10. GARETH HUGHES (Green) Link to this
to the Minister for Tertiary Education
Does he stand by his statement: “Today’s students are the future of our economy, and we can’t afford to get this wrong.”?
Hon STEVEN JOYCEIf students are the future of our economy, why have so many students missed out on studying because universities are limiting entrants?
It may be news to the member but universities have always, to some degree, limited entrants, and some of them are doing so this year. I can tell the member that we are funding more core places at both universities and polytechs this year than the country ever has before. Next year, we will be doing the same, including funding about 6,500 more places than in 2008.
On the contrary, spending on tertiary education is being maintained at current baseline levels. We are not increasing the amount of tertiary education looking forward, because tertiary education already takes a large and significant proportion of the Government’s expenditure as a percentage of economic wealth compared with other countries.
If New Zealand is trying to catch Australia in wage terms, why has it cut the tertiary education spend, according to the Parliamentary Library, while Australia has increased its spend by A$5.3 billion over the next 6 years?
As I said, the Government is increasing its spend, and as a proportion of GDP we have a slightly higher spend than the Australians do. Our problem is not the way the cake is cut in this country; our problem is the size of the cake. If the member and his party would like to join with the Government in looking at ways of growing the economy faster, we would be happy to have their assistance.
If we want a smart and prosperous economy, why do we spend $3,000 less than the rest of the OECD on our per student average?
Again, I will explain for the member’s benefit that as a proportion of our economy, our spend is larger on average than the spending of other countries in the OECD. Our problem is not what we spend as a proportion of what we are able to spend; our problem is that our economy is not big enough. That is why the Government is focused on ways of growing the economy so that we can increase spending on things that we want to spend money on.
If students are the future of our economy, why has the Minister shut the door on students who want to study and cut funding, and can New Zealand afford to have a Minister for Tertiary Education who gets it so wrong?
I think the member is showing the limited benefit of recording his supplementary questions before he comes to the House. I have told him that we are increasing the number of full-time places at universities. Next year, there will be 117,400 places, which is 5,600 places more than in 2008, or at least when I went to school.
I seek leave to table a document prepared by the Parliamentary Library that shows that tertiary education funding has decreased in 2010 versus 2009.
Mr SPEAKER