Hipkins Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers Questions to MembersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHipkins Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members[Sitting date: 10 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8839. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) to the Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment: Is he satisfied with his oversight of the tertiary education sector?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment): Overall yes. I am confident in the system’s ability to monitor over $2 billion of funding to over 730 tertiary education providers who are lifting their performance every year and last year delivered 163000 qualifications up 31500 on 2008 including some 29000 Bachelor’s degrees up nearly 5000 on 2008. I am also confident that the Tertiary Education Commission will robustly investigate any funding concerns and it is more efficient and effective than at any time in that organisation’s history.Chris Hipkins: How can he be satisfied with his oversight when enrolments have dropped 20 percent apprenticeship numbers have declined 22 percent over $25 million in funding has been misappropriated and there are at least three ongoing Serious Fraud Office investigations?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Weirdly I think the member is wrong in three or four of those four statements.Chris Hipkins: Why should the public have confidence in his Government’s management of education when it regards declining participation in post-school education as a good thing regards closing a charter school fewer than 2 years after it opened as a success and in his own words claims that participation in higher education “achieves absolutely nothing”?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am sorry—I am rather stunned by the member’s questions. The third leg of that question is strictly incorrect and is a manufacturing and a twisting of a quote that is completely different. The second one should be directed to the Minister of Education and the first one is also wrong because the participation in post-school education particularly at a full-time and higher level such as universities with degrees and post-graduate degrees is higher than it has been at any time since 2008. So I think Mr Hipkins needs to go back to school himself.Chris Hipkins: Does he stand by his statement “If you don’t have to pay anything for it its value is nothing.”; if so will he now pay back the $19000 the taxpayer forked out for his zoology degree which he clearly thinks is worthless?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well back in 1981 we were all in a different system which had—Hon Members: Oh!Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Let me take you through it because you are quite young Christopher. It had a highly restricted access to university education. For example I was the first in my family to ever attend university. These days most people get the opportunity to attend university if it suits them because we have a student loan system and a student support system that allow them to do so and we have close to the highest numbers of full-time students at universities that we have ever had.Chris Hipkins: What does it say about his oversight that less than a year after he chastised the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment for spending $15 million on a lavish headquarters upgrade another agency he also has oversight for spent $20 million on a lavish upgrade including a $2.5 million “Stairway to Heaven”; or is it simply that when it comes to Steven Joyce all that glitters is gold?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Dear oh dear! We have drunk a little bit of V at lunchtime have we not? The member needs to understand a couple of things. Although not at all resiling from the investment by the ministry in the upgrade of its building—which unlike when the Labour Party was around was always a new building whereas these days they actually re-inhabit old buildings and with smaller floor spaces—I do not recall us signing off on the big buildings around town that were built under the Labour Government—like the Supreme Court—but I should point out to the member that the Minister responsible is the Minister of Education and he might like to direct his questions to her but I support the approach taken by the ministry.