December 07, 2016
NZ infinitely better for Key – Parata
Education Minister Hekia Parata says outgoing Prime Minister John Key has a great record on Maori development.
Ms Parata, who is also stepping down at the next election, says of all the prime ministers she has worked for or with in her public sector career, he was the best and the country is infinitely better for his leadership
She says Mr Key brought the Maori Party into government even though he didn’t need to, he has overseen the highest rate of treaty settlements, and he backed reform of Te Ture Whenua Maori to free up Maori assets for Maori growth.
In education there are more Maori in early childhood education, more doing well at secondary school, and more going to university.
"We’ve seen the lowest mortgage rates and therefore the biggest opportunity to get into home ownership, we’ve seen the lowest unemployment, more jobs created across all sectors. I think he has got a great record to be proud of in terms of Maori participation, Maori development, Maori self determination," Ms Parata says.
There are now three contenders for the job leading the National Party – Bill English, Jonathan Coleman and Judith Collins.
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