Donnelly Brian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Donnelly Brian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:610;Page:7229] 
11.  
Hon BRIAN DONNELLY (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Why has he agreed that Arorangi School and Te Kura Kaupapa Motuhake o Tawhiuau will not have to repay the $71000 accidentally paid to them by the Ministry of Education? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)) 
 on behalf of the Minister of Education 
: 
 The schools were given incorrect advice by the Ministry of Education about a satellite arrangement for which the ministry has apologised to both schools. The money was paid out by the ministry in good faith and used by the schools to pay staff at Arorangi School for the first term of this year. In the light of the misunderstandings surrounding this arrangement the ministry recommended the money not be recovered and the Minister agreed with that view. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Is it not true that ministry officials were encouraged by his office on his behalf to facilitate some sort of satellite arrangement to enable Arorangi School a private school to achieve its ends? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I have no knowledge of any encouragement but I would point out that as the member just said this is a private school. It is a school that does not have the same kaupapa as the kura. The way that satellite arrangements are usually put together is that the philosophy the language the pedagogy and the kaupapa of the schools do match. That is why satellite arrangements are put together. That is not true in the case of these two schools. 
Jill Pettis 
: Why did the Minister refuse a request from Arorangi School to integrate into the State system? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: With a declining population and therefore falling rolls Tokoroa has an oversupply of classrooms in primary schools—an excess of 14. In the light of this the taxpayer does not need to provide further places or classrooms. Also the Kinleith mill has announced further restructuring and loss of jobs in the area. I encouraged the school to form a satellite arrangement with another local school but in the event of other schools in the area not being interested such an arrangement was not put in place. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Why did the Minister of Education’s office send an email in late January to the Hamilton office of the Ministry of Education stating: “Trevor has sympathy for this school and would like us to see if we can facilitate some sort of satelliting.”? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Once again I cannot go over the details of the email because I do not have that information with me. However if the member has listened to my answers on behalf of the Minister of Education so far he will have heard that advice was given about satellite arrangements that it was given in good faith and that that is why we are not asking that the $71000 be recovered. But the member will know that satellite arrangements are encouraged with schools that have a similar way of teaching a similar programme and a similar language; that is how those arrangements are put in place. In this case that would not have resulted; they are quite different schools. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: In terms of his answers already given and the agreement that under the legislation it would have been against the law for the Minister in these circumstances to accord this particular school integration status with the resources that go with that surely this arrangement was simply a mechanism to get round the Act; can the Minister confirm that? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No I cannot because as the member knows from listening to the answers that I have provided this was a case of a private school obviously seeking to find an arrangement to keep itself in existence. In good faith advice was given; in good faith we are not requiring that the $71000 be paid back. But this private school has a very different way of going about teaching and therefore could not have gone into a satellite arrangement with the other school. Therefore it has a choice. As a private school it gets some money from the State as the member knows and the rest needs to come from the fees paid by the parents. If it wishes to continue it has the choice of obtaining funding in that way.