Labour leader Chris Hipkins says his education spokeswoman Willow-Jean Prime has “learned a lot” after revelations this week about her lack of engagement over NCEA reform.
Hipkins says he hopes future cross-party collaboration over changes to the secondary school qualification isn’t lost in what he called “the political point-scoring that’s gone on in the last week”.
The Herald revealed on Friday that Education Minister Erica Stanford and her office wrote to Prime on multiple occasions over several months inviting her to be briefed on the NCEA change process and to meet with officials.
Prime initially didn’t respond before eventually declining the invitation without an explanation. She only wrote back asking for a meeting in late July, as the Herald was reporting Stanford was preparing to announce changes to the NCEA system.
The Labour MP has explained her lack of engagement by saying she was interested in hearing from the education sector, teachers and parents before meeting the minister. Hipkins on Friday said that wasn’t unreasonable but made clear she should have at least replied to Stanford.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Francesca Rudkin on Sunday morning, Hipkins reiterated that Prime should have conveyed to Stanford why she was deciding not to take up her invitation.
“Then she should have accepted the invitation to meet. I’ve made that clear. I think Willow has learned a lot from this particular episode,” Hipkins said.
“But I think the key thing now is that we do need cross-party collaboration to make sure that the changes to the NCEA are enduring and that parents and students can have faith in the national qualification system that we have as a country.
“I think that is the most important thing and I would hate for that to be lost in any political point-scoring that’s gone on in the last week.”
The Labour leader maintained his party was open to working with the Government and noted that when he was Education Minister, he made efforts to involve the then Opposition. He also said that he had written to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to offer bipartisan support on policy, without reply.
The likes of infrastructure, education and national security are areas Hipkins believes bipartisan work is important. Asked about health, he said there was a difference between Labour and the Government over the level of funding necessary.
On Friday, Prime acknowledged she could have responded to Stanford earlier than she did. Emails show she only replied after Stanford went around her and emailed Hipkins about Prime’s lack of response.
“I probably could have said: this is why I need to take my time and please assure me that I can have the time that I need to do this,” Prime said.
“But I was not given any timeframes from the minister that we have only this amount of time to engage because I’m going to announce and there’s only six weeks subsequent to that.”
She said meeting with the sector beforehand was important as it’s their views that matter.
“I was doing that due diligence and had done that engagement and wanted to bring that to the minister for her consideration, because it’s not what I think. What I think is most important here is: what does the sector think?”
Prime said she got the impression from her engagement that the sector had been unsure what was happening. She questioned whether the current six-week consultation process over the NCEA reforms was genuine.
Stanford has said the change process was informed by an advisory group with a number of school principals represented. She believes the six-week period balances a need to get feedback, while also getting moving with any changes.
The minister told the Herald this week she was “glad” Labour had “recognised the significance of these proposals and the clear public mandate for us to work together”.
“It’s been really good to see positive comments from the Leader of the Opposition indicating that he is broadly supportive of the plan that’s been laid out.
“Of course, it will be disappointing for the public to see Willow-Jean Prime refused to engage earlier in the process, but I’m so pleased that this has now changed and I look forward to her engagement.”
The pair are expected to meet shortly.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.