........but why should Greg O’Connor apologise?
National MP Erica Stanford makes a good point, when she says new classrooms will sit empty if Labour keeps on failing to get kids to school and learning the basics.
Only half of the country’s kids are attending school regularly, she says (with disturbing truancy data high in her considerations, presumably).
She has tweeted her comments in a follow-up to the government’s announcement of plans to spend $400 million on new schools and classrooms. And she boldly pledges:
“Rather than excuses and empty classrooms National will restore confidence in the education system by teaching the basics brilliantly”.
But in earlier tweets she drew attention to a demand for Labour MP Greg O’Connor to explain something he allegedly told a Sri Lankan resident student:
PM must ask Greg O’Connor for a please explain & apology over his reported shameful comments implying that because a student was from a corrupt country she was asking for a corrupt deal to bend the rules, so she could access a student loan. More evidence of an anti-migrant gvt
A press statement from Stanford puts some flesh (but not much) on her insistence that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins must ask Greg O’Connor to explain the comments he made to a Sri Lankan family enquiring about accessing student loans.
She has based this on a BusinessDesk report that a Victoria University student approached O’Connor, as her local MP, enquiring about the rules around permanent residents accessing student loans.
“Mr O’Connor reportedly said he had spoken to Deputy Prime Minister and Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni about the issue, before remarking ‘this is not Sri Lanka’ and nothing could be done.
“The student said Mr O’Connor then alluded to how it’s pretty common in Sri Lanka to break the rules and made the point New Zealand is not like Sri Lanka and that is why you are not getting a student loan.
“The student said Mr O’Connor implied she came from a corrupt country so was looking for a corrupt deal to get around the rules.”
Hmm. Hints of corruption based on allusion and implication.
“Mr O’Connor’s comments are shocking and totally inappropriate. New Zealand is crying out for skilled migrants and here we have a young woman and her family trying to make a life for themselves and contribute to our economy and they get treated like this by their local MP,” says Ms Stanford.
“The Prime Minister must ask Mr O’Connor to not only explain his comments but also apologise to the family.”
Point of Order found no online media reportage of these claims against O’Connor.
But The Post reporter Tom Hunt has made a meal of these morsels in an article headed ‘This is not Sri Lanka’ – MP’s comments spark anger.
Alleged comments, surely.
But Hunt has brought claims of racism as well as corruption into his account of an incident that – we learn towards the end of his article – happened in January. It “has only now come to light through a story by media outlet BusinessDesk”.
His report kicks off:
Ohariu MP Greg O’Connor is in hot water for his alleged “this is not Sri Lanka” comments but the recipient is more concerned with the “racist” rule she was trying to raise.
We learn that Sudeshna Senadeera and her daughter, Githara Gunawardena, moved to New Zealand in 2021.
They have become residents and Gunawardena looked into getting a student loan to help her go to law school at Victoria University of Wellington.
But – who would have guessed it? – there are eligibility criteria.
According to Tom Hunt, residents are eligible for student loans only if they have held their visas for at least three years.
There is no suggestion that white visa holders have been exempted from this rule.
Senadeera nevertheless describes the rule as
“… ridiculous, discriminatory and, dare I say it, racist”.
Hunt proceeds to explain that mother and daughter met with O’Connor to discuss the student loan issue
… but Senadeera said it seemed the MP was under the impression they were trying to get him to bend the rules.
“This is not Sri Lanka,” O’Connor allegedly told the pair in a seeming nod to Sri Lankan corruption,
“We have rules in place, you can’t get around them.”
O’Connor (in a written statement) said his comments had been mischaracterised.
“I am very sorry if my comments were interpreted in a way that I did not intend.”
And:
“I pride myself on my advocacy for my constituents and also the fact I do not raise expectations which can’t be met,” his emailed statement said.
“My message was that it is extremely rare to make exceptions for individuals due to the precedent which is set”.
Tom Hunt incorporated some of Erica Stanford’s view of what has happened:
“The student said Mr O’Connor implied she came from a corrupt county so was looking for a corrupt deal to get around the rules.
“Mr O’Connor’s comments are shocking and totally inappropriate. New Zealand is crying out for skilled migrants and here we have a young woman and her family trying to make a life for themselves and contribute to our economy and they get treated like this by their local MP.”
On the strength of the information she included in her press statement, Stanford is too easily shocked.
