Primary principals have accepted the latest Ministry of Education pay offer – the third that had been put on the table.

It’ll be welcome relief for the education minister Jan Tinetti, who was today ordered by parliament’s Privileges Committee to apologise over a misleading statement made in the house earlier this year.

In a statement, the lead negotiator for the Primary Principals’ Collective Agreement, Lynda Stuart, said there were wins for school leaders in the deal that will have “far reaching” effects.

“The offer is a step towards addressing some of the issues principals across the country are facing. Principals will continue to push to stop education from becoming a political football,” said Stuart. “They will also work to hold the government to task… to reduce class sizes and improve management staffing. We still need to see improvements to learning support, including better access for tamariki to effective specialist support.”

The new deal includes a 6% increase to principals’ base salaries from July 3 this year, followed by another 3% rise in July 2024 and a 1.8% bump in December 2024. Union members will also receive $4,500 as a lump say payment, split in two, along with professional coaching and wellbeing and payments to cover the cost of renewing a teaching practice certificate.

Earlier in the month, primary school teachers voted to accept the fourth Ministry of Education collective agreement offer.

A new report from chief ombudsman Peter Boshier is urging the Department of Corrections to fix a number of workplace culture and leadership problems. Boshier says his investigation has revealed a divided organisation with systemic issues. Boshier launched his investigation after concerning issues he saw coming up at Waikeria and other prisons “again and again” despite “countless recommendations for change by both me and other oversight agencies”.

Boshier has cited concerns over the rights of prisoners. He told RNZ’s Checkpoint last night that he made 32 prison inspections and made numerous recommendations since his appointment in 2015, but changes have occurred at a “glacial” pace. He said Corrections was being defensive, risk-averse and believed it had made changes when there was no evidence of it on the ground, he said. Corrections minister Kelvin Davis has said the department had accepted all the report’s recommendations, while also defending its record.

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The education minister has escaped a severe penalty after her appearance before the Privileges Committee earlier in the month.

While Jan Tinetti hasn’t been found in contempt of parliament, she will have to apologise for misleading the house.

Tinetti was in hot water over the release of school attendance data. She initially claimed she was not responsible for their release, but found out soon after that her statement had been incorrect. However, it took until May for her to apologise.

“We find that in failing to correct her inaccurate statement to the house… the minister made and sustained an erroneous judgement that caused the house to be misled,” the report by the committee read. “During this time, the house was impeded in the performance of its functions. We recommend that the minister be required to apologise to the house for her conduct. However, we accept that the minister’s actions arose from a high degree of negligence on her part, not an intention that the house be misled.”

Justice minister Kiri Allan returned to parliament this morning, having been on personal leave for mental health reasons for about the last week.

The return comes amid claims that staff had expressed concern over working relationships in her office, though Allan has today refuted that.

“I have never had any formal allegations ever raised. We often, frequently, talk about a whole range of different issues,” Allan told media. “Whether those are policy expectations that haven’t been met or are being met, whether those are different characteristics within the office.”

It wasn’t “necessarily true” that staff in her office had felt uncomfortable and Allan said she was proud of her team. “We’re the kind of office that we run hard while we’ve got the ball. I think it’s been a pretty great place to work, to be honest.”

She added: “These are serious allegations and I would have expected a serious process to be followed if that was indeed the case… That’s not the details that have been raised with me. There have never been any formal allegations put to me.” The turnover in her office was “very comparable” for others, Allan said, and she believed she was a good boss.

Meanwhile, Stuff’s reported on a mystery withheld text that appeared to be at the centre of the Allan saga. A text message from a senior MBIE staff that referenced Allan’s “behaviour and conduct” was not released to the National Party, who had asked for documents under the Official Information Act.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority said a G-rated documentary that aired on TVNZ1 in January breached the children’s interest standards due to some potentially harmful content.

Our Big Blue Backyard included a scene in which “a female dolphin was pursued, trapped and mated with by a group of male dolphins,” the BSA said. The documentary should have been slapped with a PG rating to “signpost to parents or caregivers that supervision was recommended for younger viewers”. As such, the BSA has upheld one complaint.

“The BSA determined the scene went beyond audience expectations of the programme’s ‘G’ rating as it featured mature themes, graphic images, and tense dramatisation through sinister music, language and audio of dolphin cries (which could have been interpreted as the distressed cries of the female),” the authority said in a statement.

“These factors in combination meant the scene may have been alarming or distressing for children watching.”

Apologies if you’ve been checking in with The Spinoff all morning wanting your news fix. We’ve had some slight tech issues, but these should be resolved now. Normal service resumes now – but in the meantime, here are three top reads that have just gone live.

• The growing momentum behind Brooke van Velden’s bid for Tāmaki: The Act Party deputy leader wants to unseat National’s Simon O’Connor in the ‘true blue’ seat of Tāmaki, in what’s quickly becoming a fascinating election year race. Stewart Sowman-Lund joins the campaign trail.
• The Side Eye: Sticking your neck out: In 1995, Otago and All Blacks flanker Josh Kronfeld used his head – literally – to make a unique protest. The Side Eye looks back at a memorable example of a New Zealander going against the grain.
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