2. JOHN KEY (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does she have confidence in all her Ministers; if so, why?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) Link to this
Yes; because they are all hard-working and conscientious Ministers.
Why does the Prime Minister have confidence in the Minister of Education, when the number of education bureaucrats has increased by nearly 40 percent since 2000 and the actual number of teachers has increased by only 12 percent in the same time frame, and what does that say about her Government’s priorities?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I would advise the member to look rather carefully at his figures, because he might want to consider the incorporation into the ministry of the Special Education Service, for example.
How can the Prime Minister have confidence in the Minister for Tertiary Education, when he has overseen a Budget increase of $22 million, or 44 percent, at the Tertiary Education Commission for the next financial year?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
In case the member has not noticed this, I say there is a major improvement and change programme going on in tertiary education, driven by the commission.
Why should the Tertiary Education Commission receive a 44 percent increase in funding for the next financial year, when it has had a 25 percent turnover of staff, has blown the budget for consultants and contractors by three times last year, and has undergone constant restructuring; and why does she have confidence in her Minister, when he is simply propping up a failing bureaucracy?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
The whole point of the tertiary reforms is to bring better quality tertiary education and get rid of the drivel that was allowed to be funded under National’s funding model.
Why should the New Zealand public have any confidence in her Minister of Health and her Government’s spending priorities in health, when the percentage increase in the number of front-line doctors and nurses still lags behind the increase in district health board bureaucrats, which now number over 10,200 according to answers given by the Hon David Cunliffe to written questions?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
It is not my practice to accept prima facie a single figure that member uses.
Does the Prime Minister accept, then, that I did not ask whether she has confidence in me but whether she has confidence in David Cunliffe, who actually wrote in answer to a written question that there are 10,200 bureaucrats?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I am pleased that the member did not ask me whether I had any confidence in him, because clearly the answer is “None.”
Heather RoyHow can she have any confidence in her Minister of Education, when he has kids stuck in shipping containers such as those at Longbeach School, and when he acts on complaints only when they are raised in Parliament or on the Campbell Live television programme?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I am somewhat disappointed that a member of this Parliament, namely that member, would give comfort to a school that put children in conditions that clearly would not be in conformity with the health and safety legislation.
Rodney HideHow can she have confidence in her Minister of Finance when he takes core Government spending of $34 billion, increases it to $61 billion in just 10 years—an increase of 80 percent, when prices have gone up by only 30 percent—gives a tax cut worth a block of cheese 2 weeks out from the election, and then says there is no room for any more cuts because he has spent the money?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I am delighted that that question has been asked, because I am awaiting the answers to some other questions. How does another political party fund $1.5 billion towards Telecom, fund taking all local bodies’ infrastructure spending on its books, driving up the national debt, and promise bigger tax cuts than the Government’s? I want to know what the National Party’s plan is. Does it have one? Have the National members figured it out themselves?
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I want to know the answer to those questions too, but I do not think that the Prime Minister asking questions of the National Party actually addressed my question.
Madam SPEAKERGiven the way in which the question was asked, it really asked for an opinion. It seems that with these questions, which are very broad, we do get very broad answers. In that instance, unless the Prime Minister wants to add anything else, I say she has addressed the question.
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I very directly addressed the member’s question. We take pride in having funded many thousands more teachers, doctors, nurses, and health professionals of all kinds. We take pride, along with our confidence and supply partners, in funding a decent rate of New Zealand superannuation for our older citizens. Those are among the primary reasons why Government spending is up. I am proud of that.
Gerry BrownleeI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Mr Hide’s question was very specific. It certainly had one or two qualifiers to it, but it basically asked the Prime Minister whether she has confidence in the Hon Michael Cullen. She has not expressed an answer to that.
I did not hear a question like that. The question was very broad. I judge that the Prime Minister did address that question—twice.
Hon Pete HodgsonWas the Tertiary Education Commission originally comprised of many staff around many offices throughout New Zealand in an earlier organisation called Skill New Zealand?
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Surely one cannot accept a question from a Minister that begins with the statement “The Tertiary Education Commission”, and goes on in the nature of a speech. If the Minister has a question he should get it out, fast.
Can the Prime Minister confirm that the Tertiary Education Commission was originally comprised of many staff around New Zealand in an earlier organisation called Skill New Zealand; that those staff were not always well skilled for a modern tertiary education system; that that in part explains the high turnover rate that the Tertiary Education Commission has been experiencing; and that it is not very often that the National Party criticises the Government for a reduction in bureaucracy?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I am prepared to accept entirely the facts the Minister has put on the table.
Hon Chris CarterCan the Prime Minister confirm that the total number of new teachers above roll growth that have been employed under the Labour-led Government is 6,024, which is more than twice the total number of bureaucrats in the Ministry of Education?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I am sure the numbers that the member has given are right, and further, I am sure that very few of those teachers would want the National Party’s policy of bulk funding, national testing, and performance pay for teachers.
Does the Prime Minister have confidence in the Minister of Immigration, who last week told the House that he had no knowledge of serious staff misconduct within the Immigration Service, yet who at the same time had signed out a number of answers to questions for written answer that outlined precisely such serious misdemeanours; and was her Minister misleading the House or is he really so incompetent that he does not read his own answers to his own questions?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I understand that the chief executives—and there have been several of them—at the Department of Labour have kept Ministers generally informed about employment issues.
I seek leave to table answers from the Minister of Health regarding the number of bureaucrats in district health boards.