Collins will be abroad when critics react to science funding – but Matauranga money should not be her responsibility

Buzz from the Beehive

With just a few days to go before Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers her first Budget speech, her colleagues have been focused in recent days on issues beyond our shores.

Education Minister Erica Stanford made the only announcement of concern to citizens who want to know what the government is doing for their wellbeing or the wellbeing of their families.  She announced the Budget will include an investment of almost $53 million over four years in  the training and recruitment of 1,500 teachers.

The rest of the latest news on the government’s official website tells us –

• Judith Collins, Minister of Defence and of Science, Innovation and Technology, departs for Singapore tomorrow for defence and technology summits and meetings. Five Power Defence Arrangements will be on her agenda.
• Winston Peters, our  Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shane Reti, Minister of Health and Minister for Pacific Peoples, and Simon watts, Minister for Climate Change, met Cook Islands leaders in the Bay of Islands for the eighth annual New Zealand-Cook Islands Joint Ministerial Forum.
• Judith Collins, Minister of Defence, and Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced the government’s approval of two-year extensions for four New Zealand Defence Force deployments to the Middle East and Africa.

Latest from the Beehive

27 MAY 2024

Minister to Singapore for defence, technology talks

Defence and Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins departs for Singapore tomorrow for defence and technology summits and meetings.

 26 MAY 2024

Major investment in teacher supply through Budget 24

Over the next four years, Budget 24 will support the training and recruitment of 1,500 teachers into the workforce, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced today.

 25 MAY 2024

Joint statement on the New Zealand – Cook Islands Joint Ministerial Forum – 2024

 New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rt Hon Winston Peters; Minister of Health and Minister for Pacific Peoples Hon Dr Shane Reti; and Minister for Climate Change Hon Simon Watts hosted Cook Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Hon Tingika Elikana and Minister of Health Hon Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown on 24 May in the Bay of Islands for the 8th annual New Zealand-Cook Islands Joint Ministerial Forum.

24 MAY 2024

Middle East, Africa deployments extended

The Government has approved two-year extensions for four New Zealand Defence Force deployments to the Middle East and Africa, Defence Minister Judith Collins and Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today.

On the home front, Erica Stanford is dealing with recent estimates which show up to 680 more secondary teachers could be needed within the next three years.

The funding she announced will be used to: 

• Offer 1200 School Onsite Training Programme (SOTP) places for aspiring teachers to train in the classroom. Funding is for four years and expands the programme to include primary and intermediate as well as secondary.
• Provide a $20,000 package per placement to make it easier for SOTP teachers to train by providing a stipend toward their living and training expenses and a tuition fees contribution. Schools will also receive a costs contribution for each trainee teacher they work with.
• Support 300 teachers to relocate to New Zealand by extending the funding for Overseas Relocation Grants.
• Fund 425 Overseas Finders Fees packages for schools to assist with the costs of recruiting overseas teachers.
• Fund 130 places per year in the BeTTER Jobs Programme that matches beginning and returning teachers to selected schools facing recruitment or retention challenges.
• Fund 670 Study Awards and support grants for current teachers offered each year to reflect current teacher salary rates for professional learning and development.

Judith Collins’ agenda kicks off with the Asia Tech X Singapore Summit, followed by the Five Power Defence Arrangements Defence Ministers Meeting.

It will wrap up with the Shangri-La Dialogue for Defence Ministers from the Indo-Pacific region.

Collins will return to New Zealand on Monday 3 June – four days after Budget Day.

 That means she won’t have to respond to whatever bleats are made about Budget appropriations for science by the Save Science Coalition.   

 

This freshly minted coalition – a mix of science societies, trade unions and ideologues – has been launched to campaign against cuts to science and science funding in New Zealand.   

 

They say they aim to ensure New Zealand has a well-functioning and well-funded science and research system.

“We know that investment in science and research creates future wealth for Aotearoa New Zealand, ensures we can address the challenges we face in Aotearoa New Zealand such as climate change, resilience, and our growing and aging population, and allows our country to prosper. We are concerned about large parts of the science workforce moving overseas to find work, which will take decades to reverse and rebuild,” says Dr Lucy Stewart, spokesperson for the Save Science Coalition.”

But Stewart’s priorities should be of interest to taxpayers:

“We are particularly concerned about the harm cuts will cause to world-leading indigenous research, including rangahau mātauranga Māori which can only be done in Aotearoa New Zealand.” 

Mātauranga is a pool of knowledge, albeit a small one, which is unlikely to be of much global scientific value.  It is also a value and belief system, enabling Māori to articulate their word view, in much the same way as – let’s say – Roman Catholics, Family First or the Destiny Church are good at pushing theirs. 

It has a place in the country’s cultural and religious studies, rather than in science education or in the work of organisations engaged in serious scientific work. It shouldn’t be Judith Collins’ problem while she has the science, innovation and technology portfolio.