A lot can happen inside five years... Just ask Penny Simmonds

As it has turned out, former SIT CEO Penny Simmonds has gone on to light a metaphoric match that will largely send the centralised polytechnic - Te Pūkenga - up in smoke.

Former SIT CEO and now Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds.

COMMENT: I remember it vividly.

It was February 2019 and then Education Minister Chris Hipkins had just announced a proposal to merge 16 New Zealand polytechnics into one centralised “mega-polytechnic”.

I had arranged to catch up with then-long-time Southern Institute of Technology CEO Penny Simmonds to gather her thoughts. At the time I was a reporter with The Southland Times.

When I arrived at Simmonds’ office her PA advised me that she wouldn’t be too long. Simmonds was on a phone call with then Southland-based New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson.

There was no eavesdropping going on, I should point out.

But it became evident, even from outside the office as I waited, Simmonds wasn’t offering up a glowing endorsement of the Labour-led Government’s polytechnic proposal.

No shouting, just a stern rebuttal to whatever Patterson was saying in defence of the proposed reform.

Patterson and his NZ First colleagues were then part of the coalition Government alongside Labour. It appeared Simmonds viewed NZ First as a possibility to help water down the proposed vocational reform.

That wasn’t forthcoming. It eventually charged on at full steam.

For an hour or so that day, I talked with Simmonds. Her disappointment and frustration with what was in store for the Invercargill-based Southern Institute of Technology was obvious.

After all, Simmonds had poured much of her working life into the Southern Institute of Technology.

She took on the CEO job in 1997. The organisation was floundering in terms of student numbers.

In 2000 the Southern Institute of Technology student numbers were 1100 and declining. Simmonds admitted the situation in 2000 was dire when she reflected close to two decades on.

SIT needed a point of difference and they found it through a united Southland front and the Zero Fees scheme.

The Invercargill Licensing Trust, Community Trust South, Southland District Council, Invercargill City Council and a group of Southland businesses teamed up to put together a $7.25m fund for SIT.

The fund helped launch the free fees scheme and within three years it had become self-sustainable.

SIT boosted its numbers from 1100 to 5000 students over about two decades.

It became a major player as part of Southland's economy. An economic impact report estimated SIT added $43m a year into Invercargill's economy alone.

Through Simmonds’ time at the helm, it never made a deficit and built up close to $40m in reserves. It also developed accommodation in Invercargill and turned the St John's Anglican Church in Tay St into a "creative centre".

At the time SIT also contributed close to $300,000 annually in sponsorship to sports and cultural activities, which included linking with the Southland Stags, Southland Sharks, and Southern Steel as major sponsors.

Many will suggest a lot of those things just mentioned aren’t, and shouldn’t be, the role of an education provider. New Zealand polytechnics shouldn’t be scrapping with each other over students through their own separate marketing drives.

The sole focus should be on education, and education alone. There should be a united approach nationally, some would say - and still do say for that matter.

But Simmonds, through the consultation and development of the merged national polytechnic, remained adamant regional autonomy should remain.

No one would have imagined at what length Simmonds would go to continue to push that belief.

And as it turns out she’s gone on to light a metaphoric match that will now largely send the centralised polytechnic up in smoke.

You’d have done well to predict what has transpired over close to five years since I sat down with Simmonds for that interview in February 2019.

Here is the script in bullet point form for you:

• After consultation, the polytechnic merger went ahead passing through the legislative requirements.

• In February 2020 a new SIT subsidiary board was appointed. The previous SIT chairperson Peter Heenan and deputy chairman Tim Ward were not re-elected.

• In May 2020 Simmonds announces she is attempting to enter politics. She is selected as the National Party candidate for the Invercargill electorate. Simmonds doesn’t hide the fact that the polytechnic reform played a part in her political quest.

• In October 2020 Simmonds is elected to parliament. She spends the next three years in opposition with the National Party as the polytechnic merger continues to progress.

• In October 2023 Simmonds is re-elected for a second term as Invercargill’s MP. This time as part of a National-led coalition Government alongside NZ First and ACT.

• On November 24, 2023, the Ministerial positions for the new Government are announced. Simmonds picks up the role of Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills. She finds herself, effectively, in charge of that merged “mega polytechnic” - Te Pūkenga.

• December 2023, days into her role, Simmonds writes a “letter of expectation” addressed to Te Pūkenga chair Murray Strong where she notes the plan to disestablish the centralised polytechnic. Strong then resigns.

Just take a moment and consider what has transpired there. Whatever side of the political fence you sit on it would be hard-pressed not to concede there is a fair bit of determination attached to all of that.

What now is of interest is just how the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga plays out and in what form it is replaced under Simmonds’ watch.