying the hopes of a whole cohort of school pupils in Upper Hutt. 
Hon Chris Carter 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Again the Minister was asked a simple question: does it include the $14 million or not? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will resume his seat. The Minister gave a very clear answer to the question asked and the member will resist making those points of order. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The answer referred to a National Party policy document. You ruled before Christmas that we were not allowed to ask questions about National Party policy documents from before the election. I assume that once a Minister refers to such a document in the House it becomes a current matter and we can ask further questions about it contrary to your previous ruling. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The honourable member has raised a very interesting point of order. It is traditional practice in the House that material the Minister brings into his or her answer can be followed up in further supplementary questions. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I appreciate your advice to the previous point of order bar one point—that is that the Minister’s answer was very clear. It was not very clear. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will resume his seat because he is questioning my ruling. [ 
Interruption 
] The honourable member may just reflect a little on how his behaviour is contributing to good order in the House. I have demonstrated that where clear questions are asked as they were yesterday I will support the member in obtaining clear answers. I believe the Minister gave a clear answer and that is my judgment. The Minister referred in fact to dollar amounts in relation to the previous question by Chris Hipkins. I have made my ruling and the member will not question it. 
Allan Peachey 
: What steps will the Government take as part of this package to put trades training back into schools? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: We committed today to provide $6 million of funding from the middle of this year to allow construction to commence on a trades academy at the Southern Cross Campus in South Auckland. This will be the first of at least five trades academies that this Government will fund to boost trades training opportunities around New Zealand. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Was the additional $30 million for Upper Hutt schools over and above the $14 million previously committed? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: At the end of last year I introduced and passed through the House a bill that allowed me as Minister to set standards in literacy and numeracy. I say to the member that in anyone’s language an “extra” $30 million is an “additional” $30 million. With any normal numeracy skill one would add $14 million and $30 million and get $44 million. 
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga 
: Which new schools will have their construction brought forward? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: Almost $69 million will be spent on bringing construction of five new schools forward: Mt Wellington Primary School and Hingaia Primary School in Auckland Papamoa East Primary School and Papamoa Secondary School in the Bay of Plenty and Kerikeri Waipapa School in Northland. These five schools are being brought forward by between 1 and 2 years to help provide jobs in these areas. 
Simon Bridges 
: What reports has the Minister received about the state of the schools that are receiving funding in the announcement today? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: I have seen comments from a former member of Parliament stating that particular schools needed a “significant funding boost to help with the backlog of capital works that have been put on hold”. That comment was from the Hon Paul Swain the previous Labour MP for Rimutaka and was in relation to the four Upper Hutt schools that we have announced today will receive an additional $30 million in funding. Under the previous administration three successive Ministers of Education decided they would freeze capital funding for years while they conducted an education super-school Labour Party thought experiment. Our commitment to these schools today recognises that they and their community were done a tremendous wrong by the previous administration. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I seek leave to table the press statement of the Minister of Education which indicates the total spend is $30 million and not $44 million. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Is there any objection to that press statement being tabled? There appears to be none. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon Chris Carter 
: I seek leave to table a press statement stating “Education Stimulus Package mostly recycled material”. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Is there any objection to that press statement being tabled? There is objection.