Official rubbishes SIT asset claims

An education official has rubbished suggestions the Southern Institute of Technology’s cash assets will end up in a national slush fund as a a result of the polytechnic merger.

The Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill has been passed which will see 16 polytechnics centralised under one national umbrella.

The decision has been met with anger from various Southland leaders who fear for the assets SIT has built up, including the close to $40 million in cash reserves.

Invercargill Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt raised concerns about what it would mean for the assets, while Stand Up for SIT campaign manager Carla Forbes stated in a paid advertisement that Minister Chris Hipkins could now take the assets SIT has accumulated and give them to other parts of the New Zealand Institute of Technology, outside of Southland.

Murray Strong was appointed last year to lead the set-up of the new national institute, which SIT will be part of.

Strong rubbished the claims from some SIT supporters and suggested the asset talk was ‘‘fake news’’.

‘‘Cash reserves will be ringfenced on the NZIST’s balance sheet separately and transparently,’’ he said.

‘‘They will only be available for use within the region they were accumulated by the relevant subsidiary ITP.’’

Any capital projects that had been approved by the SIT will continue, as long as there has been a robust and transparent process, Strong said.

At the moment SIT has various capital projects in the pipeline, which includes constructing apartments on the corner of Kelvin and Tay Sts in Invercargill, as well as transforming the St John’s Church on Tay St into a new creative centre.

The Establishment Board is in the final stages of appointing directors to the 15 subsidiary boards which will that take over running various institutes from April 1.

While the new SIT board is yet to be announced, Stuff revealed this week that both the current chairman Peter Heenan and deputy chairman Tim Ward have been overlooked for the new board.

It is understood just three of the current SIT council have been reappointed on the board.

Strong said at least half of the subsidiary boards must reside within the region which the institute primarily serves.

He added that the Establishment Board was taking great care to ensure diversity of thought and approach within each board, and they have balanced the need to ensure continuity, sound local and regional relationships, and responsiveness to local opportunities.