She probably would score better marks by focusing on the school curriculum and less on her suspicions of a student-loans scandal.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
But in earlier tweets she drew attention to a demand for Labour MP Greg O’Connor to explain something he allegedly told a Sri Lankan resident student:
PM must ask Greg O’Connor for a please explain & apology over his reported shameful comments implying that because a student was from a corrupt country she was asking for a corrupt deal to bend the rules, so she could access a student loan. More evidence of an anti-migrant gvt
A press statement from Stanford puts some flesh (but not much) on her insistence that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins must ask Greg O’Connor to explain the comments he made to a Sri Lankan family enquiring about accessing student loans.
She has based this on a BusinessDesk report that a Victoria University student approached O’Connor, as her local MP, enquiring about the rules around permanent residents accessing student loans.
“Mr O’Connor reportedly said he had spoken to Deputy Prime Minister and Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni about the issue, before remarking ‘this is not Sri Lanka’ and nothing could be done.
“The student said Mr O’Connor then alluded to how it’s pretty common in Sri Lanka to break the rules and made the point New Zealand is not like Sri Lanka and that is why you are not getting a student loan.
“The student said Mr O’Connor implied she came from a corrupt country so was looking for a corrupt deal to get around the rules.”
Hmm. Hints of corruption based on allusion and implication.
“Mr O’Connor’s comments are shocking and totally inappropriate. New Zealand is crying out for skilled migrants and here we have a young woman and her family trying to make a life for themselves and contribute to our economy and they get treated like this by their local MP,” says Ms Stanford.
“The Prime Minister must ask Mr O’Connor to not only explain his comments but also apologise to the family.”
Point of Order found no online media reportage of these claims against O’Connor.
But The Post reporter Tom Hunt has made a meal of these morsels in an article headed ‘This is not Sri Lanka’ – MP’s comments spark anger.
Alleged comments, surely.
But Hunt has brought claims of racism as well as corruption into his account of an incident that – we learn towards the end of his article – happened in January. It “has only now come to light through a story by media outlet BusinessDesk”.
His report kicks off:
Ohariu MP Greg O’Connor is in hot water for his alleged “this is not Sri Lanka” comments but the recipient is more concerned with the “racist” rule she was trying to raise.
We learn that Sudeshna Senadeera and her daughter, Githara Gunawardena, moved to New Zealand in 2021.
They have become residents and Gunawardena looked into getting a student loan to help her go to law school at Victoria University of Wellington.
But – who would have guessed it? – there are eligibility criteria.
According to Tom Hunt, residents are eligible for student loans only if they have held their visas for at least three years.
There is no suggestion that white visa holders have been exempted from this rule.
Senadeera nevertheless describes the rule as
“… ridiculous, discriminatory and, dare I say it, racist”.
Hunt proceeds to explain that mother and daughter met with O’Connor to discuss the student loan issue
… but Senadeera said it seemed the MP was under the impression they were trying to get him to bend the rules.
“This is not Sri Lanka,” O’Connor allegedly told the pair in a seeming nod to Sri Lankan corruption,
“We have rules in place, you can’t get around them.”
O’Connor (in a written statement) said his comments had been mischaracterised.
“I am very sorry if my comments were interpreted in a way that I did not intend.”
And:
“I pride myself on my advocacy for my constituents and also the fact I do not raise expectations which can’t be met,” his emailed statement said.
“My message was that it is extremely rare to make exceptions for individuals due to the precedent which is set”.
Tom Hunt incorporated some of Erica Stanford’s view of what has happened:
“The student said Mr O’Connor implied she came from a corrupt county so was looking for a corrupt deal to get around the rules.
“Mr O’Connor’s comments are shocking and totally inappropriate. New Zealand is crying out for skilled migrants and here we have a young woman and her family trying to make a life for themselves and contribute to our economy and they get treated like this by their local MP.”
On the strength of the information she included in her press statement, Stanford is too easily shocked.
She probably would score better marks by focusing on the school curriculum and less on her suspicions of a student-loans scandal.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
3 comments:
Are we trying to say that Sri Lanka is not a corrupt country ? Where does it stand on the Transparency Index of Transparency International ? On the 2022 Corruption Perception Index, Sri Lanka stood at 101 out of 180 countries. That must tell everyone something.
You guys do a great job unpicking the easily offended and woke people who misinterpret completely normal statements made by normal people.
The old racist comment covers a hell of a lot these days. That's why we need one government for all people in our little old NZ. Winston has a long record of his consistent message in this regard. He also is often either misquoted or paraphrased into giving a different message than what he is saying. Media maligning people for political purposes is rife here.
MC
i'm sure there is more to the SL story than the anecdote. the rules for student loan are quite simple (at least 3 yrs on residence class visa - besides citizens & refugees) & well published on studylink website. i don't understand the relevance of wasting time with an MP to ask this question.
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