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Green Party co-leader James Shaw apologized to members for approving funding for a private school.
James Shaw Source: RNZ / Dom Thomas
The climate change minister approved nearly $ 12 million for the ‘green’ school in Taranaki, despite his party’s stance not to fund private schools.
The money came from the government’s ‘ready-to-use’ project fund of $ 3 billion.
Green School New Zealand, which opened in February, charges up to $ 24,000 a year for local students and up to $ 43,000 a year for international students.
The school has around 50 students, half of whom come from abroad. The funding is designed to expand the school’s capacity from 120 to 250 students.
Shaw apologized to the members at a Zoom meeting last night, saying he wouldn’t make the same decision if he was given another chance.
He told the group of 460 that he had thought of the project as a building and construction project rather than an educational one.
He said he has heard the concerns raised and is working to find a solution.
Co-leader Marama Davidson was present at the meeting and acknowledged Shaw for acknowledging his mistake.
Former Greens education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty told Checkpoint yesterday that she thought Shaw had isolated himself from the party to some degree.
She said her instincts didn’t tell her that “this was never going to work with the Green Party, and that our policies are never to fund private schools.”
Shaw had also been criticized by former Green Party deputies, Green candidates, the National Party and Taranaki school principals for the funding decision.
