Coddington Deborah: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Coddington Deborah: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:612;Page:8971] 
11.  
DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT NZ) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does he believe that parents should have choice in relation to which school their children attend? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Yes. However I will not attend the launch of the member’s book on the subject which was written while she was on holiday in Europe recently and which she is using this question to promote. 
Deborah Coddington 
: How does he reconcile that answer with the fact that despite parental opposition he has closed a record 96 schools and what does he say to mothers like Lisa Thompson 
whose children go to Ngaiotonga Valley School which is just one of 18 Northland schools under threat of closure and who says: “This is going to rock families.”? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: The reaction I had when I went to Northland to front up on this issue in a way no Minister has before—[ 
Interruption 
]—in a way that that member when he was the Minister never had the guts to do— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will withdraw that comment. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I withdraw. I fronted up in a way that Nick Smith when he was Minister was never prepared to do and the reaction I had from the people in Northland was— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Point of order— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I know what the member is going to say. I want the Minister to answer the question and not refer to a previous administration. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: This administration has a new policy of fronting up to local communities and in this case the people in Northland said that they knew it was inevitable and did not want an ad hoc approach that would see school after school fall over in a way that was unplanned and that left a network that did not work for their communities. 
Jill Pettis 
: Are parents forced to send their child to their neighbourhood school? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No. Children have the right to attend their neighbourhood school but they are not compelled to. They also have a right to attend another school unless it squeezes out a child who lives next door. This of course is as a result of the zoning policy introduced by the National Government. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Will the Minister confirm—which I think he has already partially done—that the legislation that reintroduced geographical zoning of schools was passed through this House not during his administration but rather in late 1998 by the minority National Government with the full support of the ACT party? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I cannot quite confirm the last bit but I am prepared to take the member’s word— 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Go to the  
Hansard 
. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: —and if necessary go to the  
Hansard 
. But consistency from ACT is something one would never expect. 
Deborah Coddington 
: If the Minister does agree that children should go to the school next door to them how can he claim in Masterton where he has been busy closing emerging schools that children’s education will not suffer when he is saving $7 million to push together three schools on to a major earthquake fault line or is he just conducting a fire sale of school buildings; and how does that fit in with this Government’s policy of non-privatisation? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think there were four questions there. I will try to answer as many of them as possible. No decision has yet been made on the Hiona Intermediate site because we have not had the geological reports which are important before that is finally decided. The Government does not save $7 million out of the Masterton review. What happens is that Masterton schools get $7 million that would otherwise be wasted on empty buildings.