12. Hon TAU HENARE (National) Link to this
to the Associate Minister of Education
Has there been an increase in Māori truancy since 2002; if so, what was the size of that increase?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Associate Minister of Education) Link to this
Yes, there has been an increase of 2.2 percentage points. This Government has committed to accurately measuring and monitoring truancy, which has revealed the real extent of the problem—not like in the 1990s.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I am not sure whether the Minister heard the question. I was asking whether there has been an increase in Māori truancy since 2002.
Hon Annette King
Madam SPEAKERWhat is he doing about the 46 percent increase in Māori truancy and the more than 11,000 Māori students wagging school every week?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
Much more than that member ever did in the 1990s, when he said that his Government would zero in on education. That is exactly what that Government did in relation to truancy—zero.
Moana MackeyWhat initiatives have been developed and implemented to improve Māori participation in education and reduce the rate of truancy?
That is it—be seated. The rest of question time will be heard in silence, or members will be asked to leave this Chamber—and they will be out until the end of the day—because I cannot hear what is being said.
Simon PowerI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. We were only concerned for the member Moana Mackey, who actually had not finished asking her question by the time the Minister started his answer.
No, that is not a point of order. The truth is that no one could hear what was being said or not said. Now would the Minister please—[ Interruption] I said that question time would be heard in silence, otherwise members will leave the Chamber until the end of the day.
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I would appreciate your advice to the House how a member not being able to complete asking a question under the Standing Orders is not a matter of order. You have just told this House that it is not a matter of order. I would suggest to you that it is a matter of order—
No, I did not say that—as the member knows. What I was saying was that what the member was raising was demonstrably clear, the Minister had grasped what he thought the question was, and he was on his feet. The question was not finished because he did not hear it. It was the Minister’s judgment on that. So can we please continue—[ Interruption] I am sorry; I have ruled on this matter. I have ruled on it and I will hear no more argument, I am sorry, unless it is an entirely new point of order.
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. It is the right of every member of this House to raise points of order, whether or not you like it. Is it your ruling now, Madam Speaker, that it is the right of a Minister to determine whether a member of this House has completed asking his or her question?
It is certainly the right of every member in this House to raise points of order. There is no question about that. It is also the right of the Speaker to rule on those points of order. I ruled on the point of order. As the member knows, being a long-term member in this House, it was for the member herself to raise the issue, if she felt that she had been disadvantaged—or any member had been—in asking the question. She did not raise it. We will now have a different point of order.
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. This point of order relates to my entitlement to have a ruling on the point of order that I just raised, and that is whether, Madam Speaker, you have now ruled that Ministers can now determine when a question has been completed—just so that members know what your rulings mean for the future.
Yes, and if the members who are asking the questions feel that they are disadvantaged by that, they have every right to object.
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
This Government is doing plenty, like Staying at School, the district truancy service, ENROL, the student management system, Te Kotahitanga, Te Mana, and Ka Hikitea. When this Government realised late last year that there was an increase, we provided an additional $2 million to the district truancy service to deliver greater support to the areas that most need it and reduce truancy. It does.
I am sorry; I ruled that question time would be heard in silence, and that those members who intervened would leave the Chamber. Would the member please leave the Chamber.
Pita ParaoneWhat proportion of the dispensations from school that were granted to students over the last 5 years were as a consequence of truancy, and how many of those students were of Māori descent, and, in particular, how many were Māori males—given the unacceptably high number of this group who leave school without any qualifications?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
A high percentage of Māori males is involved in the truancy area, but I can tell the House that what is significant is the measuring and the monitoring that go on now. We can sort out and know who is missing in the morning and in the afternoon of every week, which certainly builds the numbers. What we are able to do now is to manage it better. I can tell the member that there has been a significant reduction in Māori youth unemployment. The number of unemployed 18 and 19-year-old Māoris—the people who have left—is 600 now, compared with 6,000 in 1999.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Although the response from the Minister may have addressed some other question, I actually asked what proportion of the dispensations from school that were granted to students were as a consequence of truancy.
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
I do not have that information, but I am more than happy to provide it.
Has the Minister connected the 46 percent increase with other statistics showing that 50 percent of Māori boys leave school without a qualification, or that one in six Māori 15-year-olds do not have basic literacy or numeracy skills; and what specific programmes has he put in place over the last 7 years to stop the rot?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
We have put seven programmes in place, but I remind that member that as the demographic grows in that age cohort, more Māori go to secondary school. But, most of all, what we have put in place is one of the lowest unemployment rates in this country. There are more Māori in work. They are doing what they did in the 1980s, a lot of these young blokes—leaving school too early. We are committed to keeping them there—like when they left and went to Wainuiōmata, when there was more work for anybody and anyone.
Does the Minister agree with Professor Bishop of Waikato University that the official statistics involving Māori students represent a time bomb of problems for the future, and does the Minister take any responsibility for the worsening of the situation on his watch?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
I take all of my responsibilities seriously, and take very seriously the partnership I have with Russell Bishop in relation to developing kotahitanga. After being tested over a period of 18 months, it has been expanded to 21 other schools, and we will continue to do that. We have supported and funded Dr Bishop’s research, and we are strongly in support of that.
Given the Minister’s answer, when will he direct greater resources towards Professor Bishop’s kotahitanga and not limit it to just 20-odd schools in the country, given that the success rate for kotahitanga will be immeasurable to Māori students?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
I am glad I was one of the architects of kotahitanga, because certainly it pervades this education system. It is about the effectiveness of the relationship between the teacher and the student, and that is where we have moved the resource behind kotahitanga. Dr Bishop is well-resourced and it certainly is growing around the country, with this Government’s commitment. [ Interruption]
Hon Harry Duynhoven Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. We have just heard a fairly loud interjection from the other side. You ejected one of the quietest members of this House a minute a go, and I think that that member should go as well.
The member can finish his question, to the end of question time, and then he will leave the Chamber.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I do apologise to the House. How many more strategies, frameworks, and programmes does he have in the pipeline for Māori education, or is he about to anoint Moana Mackey as the new Tai Rāwhiti candidate for the Labour Party, for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, and leave this House, having done absolutely nothing and having seen the statistics in Māori education rise poorly through the roof, and the only people who will benefit are himself and his wage packet for the next 2 or 3 years—[ Interruption] Nine months, yeah?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
That is the sort of cynicism that pervades this House; that shocking member, when he was a Minister, did nothing for Māori. He did nothing for education. I can say that the—
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
That member made a pointed remark in relation to my role as a member. What I can tell that member is that the degree situation in this country has doubled since I have been here. There are more kura built, there are more issues in relation to Māori achievement, than that member or his party created in their time. At the end of the day, when he gets so smart alec and tries to get personal, he wants to grow up and leave this House. That is a disgrace.