Wong Pansy: General Debate 
Wong Pansy: General Debate 
[Volume:638;Page:8840] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 I wish to talk about leadership. Under the tax-and-spend Labour Government in the year designated as Export Year New Zealand jobs are the only things that are being exported overseas. The economy is not the only victim under Dr Michael Cullen’s hands-on management style. The Minister for Tertiary Education is doing little to tackle the list of endless scandals and scams happening under the watch of the Tertiary Education Commission. Singalong courses hip-hop tours twilight golf and COOL IT are all flourishing under the Tertiary Education Commission. 
The latest scam to join the long list of scandals is the alleged scam of cash kickbacks to entice older-age students to enrol and draw down students loans. Those students have little prospect of joining the workforce to earn wages. Therefore they do not have to worry about repaying student loans. I raised this problem in the House last March. The Tertiary Education Commission conducted an inquiry that comprised writing only two letters to the 13 institutions alleged to provide cash kickbacks and paying them a day visit. The Tertiary Education Commission further satisfied itself by getting those institutions to sign a declaration that they were innocent and not involved in a kickback scam. Why then does the Minister for Tertiary Education not recommend the practice of accepting declarations from alleged offenders as proof of innocence to the Minister of Police as a cost-cutting measure to disband the police investigation function? In fact the chief executive officer of the Tertiary Education Commission was so delighted with the inquiry that she said in an August 2006 report that the providers had stopped the scholarship arrangement as a result of the Tertiary Education Commission’s initial visit. 
I will shortly table documents in the House to show that cash scholarships were paid to older-age students upon their enrolment at the St George Institute of Learning before during and after the Tertiary Education Commission’s visit. The principal of the St George Institute of Learning Mr Kevin Moncur signed a declaration of innocence which was taken as read by the Tertiary Education Commission. But the Ben Chase report showed that some scholarships were paid from Sincerity Consulting Group Ltd where Mr Kevin Chui is a director. At the same time he is a director of the St George Institute of Learning. Right now the chief executives of the Tertiary Education Commission the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and StudyLink are holding a meeting apparently to form a plan of action after my writing to the Tertiary Education Commission with documents that I will shortly seek leave to table in this House and after the totally unsatisfactory inquiry conducted last year by the Tertiary Education Commission. 
The public deserves answers as to why this Opposition MP with very limited resources has had to do the work for a Government department such as the Tertiary Education Commission. The Minister for Tertiary Education needs to reassure the public that there will be no more whitewash inquiries or investigations. He has to show leadership and tell the Tertiary Education Commission that it has failed in its job as the custodian of taxpayer money. This is not the only time that National has had to do the job of the Government and Government departments while funding and staff numbers of Government departments are bloated. 
Where is the value for money? We have heard from our shadow Minister of Finance and incoming Deputy Prime Minister Bill English about the tax-and-spend habits of Dr Michael Cullen. Dr Cullen preaches about saving but we see very little value from this tax-and-spend Government. I am going to stay on the case of the Tertiary Education Commission to make sure there is no more whitewashing. 
 I seek the indulgence of the House to table some documents. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: What are they? 
PANSY WONG 
: The first one is a Tertiary Education Commission chief executive report claiming that those cash payments have stopped. The second one is a declaration by Mr Kevin Moncur the principal of the St George Institute of Learning stating that the institute did not offer any scholarships or other awards to students. The third one is an English translation from student X of a declaration in Chinese stating that in July 2005 June 2006 October 2006 and December 2006 he and his spouse received $2200 $2000 $2000 and $1000 scholarships as a result of enrolling in senior English classes at the St George Institute of Learning. The fourth document is a company search record showing that Mr Kevin Chui is a director of Sincerity Consulting Group Ltd and the fifth one is another company search record showing that Mr Kevin Chui is a director of the St George international group of learning. The last document is an English translation of student Y’s declaration in Chinese that the person received in December 2006 a $1000 scholarship from the St George Institute of Learning. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is.