Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTurei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 17 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9433. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to thePrime Minister: Does he stand by his reported statement in relation to Cabinet’s decision to integrate Wanganui Collegiate that it was a very difficult decision but he is sure it was the right thing to do; if so why?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): It is important to note that at the end of the day it was the Minister of Education’s decision to integrate Wanganui Collegiate School not Cabinet’s. But the Cabinet Manual is clear that significant statutory decisions must be discussed at Cabinet. This was a very difficult issue as the Minister herself has acknowledged and Ministers had a range of views on it. We discussed it at length after which the Minister of Education decided to integrate the school. I do think that that was the right thing to do because Wanganui Collegiate School has been a high performing school it has a longstanding history the community support for it is very high in Wanganui and it plays an important role in the community.Metiria Turei: In 2010 did the Prime Minister have any discussions including dinners with the proprietor with members of Wanganui Collegiate School’s Board of Trustees or with its lobbyist Saunders Unsworth about its intention to apply to integrate the school; if so when and with whom?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I do not have those details with me. I would have to ask my office. I will put it down in writing if you are prepared to as well.Metiria Turei: What instructions or encouragement did the Prime Minister give to the education Minister to start negotiations with Wanganui Collegiate School despite the advice of ministry officials not to because it would be a $3 million a year waste of money?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: It was a longstanding issue so I cannot hope to document all the discussions that took place but what I can say is that the situation was looked at on its merits. I could see the argument from both sides but I believe the Minister made the right decision in integrating the school.Metiria Turei: Why did the Prime Minister seek an update on the proposal to integrate as noted by the then education Minister Anne Tolley on the front of an August 2010 briefing paper where she wrote “Send copy of this to PM please; he has asked for an update.”?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Joined-up Government! The member may well be aware that the school was in significant financial difficulty. For a long period of time when Anne Tolley was the Minister of Education there were instances where the Government had to make a rapid decision as to whether to provide some support to the school to bridge it while there was a view being taken of whether it could integrate it or not. Obviously I was interested in what was going on there.Metiria Turei: Did the Prime Minister similarly ask for or request individual updates on Ōuruhia Model School as it began discussions on closures last year or perhaps Pōtaka School in Gisborne which is still waiting for news on its future; if not why did he single out Wanganui Collegiate School for his very special attention?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: In terms of broader schools there are substantial discussions that take place between my office—and if you want to ask the current Minister of Education you know I have taken an active interest in what has been happening in terms of school closures in Christchurch and the impact on those committees. In relation to Wanganui Collegiate School I go back to what I said earlier. The school was in significant financial difficulty. The Government was forced to make a decision at the last minute as to whether it would provide some support for the school. We did that on a number of occasions and we did that until a decision could be made about whether the school would be integrated or not.Metiria Turei: Did Cabinet defy the advice of the education Minister that integration would be a $3 million a year waste of money and bail out Wanganui Collegiate School because the Prime Minister is prepared to bend the rules for elite schools for wealthy kids?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No we do listen to officials and it is no secret that the Ministry of Education thought we should decline the application. The Minister has considered a wide range of issues and in the end the Minister of Education made the decision to integrate the school.Chris Hipkins: Will the Prime Minister guarantee that there will be no school closures or mergers in Wanganui or citing excess capacity within the State school system; if not why not?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: That is ultimately a matter for the Minister of Education not for me.Metiria Turei: I seek leave to table a 25 August 2010 briefing from the ministry to the Minister that includes a handwritten note from Minister Anne Tolley which says: “Send copy of this to PM please; he has asked for an update.”Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that briefing. Is there any objection? There appears to be none.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Metiria Turei: I seek leave to table a document dated 4 April 2011 a briefing from the ministry to the education Minister recommending decline of integration on the basis of increased State costs and risk of school closures in Wanganui.Mr SPEAKER: That is quite a sufficient explanation. Leave is sought to table that briefing to the Minister dated 4 April 2011. Is there any objection? There appears to be none.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.