Friday, 11 October 2019 10:43

Chipping in

Written by  The Hound

The Hound was intrigued to read an article recently, on the Newsroom website, that shows that Education Minister Chris ‘Chippy’ Hipkins was pushing strongly behind the scenes for a merger of Lincoln and Canterbury universities.

According to the report, Lincoln was “dragged into merger discussions” by the education minister.

Hipkins told Newsroom he had concerns about Lincoln making little progress on implementing the recommendations of a 2017 advisory board report and faced a range of financial risks.

In the end, Hipkins pulled the plug on the merger plan in July this year, claiming the estimated cost ($124-$160 million) “far outweighed the benefits”.

The minister says disestablishing Lincoln is now off the agenda and a merger will not be needed -- “as long as Lincoln delivers on its potential”.

Watch this space.

More like this

Famous last words

OPINION: With Winston Peters playing politics with the PM's Indian FTA, all eyes will be on Labour who have the casting vote.

Gaslight much?

OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts started after their disastrous Covid response; now trying to undermine the Covid inquiry to protect his own backside.

Genuine Hipkins

OPINION: At the recent NZ Dairy Industry Awards, opposition leader Chris Hipkins made a surprise appearance.

Open letters

OPINION: Your old mate isn't really a fan of the recent trend toward collective whinging, otherwise known as an 'open letter'.

Cunning plan!

OPINION: Leader of the Labour Party and His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, Chris Hipkins, has formulated a bold strategy to regain power that his rivals won't have predicted.

Featured

National

Free herbicide resistance testing

Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants…

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

The bow-tie effect

OPINION: If the hand-wringing, cravat and bow-tie wearing commentariat of a left-leaning persuasion had any influence on global markets, we'd…

Famous last words

OPINION: With Winston Peters playing politics with the PM's Indian FTA, all eyes will be on Labour who have the…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter