English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:619;Page:14888] 
8.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education) 
: Does he regard the potential conflict of interest outlined in the Tertiary Education Commission  
Review of the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology COOL programme 
 as acceptable in a publicly funded institution; if so why? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)) 
: 
 I would suggest that the member wait for the report of the office of the Auditor-General on this matter. Once I have read the report I will be happy to comment and I imagine he will be too. 
Hon Bill English 
: Does the Minister agree with Christchurch Polytechnic’s point of view that because Ms Buck was a contractor and not a member of the council nor a member of the staff she was not subject to conflict-of-interest rules and does that mean that contractors in polytechs around New Zealand can do what they like when it comes to their personal interests? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No people cannot do what they like but I would urge the member to wait for the report of the Auditor-General on this matter. I certainly do not intend to second-guess him while he is doing that work. 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Is the Minister satisfied with the performance of the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology’s council on this particular issue? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As I said I will reserve my judgment until I see the Office of the Controller and Auditor-General’s report. But I do note with approval that the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology responded quickly to public concerns in May by engaging its external auditors Audit New Zealand to undertake a review of any conflict of interest. That action led to a statement on 3 June that: “I am pleased to see that the council of the polytechnic have also recognised the need for an independent audit.” That quote came from Bill English. 
Hon Bill English 
: Is the Minister telling the House that as a steward of almost $9 billion of public money he has none of the ethical equipment that will tell him there is a conflict of interest when Ms Buck is a director and owner of the software company and when his own officials have told him that she played an active role in the promotion and marketing of the course and the administrative function supporting that marketing that she personally went to libraries and shopping malls to recruit students all the time knowing that for every student she recruited her personal company pocketed $400 and that she recruited 18000 students? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No what I am telling the House is that the Auditor-General has a report coming. Bill English asked for that report. I suggest that we do not second-guess it and that we wait to read it. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister tell the House whether he has any ethical understanding about public service values and the protection of public money that gives him any concern about the thoroughly well-documented conflict of interest of Ms Vicki Buck as a director of development at Christchurch Polytechnic at the same time that she had a personal private interest in a company that pocketed over $6 million of public money? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I have such a strong ethical framework that I have spent the last 5 years closing all the loopholes left by that party when it was previously in Government and I have such a strong ethical framework that I am deeply concerned about anybody who has a conflict of interest. I have such a strong commitment to ethics that I will wait for the Auditor-General to report and I will talk then. 
Ron Mark 
: I seek leave for Mr English to give me an indication as to how many pairs of underpants that money might have bought. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No that is silly.