number of those civic leaders and indeed, certain
indeed, certain list and constituency members from
the other side of the House, are already
dropping up proposals for
such regions. The Hon Nikki Kaye.
My
My question is to the Minister of
legislation that covers partnership schools within the next six
months and how many schools does he expect
to close or be converted to another
Mr
Mr Speaker, in answer to the first part of
Mr Speaker, in answer to the first
within the first six months. In answer to the
second part of the question
answer to the second part of the
those decisions. Mr Speaker, supplementary question. Did he say,
to a Fairfax journalist
supplementary question. Did he say,
schools due to open in 2019 would likely
schools due to open in 2019 would
was awaiting advice from the Ministry of Education
about charter schools at the time that I did
make that statement.
schools at the time that I did make that statement. Kris Faafoi. Have
any charter schools been closed
previously and, if so, what are the
lessons learnt from that Mr Speaker,
schools was, in fact, closed within the first year of its operate. It
cost the Crown
the first year of its operate. It
and there were several dozen students who needed to be
reaccommodated in
reaccommodated in what was, inevitably, a very messy process. We
are very keen to avoid
that happening again in the future. Mr
Speaker, supplementary question. In
light of his previous answer, has he
received any advice, communications
or correspondence from officials or
any other party on the potential
legal or financial consequences
of his reported comments on
partnership
received thus far indicates that the contracts that were due to
be signed in October for those new
charter schools were
schools were signed in September, prior to the election. I have not
received any
received any advice on any particular legal risks around that.
Mr
Mr Speaker, supplementary question. Will he guarantee that no
Will he guarantee that no
partnership school will have their
partnership school will have their
contract terminated without
a contract terminated without a
comprehensive review where by all of
the schools will
have the opportunity to make their
case rather than finding out through
the
will negotiate in good faith on a
existing charter schools. Supplementary question. Given the
PM's comments yesterday that all
PM's comments yesterday that all
people are entitled to care and
compassion, will he guarantee that
he will personally visit
all of these partnership schools or
the sponsors of the proposed
schools, prior to making any decisions about
the future of some of our most
disadvantaged
the future of some of our most
clear that we will deal with all of the issues around charter schools on
a
the issues around charter schools on
faith. The negotiations around faith. The negotiations around
potential changes to the
contracts or arrangements will be conducted by
the Ministry of Education, not
by ministers. Point of order, Mr
ministers. Point of order, Mr
ministers. Point of order, Mr Speaker. A point of order,
Nikki Kaye. This was a simple yes or no,
will he visit the schools of
these most disadvantaged children and
he didn't answer the question.
Sorry about this. I will get this right
eventually. Pull it up. Thank
you for your advice. Similar to
the advice that I gave to the Hon
Steven Joyce earlier, I think by
omission the answer was actually clear.
Joyce earlier, I think by omission the answer was actually clear. David
Seymour. When the minister told news
Tack ZB that one of
ZB that one of his reasons for closing charter schools was
because they were funded at a higher
level than state school, was he quoting
any advice he had
received in his capacity as a
any advice he had received in his
drawing on the information we obtained from the previous
obtained from the previous
Government when I was an opposition
member's having a good go. He gets member's having a good go. He gets
two in a week but not in a week
that's only got one day. You can't
transfer your question from Tuesday
because Tuesday wasn't a
question day. A point
of order, David Seymour. I seek your
guidance. Surely this week the
House has sat three times and all members on
this side of the House
have been disappointed to only have
one question time but if we can at least
use our allocated questions
we will be OK. I'm sure that that argument
would be supported by the
Green Party and New Zealand
First but it is not going to happen. You are not
going to get all your questions
for going to get all your questions
for a week in the one day. I think I
have been pretty generous
with the member as to
the arrangements that he's got and I wouldn't push it if
I was him. You might be able to,
over was him. You might be able to, over
time, negotiate with some
Point of order. I know that general practice is to notify you of
question transfers before they
question transfers before they
happen. Can I indicate that I would
be happy to offer one of the Labour
Party's supplementary questions to
Mr Seymour. Would the member like
one of the Labour
Party one of the Labour Party
one of the Labour Party supplementaries. Yes, I'd quite
supplementaries. Yes, I'd quite
David Seymour. Order! Well, sometimes you find friends in
the most unexpected places.
Was that you, Mr Faafoi. Well,
Mr Seymour gets an extra supplementary after
this one. Supplementary.
gets an extra supplementary after this one. Supplementary. How can the
minister say to the media on one day
that he is able to say with some
certainty as quoted that he will be
able to cancel the contracts of
partnership schools set to open
in 2019 and then say only two days
later to a different media outlet ta
he is urgently seeking
later to a different media outlet ta
the comments I made to the journalist I also made it clear I
had sought advice on that matter.
Has the minister considered that by
attempting to procure an
end to the contract through the press, he
has actually violated the contract
on behalf of
actually violated the contract on
the parties that form up the Government have been clear
for a long period of time from the point
that the charter school policy
was first introduced. A point of order.
My question was, with respect to the
minister's responsibilities and
the legal implications of his statement
legal implications of his statement
as a minister. His
previous political position surely
are not relevant and he has made
no attempt to address the question. It is a
House that ministers have discretion about whether they answer
questions which involve legal opinions. I
think that the minister probably
went further than he had to.
think that the minister probably went further than he had to. A
point of order, Nikki Kaye. We will just
have to go back and
check the Hansard, but the original question
that I asked he was very careful, as
I see it, the minister said that
he
legal advice, he said financial advice. The way I read it, and
we will check the Hansard in the
future, is that he hasn't received
legal advice so I think Mr Seymour
is entitled to... The point
that I was making to Mr Seymour was that Mr
Seymour was asking a question
about the legal position of the Crown and
that would be inviting a legal
opinion from Mr Hipkins and he
opinion from Mr Hipkins and he
certainly doesn't have to give one.
Point of order, David Seymour. Could
I perhaps assist by asking that the
minister be given an
opportunity to explain whether he avoided the
explain whether he avoided the
question for legal reasons
or just didn't
question for legal reasons or just
member, I think, is now just beginning to trifle with the chair
and while he is not in a position to
lose any supplementary questions
this week, he could lose half
of those from next week pretty quickly.
The
The Hon
The Hon Judith Collins.
My
My question is to the Minister of
of Inquiry due to deliver its draft decision
of Inquiry due to deliver its draft
I
I do
I do not have responsibility for the Environmental