Education Minister says Hato Petera is the church’s problem

Friday, May 1st, 2015

Education Minister Hekia Parata says the problems at Hato Petera College are a reflection of how the Catholic Church runs its Maori boarding kura.

She said the issues have always been in the church’s hands – and not the government’s.

Parata was responding to a call by New Zealand First’s education spokesperson, Tracy Martin, for the government to get involved in resolving the issues between the School and the Diocese of Auckland.

“If the government says it is committed to ‘Maori being successful as Maori,’ why does the Minister ignore the needs of this school’s students, while pandering to the whims of profit-making charter schools?”

“This is not just a Maori issue, it is an education issue. Hato Petera desperately needs the support of the minister right now.”

“If Hato Petera closes its doors it will be because the minister did nothing,” Martin said.

Hato Petera’s hostel buildings sit on North Shore land owned by the Diocese, which has offered the college a short-term lease extension.

Trespass notices have been issued by Hato Petera College to three of its former board members amid allegations they are part of a smear campaign against the school and its staff.

Hato Petera board members met on Tuesday evening with Auckland’s Catholic Diocese Bishop, Patrick Dunn, in an attempt to address issues raised in the media around the school’s future.

Bishop Dunn says the impression he got from the meeting was that the board members were united.

He said those former board members issued with trespass notices played key roles in Hato Petera over the past years and he was sad at the current situation.

However, he thought it was perhaps time the new board were given a chance to make their contribution also, “Maybe they just need to stand on the side line and let the new team have the freedom to contribute their gifts to the development of Hato Petera,” he said.

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