11. Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister for Tertiary Education
What reports has he received about staff numbers at the Tertiary Education Commission?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister for Tertiary Education) Link to this
I saw a report yesterday from the National spokesperson on tertiary education stating that staff numbers at the Tertiary Education Commission had ballooned so spectacularly that it was now “the poster child of Labour’s bureaucratic excess”. This is curious and at variance with the truth. The truth is that the number of staff at the Tertiary Education Commission is lower than the number it had in its first full year of operation. One wonders why the National Party is so unable to count.
Dr Ashraf Choudhary Link to this
Is he planning to cut the Tertiary Education Commission’s funding; if not, why not?
No. The Government has no plans to cut funding for the Tertiary Education Commission, but the National Party does. Last week, when cornered by an Auckland audience of parents asking how National would fund any policy in education, Wayne Mapp told them that it would be through cuts to the Tertiary Education Commission. Even if those members abolished the Tertiary Education Commission in its entirety, the savings would keep New Zealand’s education system running for just under 3 days a year. Like I said, the National Party does not know how to count.
Dr Paul Hutchison Link to this
Why should the public believe that he is not trying to set an all-time record for bureaucratic excess, given that he told a select committee yesterday: “We haven’t finished hiring staff.”, and that Budget 2008 buys 15 new extra bureaucrats over and above the 341 already allowed for, not to mention the 300 percent of new money for more and more consultants and contractors?
There are not 341 people working at the Tertiary Education Commission, and there are not 341 plus 15. There are 287. Yesterday there were 287, tomorrow there will be 287, and in the first year of its operation there were more than 287. That is a reduction—get it? Why does the member always want to add GST several times to the truth?
Dr Paul Hutchison Link to this
I seek leave to table a reply to a supplementary question on the estimates for 2008-09, which—
Madam SPEAKER