Simon Power
National Party Associate Education Spokesman

29 January 2005

Labour brainwashes young students

National's Associate Education spokesman, Simon Power, says the NCEA has become another vehicle for Labour to brainwash young New Zealanders.

Mr Power has obtained a Level 1 NCEA history paper which contains the following question on Maori and Pakeha relations:

It is 1980. You are a researcher who has been investigating Maori issues during the 1960s and 1970s.

Choose TWO people from the list below. For each person, write what they would have said for each of the questions that follow. ...

Person 1: A National Party Member of Parliament not sympathetic to Maori concerns.

"This is not only blatant politicking but quite incorrect. The assumption that National is not concerned with Maori issues is totally wrong," says Mr Power.

"This is an outrage. Our children should be protected from this kind of overt political propaganda and someone must be held accountable.

"Labour devote much of their time trying to avoid stereotyping women, Maori and other minority groups but they're happy to label National Party members as 'unsympathetic to Maori'.

"The NCEA should not be a vehicle for brainwashing students with left-wing ideas. Labour should be more concerned with fixing the problems with the qualification and ensuring quality and consistency of qualification than trying desperately to firm-up their support for future elections.

"The NZQA has some very serious questions to answer and I will raise them directly with the organization through the Education and Science Select Committee," says Mr Power

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