Mahuta Nanaia: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mahuta Nanaia: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 11 September 2012. Volume:683;Page:5048. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
12. 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does she stand by her answers to parliamentary written questions that show parents are paying 30 percent more in school donations since National took office? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Yes I stand by my answers to written questions but to be accurate they related to all donations not only parents’ donations. As I am sure the member is aware the level of school donations is decided by individual schools and their self-managing boards in the context of our spending a record $9.6 billion on schooling and early childhood education this year despite fiscal constraints. 
Hon Nanaia Mahuta 
: How does she respond to the real cost of education which has outpaced Government funding resulting in parents of mid-decile schools paying an average of $30 more for each student in school donations than in 2008? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: As I said we are investing $9.6 billion in education this year. That pays for all the teaching and leading property curriculum resources and operational grants. If boards decide to have supplemental activities and they work with their communities for donations of that kind then that is a matter that is decided by those individual schools and their boards. 
Hon Nanaia Mahuta 
: Given that schools are relying on donations to fund core programmes like Reading Recovery is she concerned that children at low-decile schools will miss out because their parents cannot afford to pay school donations? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: That is inaccurate. Reading Recovery is paid for out of Government funds not by donations. 
Hon Nanaia Mahuta 
: I seek leave to table a written question—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! A point of order is being considered. 
Hon Nanaia Mahuta 
: I seek leave to table an answer to a written question which is not on the website that shows that for the period 2008-09 school donations increased for mid-decile school parents and decreased for decile 1 school parents. This is not available on the website. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table this document. It is alleged it is not available on the website. Is there any objection to that? 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Why is it not available on the website? That’s a fair question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Let us just deal with this. Leave is sought. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Hon Nanaia Mahuta 
: How does she reconcile that under the Government an extra $35 million in taxpayer subsidies is going to private schools which account for just 4 percent of New Zealand students while public school parents are being forced to stump up with an extra $23 million to cover schools’ rising real costs? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: New Zealand has long had a tradition of providing a diverse range of educational options to parents of which private schools constitute 4 percent of the 100 percent of provision. We continue to invest $9.6 billion this year into Vote Education to fund all of the costs associated with the delivery of the curriculum in all schools in New Zealand. 
Hon Nanaia Mahuta 
: Supplementary question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I believe that the Labour Party has exhausted its allocation of supplementary questions. 
Hon Nanaia Mahuta 
: I seek leave to ask another supplementary question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to ask a further supplementary question. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Chris Hipkins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I just want to raise an issue with you with regard to answers to written parliamentary questions. Where a Minister lodges an answer saying that they cannot provide an answer within the time frame and that they will provide the information subsequently and so on and then sends that information directly to the member concerned it is therefore not made publicly available. Your rulings have indicated that we should not be seeking to table information that is available through that system but where an answer is provided directly to the member not through the system—because the Minister has lodged a placeholder answer saying that they are not able to provide it—is it acceptable for us to then seek leave to table it in the House? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member raises a perfectly reasonable point in my view. To me what I probably should do is investigate why the second answer is not actually made available on the website. It would seem to me that that is the more helpful answer to the original written question asked. I will undertake to investigate why it is not being—I accept what the member is saying that probably at the moment it is not being put on the website. It seems to me that that would be the best way to deal with the problem. But in the meantime I have no problem with the member seeking leave to table a document that it was alleged was not on the website. The House made its decision though in respect of that leave. But I will undertake to try to make sure that we get all those answers on the website.