Chris Hipkins
Education Spokesperson

21 May 2013

Minister finally sees sense over Salisbury

Education Minister Hekia Parata’s latest decision to keep Salisbury School open is the right one – it’s just a shame it took a court ruling, relentless community work and a major dose of negative press to bring the Minister round, says Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins.

“Salisbury School’s Board and supporters had to fight for more than a year to convince Ms Parata that she’d mucked up. Others who have had the misfortune of being subject to her bungled decisions haven’t been so lucky.

“The rationale for keeping Salisbury open is clear – young female students with this level of need must have a single-sex residential schooling option.

“Hekia Parata’s initial misjudgement put the girls’ safety second. Last year’s court ruling found Ms Parata had not given sufficient consideration to her decision and had in fact disregarded the prospect of the girls being vulnerable to sexual or physical abuse.

“That is a fail grade by anyone’s standards.

“Planning to close Salisbury School was a clear breach of the rules. It was another example of an inattentive Minister who is out of her depth.

“The court found Hekia Parata had abrogated her responsibilities. It’s long since time for John Key to consider whether she should be relieved of them,” Chris Hipkins said.

ENDS

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