Rodney Hide
Rodney Hide is former ACT Party leader and Minister in the National-ACT Government from 2008 to 2011.
Here’s a bold prediction: either Minister of Education Erica Stanford is sacked… or the coalition government falls.
The National-New Zealand First coalition agreement was emphatic on: “the removal and replacement of the gender, sexuality and relationship-based education guidelines”.
That agreement was signed 24 November 2023 by National Party Leader Chris Luxon and New Zealand First Party Leader Winston Peters. It is the basis of the present government.
In the nine months since that signing, Minister of Education Erica Stanford has done nothing to honour the very agreement her ministerial warrant rests upon. I recently asked her for her timetable for removing and replacing the guidelines.
Here is her response:
- All children deserve to feel included, safe, and respected at school.
- As has been signalled, the coalition-Government will review and replace the current relationships and sexuality education guidelines in its first term, as set out in the New Zealand First–National Party coalition agreement.
- It is important to note that these are only guidelines and not compulsory. Schools are currently free to use them at their discretion. The legal requirements for school boards are set out in the Education and Training Act 2020 and require schools to consult with their community every two years on their health curriculum.
Her timetable is no further ahead than it was on 24 November 2023. She has done nothing.
I asked the minister for the advice she has sought and received on removing and replacing the guidelines.
She has sought and received none. This is the extent of her enquiries:
I have asked the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) for information on how the supporting RSE guidance was created and how it is operating in schools to inform further thinking.
In December 2023, I also requested information from the Ministry regarding the background to the RSE Guidelines.
And:
I have also requested that the Education Review Office (ERO) review how RSE is taught in schools.
So in nine months (one quarter of this government’s term) the minister has not acted on the coalition agreement’s clear commitment.
She has asked how the guidelines were created and how they are operating. She has sought advice on the background to the guidelines. And how they are taught.
She has yet to ask for how the guidelines are to be dumped and replaced. Her very requests suggest she has no intention of dumping them. She has failed the very coalition agreement that underpins her government.
Clearly Prime Minister Luxon has no system for monitoring his ministers implementing the agreement he signed.
There is a cavalier attitude to the coalition agreement. Hence my prediction: either Ms Stanford goes… Or Mr Peters goes.
This article was originally published by Bassett, Brash & Hide.
