19 December 2012

Longstone resignation welcomed – Hekia Parata should follow suit

Education Secretary Lesley Longstone’s resignation will be welcomed across the education sector as would be an announcement that Minister of Education Hekia Parata will follow suit.

Longstone’s resignation comes at the end of a woeful litany of botchups which have left the sector feeling battered and bruised.

There can surely have been no other year in the history of New Zealand education where each week the Minister and her secretary have hoisted a new crisis of incompetence onto parents, teachers and schools.

The combination of National’s agenda to privatise education and inept administration has frequently left parents and teachers shaking their heads in despair.

Longstone had a hand in all of this year’s education failures but she wasn’t the driver of the bad policies. That responsibility lies with the Minister and she should follow suit and resign.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Scoop Business: Bathurst Gets Nod For DoC Access To Denniston Mine

Conservation Minister Nick Smith has approved access over conservation estate land for Bathurst Resources to develop an open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, above Westport, to the dismay of environmental opponents.

The timing for Smith’s move avoids Bathurst having to resubmit applications for access agreements under the revised Crown Minerals Act, which comes into force tomorrow and would have required public consultation.

The announcement lands in the middle of delicate negotiations between the company, environmental groups and other interested parties that could pave the way to a broader agreement on the Escarpment proposal, whose resource consents are still subject to court appeals. More>>