But Green Party Co-Leader still faces trouble
Wellington, September 3, 2020
At least 44 infrastructure projects and $600 million in government funding were awaiting approval when Greens co-leader James Shaw put his foot down on funding for a private Taranaki school.
Mr Shaw has been hit by a wave of controversy, after he championed nearly $12m in funding for the private Green School.
The school was only included in Ministers’ list of ‘Shovel Ready’ projects after Mr Shaw refused to back other projects without it.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said that when the email was sent on August 7, 2020, Mr Shaw needed to sign off on the final list.
Shovel Ready Projects
“We had already announced a large number of projects. We were at the end of the process and there was a bit of coming and going with projects. Therefore, obviously that email said what it said, but we had announced a large number of projects before that point,” he said.
As of the August 6, 2020, the government had announced 118 shovel ready projects had already been announced, totalling $1.8 billion in government funding.
But, by the 28 August a list of 162 projects had been announced, meaning that at least 44 projects were awaiting government approval when Shaw drew a line in the sand with his email.
On Tuesday (September 1, 2020), Shaw apologised for an ‘error of judgement’ over the funding.
National Party accusation
But National Party Leader Judith Collins is accusing Mr Shaw of political posturing during a crisis.
“James Shaw was willing to play politics with his own government at a time when contractors, councils and workers were crying out for work, I actually think that he has put at risk people’s jobs,” she said.
Ms Collins has said that she thinks Mr Shaw should resign over the mistake.
“It is not just that he advocated for a particular Green School that does not even have education registration to be a school, but that he has actually held up all these projects on the basis that he was holding the rest of the government basically to ransom,” she said.
Background to the issue
Mr Shaw, also Associate Finance Minister, received backlash after he and other ministers signed off on $11.7 million to allow the Green School to expand.
“I want you to know that I have taken the time to reflect on your concerns and I am acting on them. Every dollar invested is a dollar to create jobs,” he told to critics of the funding.
He said that he saw an opportunity to employ hundreds of people in an area most affected by the government’s decision to support renewables.
Underfunded conditions
He argued that it was a fair question to ask why the government does not fund public schools with run-down buildings.
Mr Shaw said that the previous government left schools in these systematically underfunded conditions and that it was clear that funding was not reaching them fast enough.
“If the last few days have shown us anything, it is that New Zealanders are incredibly passionate about their public education. The Green Party shares that passion. Progress towards our better future requires tough choices. Not everyone one of those choices is going to be the right one,” Mr Shaw said.
He apologised to schools and people who felt disaffected by the decisions.
“I want you to know I have listened to your concerns,” he said.
Representatives of the Green School have approached the Crown to find a solution.
Conversion of grant to loan
Radio New Zealand earlier reported it understood the solution would be to covert all or part of the nearly $12 million into a loan.
Mr Shaw said that Ministers cannot engage in the process.
“My personal view is that the best way to do this is for the support for the Green School to come in the form of a loan rather than a grant. When you make a mistake, you should learn from it for the future. It was clear to me very early on that I had made an error of judgement,” he said.
The above Report and Picture have been published under a Special Arrangement with www.rnz.co.nz
