The Panel with Dean Hall & Heather Roy (Part 2)
arts politics 6:35 pm today
Tonight on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists. The three of them discuss: raising speed limits outside schools, mothers day & the Dunedin childrens theatre seeking council health. Heather Roy is a former Government Minister, deputy leader of ACT, and now professional director and principal of boutique consulting company TorquePoint. Dean Hall is the CEO of Rocketwerkz.
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Education Minister Erica Stanford. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The country's largest teaching union is considering legal action against the government's decision to cut resource teachers in primary schools, confirmed last month as part of the Budget. Ministry of Education documents from February show that 84 schools employed resource teachers for literacy support, 40 employed resource teachers for Māori and three schools employed both. Nationally, there are a maximum of 121 full-time positions for Resource Teachers of Literacy (RTL) and 53 for Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM). Minister for Education Erica Stanford said that was a small number of teachers for the country's 2000 primary schools, and, during a consultation process in March , schools had told her the current system was "not equitable". Stanford said funding was now in place for 349 structured literacy teachers, who would provide support within classrooms - rather than driving from school to school as was the case under the current system - and she encouraged literacy resource teachers "who are amazingly well-qualified and passionate people" to consider applying for those roles. NZEI national secretary Stephanie Mills said the union was waiting on more information from Stanford about how she came to the decision, and then it would decide next steps. "We've said from the beginning of the consultation process that we will explore all options to keep those resources intact. It's not about getting rid of a certain number of positions, it's a service that's been built up over time." Mills said NZEI had requested details about how Stanford reached her decision via an official information request. The union had asked to see the consultation document prior to the announcement and was told that would be provided a fortnight in advance, but confirmation the roles would be defunded came as part of the Budget. Teachers felt "really disrepected and gaslit" as a result, she added. "These teachers are some of our most experienced and skilled, and they're not being treated in a good way." Mills said many of the current resource teachers were working in rural places and she feared those schools would no longer get the same support. "It will be quite a different role in the new system. The [same] service won't exist and the jobs won't exist." Mills said it was an "irony" the literacy resource roles were being cut, "when the government wants structured literacy". Meanwhile RTMs were, in many situations, the only frontline support for kaiako and tamariki Māori. " Māori RTs are like a taonga ." Stanford said she would not be commenting on what action the resource teachers might take. The move was about schools and students, not the teachers, she said. "It's about the way we deliver the service, and this advice was given to me by the sector itself, by schools saying 'the way the model is being delivered it's not equitable and many schools are missing out' ... The ones who are getting the service may not have the greatest need, so it's very inequitable. "What we are doing is shifting that model to an in-class delivery - small groups, intervention teachers, in school." Stanford said the NZ Resource Teachers Literary Association had had "clear information and met multiple times with ministry officials" and they had been "very clear about the reasons, about the opportunities for them in other roles, and they've met a number of times and they have been given that information". The move was not a cut but a "reinvestment", Stanford insisted. "We've already resourced 349 Tier 2 structured literacy intervention roles, over and above the 100 literacy positions that there currently are, so it is not a cut, it is a reinvestment into a better delivery model." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

RNZ News
2 hours ago
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Claim councillor told another to 'f*** off' after 'true history' clash
Rotorua councillors Robert Lee and Fisher Wang clashed during a museum exhibition funding decision. Photo: LDR / Laura Smith A council discussion on adding funds to Rotorua Museum's exhibition project morphed into a debate over whether the city's "true history" would be displayed. One councillor claims another told him to "f*** off" after the meeting. The accused says he did not say those words but his message was correctly inferred. Rotorua Lakes Council decided in a meeting on Wednesday to fund a further $181,700 through debt to progress the exhibition project, to be matched by Rotorua Trust, to cover a funding shortfall. The project is preparing the exhibitions for the museum, which is set to start reopening in 2027 at the earliest, after more than a decade closed for earthquake strengthening renovations. The council had secured $1.062 million of $9.51m in funding needed for the exhibitions. Wednesday's unanimous decision means exhibition funding would not be 100 percent external as previously planned, but progressing the exhibition work secured other funding agreements, including $17.1m towards construction. Councillors debated a recommendation from the exhibition project steering group to accept a concept design and progress to a developed design. Councillor Robert Lee voted against this and began asking whether Rotorua's "true history" would be portrayed once the museum opened. He disputed that iwi gifted the land for the town. Rotorua Lakes Councillor Robert Lee at a June 2025 meeting. Photo: LDR / Laura Smith Fisher Wang interrupted with a point of order on irrelevance, and Deputy Mayor Sandra Kai Fong asked Lee to rephrase his question several times. Karen Barker repeated Wang's call. Kai Fong said they'd had previous discussions on the matter and called for other questions. 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Rawiri Waru "wholeheartedly" supported getting things moving to provide the community and those working on the project some assurance. He addressed Lee's comments on historical accuracy. "If you knew the people we are working with, their integrity is unquestionable. "They will tell it, warts and all." Rotorua Lakes Councillor Rawiri Waru at a June 2025 meeting. Photo: LDR / Laura Smith Regarding the 1948 commission, he said Ngāti Whakaue could not even choose their own representatives or have involvement in the report. His grandfather was present at the time, he said. "Maybe there's some history there that would be nice to hear." After the meeting, Wang posted to social media he and Lee later argued about the call of misrepresentation. He said Lee belittled him, called him "boy", and said "if you can't back up your claim of misrepresentation ... then you can f*** off". Wang said he could back it up, as Kai Fong ruled in his favour. "It's sad to say this isn't the first time this kind of behaviour has happened, and I know it won't be the last, but I can only bite my tongue for so long. Integrity matters." Lee told Local Democracy Reporting he hadn't actually said the words "f*** off", but had trailed off. He said Wang inferred his meaning correctly, however. Lee said it started as a courteous and quiet conversation but alleged Wang became "increasingly agitated" when pressed him on the validity of the misrepresentation dispute. Lee believed it was invalid, as he had not received the assurance he asked for. If he had received it, he said he would have changed his vote. Last year Lee and Wang clashed over a Rainbow Storytime event at the library, which Wang supported but Lee viewed as inappropriate for children. The council will consider options for when and how to reopen the museum late this year or early next year, once it had more information about the design and funding. Of the $72.35m construction cost, $56.85m is externally funded. If the museum was to reopen all at once rather than in stages, the exhibition fitout would likely be ready for a June 2028 opening. To offset the further exhibition borrowing, the council's community experience group will reduce its 2024/25 financial year operational expenditures by $181,700. The Rotorua Trust portion would be repaid if there was money left over when the project finished. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Witi Ihimaera - reclaiming his reo at 80
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