New agency to manage school property announced
Education Minister Erica Stanford who is visiting Northcross Intermediate School in Auckland, made the announcement during school visit on Friday.
The new Crown agent will sit separate from the Ministry of Education, which will keep responsibility for education policy and network decisions.
Announcing the launch of the New Zealand School Property Agency, Stanford said schools had been kept waiting for classrooms and refurbishments they badly needed.
"The government inherited a school property system bordering on a crisis. The previous government made big promises to school communities, but its unfunded, bespoke, expensive projects weren't deliverable," she said.
Education Minister Erica Stanford
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
A ministerial advisory group, chaired by former National minister Murray McCully, has been tasked with providing advice on the transition to the new agency.
McCully had earlier led an inquiry into the school property system, which Stanford said had helped inform the new approach.
She said the inquiry's report had found the ministry's "processes for managing the school property portfolio needed overhauling, that schools struggled with a lack of transparency, unclear prioritisation of projects, and inefficient project planning and delivery".
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said the Crown agent would balance flexibility, transparency, and ministerial direction.
"With the establishment of the NZSPA, schools can expect improved project delivery and communication, better value for money, and an increased level of transparency around decision making," he said.
Alongside the announcement, Stanford confirmed a $120 million investment in classrooms across Auckland, funded through the Budget:
Bucklands Beach Intermediate - 2 classrooms
Helensville School - 1 classroom
Kauri Flats School - 4 classrooms
Lincoln Heights School - 6 classrooms
Macleans College - 8 classrooms
Massey High School - 8 classrooms
Mission Heights Primary School - 6 classrooms
Mountain View School - 6 classrooms
Northcross Intermediate - 8 classrooms
One Tree Hill College - 6 classrooms
Orewa College - 12 classrooms
Panama Road School - 4 classrooms
Papakura Normal School - 10 classrooms (in addition to the two learning support classrooms already announced)
Papatoetoe Central School - 4 classrooms
Papatoetoe East School - 4 classrooms
Papatoetoe Intermediate - 6 classrooms
Papatoetoe South School - 6 classrooms
Puhinui School - 2 classrooms
Pukekohe North School - 4 classrooms
Rangitoto College - 10 classrooms
Te Kura o Pātiki Rosebank School - 4 classrooms
Takanini School - 4 classrooms
Tuakau College - 6 classrooms
Whenuapai School - 6 classrooms
Stanford said all projects were expected to begin construction in the next 12 months.
Earlier this week the minister announced the government was
pulling the plug on open plan classrooms
, with Stanford saying they were too noisy and distracting for many children.
She also announced
a plan to double the economic benefits brought into the country by international students
.
From November, eligible student-visa holders will be able to work more hours a week, from 20 to 25 hours, and work rights will be extended to all tertiary students in approved exchange programmes.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
15 minutes ago
- RNZ News
The Panel with Kathryn Graham and Tim Wilson Part 1
Tonight, on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Kathryn Graham and Tim Wilson. Starting off, the Panel hears from one of the first jewllers to work with Michael Hill in his first store in Whangarei. They also talk to Jules, a pensioner who is living in her car for the first time after being made homeless and they discuss how Christopher Luxon was booed at a netball game: is it ever OK to boo a politician? To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
‘Keep our Māori wards' campaign kicks off with security caution
Dinnie Moeahu says supporters of Maori wards need to know their stuff to counter deliberate misinformation. Photo: Te Korimako o Taranaki via LDR A bid to retain Māori representation at Taranaki council tables kicked off on the weekend with a call for whānau-level pushback against what campaigners say is deliberate disinformation. Speakers at Saturday's organising meeting also warned referendums on Māori wards across New Zealand would spark vitriol - and potentially worse. New Plymouth councillor Dinnie Moeahu called the hui, saying misinformation was causing misunderstanding and fear, while disinformation was dividing communities. He represents New Plymouth's five-councillor 'at-large' ward, having topped the poll with general roll voters in 2022. Likewise, he said, anyone could stand in a Māori ward to be elected by Māori roll voters. "Non-Māori can also stand in the Māori ward seat. Ōrite: it's the same." Moeahu said opponents were incorrectly labelling Māori council seats as 'race-based'. Māori wards were Treaty-based, he said: created to ensure effective representation and help meet Crown obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, as spelled out in the Local Government Act. Almost all Māori wards and constituencies face being extinguished via referendum at October's local elections, including those at Taranaki's four councils. The government changed the law a year ago, requiring binding polls on local Māori seats to fulfil National's coalition deals with ACT and New Zealand First. They said the change was to restore democracy to communities on a significant change to local democracy. Moeahu said anti-Māori groups were ready with a campaign labelling the wards race-based as soon as the government reintroduced referendums last July. "It was well-resourced, it was strategised superbly and executed with perfection - and less than 24 hours after the law received Royal Assent." Former New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd copped abuse when he backed Māori wards a decade ago - and he warns more is coming. Photo: Te Korimako o Taranaki via LDR Andrew Judd won New Plymouth's mayoralty in 2013, standing down at the next election after his unyielding support for a Māori ward drew persistent, often public abuse - including of his children. Judd said he predicted more of the same from opponents of guaranteed Māori representation. "My intel is that they are well geared-up, and they are going to be ... destructive," Judd said. "Because their hatred is real - and we cannot let hate win." Te Waka McLeod has agreed Moeahu will accompany her to meetings for fear of confrontation during election season. Photo: Te Korimako o Taranaki via LDR Moeahu said the escalating risk of physical threat prompted him and councillor Te Waka McLeod to agree he would accompany her to public meetings till the election ends. McLeod is the first councillor for NPDC's new Te Purutanga Mauri Pūmanawa ward. Despite attracting online and in-person abuse, McLeod said she had been supported by fellow councillors and staff, and the council was building stronger relationships with hapū. She said supporters from all communities must help family members better understand Māori wards with accurate information. "It's having those conversations with your nana, with your grandma, with your uncle at your whānau kitchen table," she said. "They may be sitting on the fence and they just need to hear a little bit of truth." The meeting drew people keen to join the fight to keep Māori wards. Photo: Te Korimako o Taranaki via LDR Other speakers included Labour MP Glen Bennett and NPDC councillors Amanda Clinton-Gohdes and Sam Bennett, who is running for mayor. Moeahu plans more meetings to galvanise helpers ahead of a public event when voting gets underway. Referendums must be held by 37 district and five regional councils. No other type of ward can be voted down. At the meeting, Margy-Jean Malcolm told LDR it was crucial to have clear information. "This is actually institutional racism, when we treat Māori wards differently from say a rural ward or any other ward. "We don't give the entire population a vote as to whether those wards should exist or not." Lance Mepham had seen candidates pushing misinformation. "I went to a few meetings here recently, and I was really surprised at the rhetoric and just some of the nasty things that were being said about the Māori ward." He said Māori brought good things to the table for everybody. "Economic and also cultural contributions - there's just so much that Māori can give and offer this community." EJ Barrett said the wards had already boosted Māori participation in local democracy by 22 percent. "My children are Māori so I have a vested interest to make sure there's always going to be a space for them in representative democracy - and so they can see themselves in democracy." "It's just the right thing to do, mate." LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Study finds whānau businesses offer path to economic success for Māori
Professor of Māori Business Management at the University of Auckland Jason Mika. Photo: Supplied/William Chea/University of Auckland A new study has found that whānau-led businesses could be one of the most immediate ways to improve livelihoods within Māori communities. Published in the book Te Ahunga atu ki ngā Ōhanga Oranga Māori: Towards Māori Economies of Wellbeing , the study on whānau enterprise is co-authored by Professor Jason Mika and PhD candidate Xiaoliang Niu of He Manga Tauhokohoko, University of Auckland's Business School. Mika said for the purposes of the study a Māori-led business is a business that was owned and operated by Māori for the benefit of whānau, hapū or community. "These are the businesses that are formed by Mum and Dad teams, but actually end up roping in the extended whānau as either co-owners or employees." Mika (Tūhoe, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa) said what distinguishes these from other Māori-led businesses such as iwi authorities and large pan-tribal entities such as Sealord is first scale, they tend to be small- to medium-sized, and second they tend to be formed around using business to serve the needs of the whānau. These whānau enterprises offer a promising path towards economic success for Māori, he said. "One of the most immediate ways to improve livelihoods and wellbeing for whānau is what the whānau can do for themselves, through enterprise." The Māori Economies of Wellbeing research draws on case studies, interviews, and long-term engagement with Māori-led businesses. The investigation found that whānau enterprises demonstrate: One case study was Whangārei based company North Drill, whose work includes utility instillation, renewable energy instillation and drainage. But Mika said their mission was intergenerational wealth and wellbeing for their whānau and that extends to te Tai Tokerau in general. It also reinvested profits into collective goals like housing, education, and leadership development. "What they're really concerned about is providing opportunities particularly for rangatahi... you know school is not where they want to be or they've got abilities, they've got good values, they've got good ethics but are just looking for an opportunity," he said. Mika said North Drill was providing more than just employment to rangatahi but also education on financial literacy. "And in that way they are really concerned about how do they give back to their community." Mika said the goal was that young Māori could see a pathway in business once they left school, a path that ended not just with a job but with business ownership. He is calling for investors to recognise the potential of whānau businesses and said there were various organisations which were currently working to raise the investor profile of whānau businesses, so investors knew what they were looking at and what the opportunities were. "I think there's still a bit of a disconnect, I think the access to capital problem for whānau enterprise and Māori enterprise in general is still a challenge to be solved." Mika said whānau businesses had a point of difference, they could draw on mātauranga and Māori values to do business in a different manner. "One of the major things that sets the whānau enterprise apart is our identity as Māori, our values, our reo, our tikanga, kaupapa, mātauranga Māori. All of those are assets, they are cultural assets which whānau have available to them." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
