10. SUE KEDGLEY (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
What risks to the health and educational achievement of young New Zealanders did education officials alert her to, regarding amending the National Administration Guidelines, in a briefing paper dated 30 January 2009?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) Link to this
Officials pointed to risks and to studies showing links between nutrition and educational achievement. I was convinced that by removing national administration guideline 5(iii), a move that school principals have applauded because of the guideline’s burdensome and confusing nature, and retaining national administrative guideline 5(ii), which requires schools to promote healthy food, those risks could be mitigated.
Why did the Minister not seek any advice whatsoever from health professionals or from the Ministry of Health after concerns about the health, as well as the educational achievements, of young New Zealanders, and particularly Māori and Pacific Island children, were clearly flagged to the Minister by her own officials?
I say to that member that having a ban on the types of foods at tuck shops, which can be easily thwarted by kids buying the same kinds of foods on their way to school or outside school grounds, does nothing to help them. I quote for the member’s benefit from an email—and I apologise as it is a bit long—that came to me, and was supplied to the member, from someone from Ōtara, which has a high Māori and Pacific Island population: “I am writing with a sigh of relief to see the clause removed. The last 2 years I have had to compete with our local dairy that sells up to 600 Big Ben pies and fizzy drinks on a daily basis. He constantly has pallets of chips”—
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Apart from the answer becoming very long, the question that was asked was very straightforward. The question asked whether the Minister had received or asked for advice from health professionals. The answer immediately ignored the question and went on to a whole set of irrelevant information. It seems to me that the question Sue Kedgley asked was capable of being given a fairly simple and straightforward answer.
The questioner referred to the advice that the Ministry of Health provided to me that specifically refers to some of the risks around Māori and Pacific Island students, which the member alluded to in her question. The answer I am giving is from someone who is actually in Ōtara—which, as I said, has a high Māori and Pacific Island population—and who is directly involved—
Mr SPEAKERI do not think we need any further explanation. I take the point the Hon Dr Michael Cullen has raised. The member, as I heard it, asked quite a specific question. It was not about official advice in general, but about advice from Ministry of Health officials. Now, they may or may not have given advice, but I invite the honourable member to repeat her question, so that the House can satisfy itself that it is being answered.
Why did she not seek any advice whatsoever from health professionals or from the Ministry of Health after concerns about the health of young New Zealanders, particularly Māori and Pacific Island children, were clearly flagged to the Minister by her own officials?
I did have conversations with the Minister of Health, but at the end of the day this Government trusts boards of trustees and principals, who are, after all, the parents of the children at schools. We trust them to make sensible decisions about the provision of food and drink in their schools. We retained the national administration guideline that requires schools to promote healthy food and drink.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sorry to trouble you again, Mr Speaker, but I asked whether she had received advice from the Ministry of Health. She talked about the Minister of Health; she did not answer my question.
The Minister did actually say in her answer that she had had discussions with Ministry of Health officials.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sure that you will find the Hansard will say she did speak to the Minister of Health. But she did not say anything about speaking to the Ministry of Health officials. She has not answered the question. I do seek your protection here, Mr Speaker.
Can I check with the Minister. Did the Minister say she spoke to the Minister of Health, or to Ministry of Health officials?
Could I ask the Minister to answer the question, which specifically asks whether she spoke to Ministry of Health officials. It is very easy to answer, I would have thought.
Colin KingWhat reports has she received on the evidence used by those who would like to see the return of the “food police”?
I understand that some members in the House continue to rely upon a school lunch survey that they commissioned for themselves. This survey has responses from 50 schools. That is less that 1 percent of the number of schools in the country. I am also advised that for a survey of the New Zealand schools to be statistically credible, one would need to survey at least 400 schools.
Why did she not seek any advice from the Ministry of Health before she scrapped the school food guidelines, given that the ministry had worked for more than 4 years on developing the school food guidelines and had spent $4.5 million on doing so; is it because she knew that it totally opposed her decision?
As I have explained to the member previously, this Government trusts boards of trustees, who are, after all, the parents of the children who are attending the schools, to make sensible and responsible decisions about the type of food that is served to their children at their schools.
Does she agree with four public health experts who wrote in the New Zealand Medical Journal that her decision to allow the sale of junk food in schools on a routine basis is sending “a message to children that it is okay to eat junk food”, that her decision will contribute to a “generation of young people facing a lifetime burden of obesity, diabetes,” and other chronic conditions, and that it will have a hugely negative impact on the health system and the economy; if not, why not?
Sue Kedgley: I seek leave to table the advice from the Ministry of Education on 30 January 2009, advising the Minister against removing the school food guidelines.