English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:627;Page:22031] 
1. Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: How much funding has the Government provided over the last 3 years for student enrolments in Te Wananga o Aotearoa’s Mahi Ora and Kiwi Ora courses and The Open Polytechnic’s LifeWorks course? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 The 2005 figures are not yet available. I am advised that the cumulative figure for the previous 3 years for Kiwi Ora is $45.74 million for Mahi Ora it is $94.68 million and for LifeWorks it is $37.33 million. I am further advised that these courses are good that they do have value and that they do reach a lot of people. That advice was from Bill English. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister confirm that over the last 3 years excluding 2005 the Government has spent $176 million on these three courses that they are low-level courses equivalent to level 1 of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement and that he has had advice that the measure of student retention in those courses has turned out to be wrong and that in fact a large proportion of students is unlikely to have completed these courses and is that a good use of taxpayers’ money? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I do not think it is a good use of taxpayers’ money and that is why the changes which were announced last Monday did happen but I must say that they happened with some opposition. One person has advised me: “What he needs to do now is to stop trying to run the wananga apply the same kinds of criteria as he is meant to apply to all the other tertiary education institutions and let them get on with the job.” That advice on the wananga was from Bill English. 
Dr Ashraf Choudhary 
: What further reports has he received on the wananga? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I have seen a further report which says: “I’m right on side with anyone who can help people connect to education get on the step get on the escalator and go up as far as the opportunity allows them and their capabilities allow them to go and the wananga has helped draw a lot of people to that start.” That comment was from Bill English speaking to Willie Jackson on Radio Waatea but then again that is one of the things he says when he is speaking to brown people as opposed to what he says in the House. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Can the Minister confirm that the wananga funding first commenced in 1993 under the National Party Government of Jim Bolger and according to Nick Smith National members are proud of it and is that just another example of the two tired old parties screwing up yet again? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think it is fair to say that it did start then and there was a significant change in 1999 when the funding was uncapped. I do accept that it has taken this Government too long to stop it. 
Hon Bill English 
: Why did this Minister agree in 2003 to the enrolment of 12000 full-time students in these courses and in 2004 agree to 15500 full-time enrolments—larger than the total enrolments of either Victoria University or Waikato University—when he had doubts about the value of the courses and had advice that the statistics used to justify them were cooked? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: This Minister has never decided how many people go into these courses. That would be absolutely inappropriate. The idea that a Minister should decide how many enrolments go into a particular tertiary course is one that is novel and I would be interested in the Minister and the member discussing that with the universities. What I did tend to do was to take the advice consistent from Bill English that the courses are good they do have value and they reach a lot of people but of course I was listening to a radio station that mainly brown people listen to not to his approach in this House. 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: Is he satisfied with the integrity of the enrolment for the 27000 students just referred to with that total cost for those three courses of $176 million of taxpayers’ money particularly in view of the fact that the terms of reference for the Auditor-General specifically excluded examination of enrolment integrity; if not what will he do about it? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No and there are investigations that I am sure will result in repayments continuing.