Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:615;Page:11218] 
8.  
METIRIA TUREI (Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does his statement that: “The days of people worrying that when the Minister’s coming to your school he’s coming not to praise you but to bury you are over.” apply to schools under review around New Zealand such as Pinehaven Watlington Intermediate Kaiata Kapuni and Invercargill South; if not why not? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 I think I have essentially answered that question in the previous answers. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No. The member has asked a question. Could the Minister please give a brief answer that does address the question. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: The reviews will continue and will be treated on their merits. 
Metiria Turei 
: Will the school closure moratorium apply to Ruru Special School which provides quality education to children with special needs or will that school which is in the Invercargill review area continue to face an uncertain future? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Ruru is really subject to a different process as part of the review of the role of special schools more generally. That is why it is outside the time line of this part of the review. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister confirm that in the process regarding Ruru Special School ministry officials and his own public statements have made it plain that he intends to close Ruru Special School and every other special school in New Zealand? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No I cannot because it is not true. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Can the Minister inform the House of what has happened to the request by Taipuha School to be closed after 75 years and in the best interests of the children; a request that it had to ask me to progress last year because ministry officials were so busy closing schools that did not want to be closed that they did not have time to process the closure of one that did want to be closed? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I do not have the details of all 2700 schools in my head but from memory I gazetted the closure of that school just before Christmas. It officially is open with no pupils but fairly soon it will be totally closed. 
Rod Donald 
: Does the Minister agree with Southland Primary Schools Principals Association President Allan Mitchell that: “The logistics of relocating so many children staff and accommodation for them is an impossibility by January 2005.” as reported in yesterday’s  
Southland Times 
 and will he therefore stop the current reviews that are under way? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I agree that in some cases it will be impossible especially with the latest climatic conditions to get the builders that are necessary to do all the work. Therefore I have agreed as a matter of policy that if the new schools want to take longer to get on to their sites—a term or two—in order to get building work done then we will be flexible around that. That will certainly be the case if the ideas Mr Power suggested in Taihape go through. 
Hon Bill English 
: The matters that the Minister is referring to have a great deal of public interest in Invercargill and I seek leave for Mr Peck to be allowed to ask a question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No. The member cannot seek leave for that. 
Mark Peck 
: No I am seeking a supplementary question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will be entitled to a supplementary question. A member cannot seek leave on behalf of anybody else but Mr Peck can certainly have the next call. 
Mark Peck 
: Would the Minister confirm that the member of Parliament for Invercargill has made strong representations to him about schooling in Invercargill and indeed as a result of those representations the Minister will be visiting Ruru Special School very shortly to find out the conditions that exist and the wonderful education that is provided in that school? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I make it absolutely clear that the member’s representations have been enormous and I am relatively pleased with the force with which they were delivered—by that small chap. 
Sue Kedgley 
: What could possibly be the rationale for closing Fraser Crescent School in Upper Hutt which is a highly successful and financially viable school with more than 160 pupils and is strongly supported by the local community and has also spent almost $1 million on refurbishments over the last 5 years and is he aware that many parents from that school and indeed many other schools do not want to send their children to large 500-roll primary schools because they know that their children will not flourish in such a large and relatively impersonal environment and that that is why they choose relatively small schools? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Yes I am aware of the views of those parents. They have met with me. They had a sign at the rugby sevens a couple of weeks ago and that I think is legitimate. But the one thing I do regret with regard to Fraser Crescent School is the behaviour of some parents in driving past the other school with signs stating they do not want to take their kids to that school. I think that is very unfortunate. 
Sue Bradford 
: Why is the Minister so determined to go ahead with the closure of three Ngati Hine schools—Te Kura o Matawaia Motatau and Orauta in the mid-north—when his Government has had at least until very recently a stated intention of nurturing and fostering education appropriate to the needs of tangata whenua? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: The main reason for closures in that area is that parents have made the decision not to send their kids to those schools. One of the school rolls has gone down to I think seven over a number of years. Another one has dropped very very substantially. I want to work with Ngati Hine to get one strong school in which their language is spoken. It is not workable with four schools in such an area. It is also worth noting that there are some relationship problems between families in the area and that situation has badly affected their children’s education. 
Rod Donald 
: On behalf of the vocational programme students at Ruru Special School I seek leave to present the Minister of Education with a copy of the CD  
Let us Shine 
 which is an appeal from those students to keep their school. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member cannot do something on behalf of other people. He can seek to table the CD if he wishes. 
Rod Donald 
: I seek leave to table the CD. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought. Is there any objection? There is.