The Government has announced that we’re taking another step toward ending the failed experiment that was open-plan classrooms, with an additional $31.3 million being invested in around 170 schools nationwide, including Mercury Bay Area School.
That investment will be used to install internal walls to create clear, defined classroom spaces, as well as funding design work for more complex renovations. The result will be calmer, less disruptive learning spaces across New Zealand. This will provide a better environment for students to focus, take part and succeed in their education, while also giving teachers a more comfortable space to inspire the next generation of Kiwis.
The education sector has been calling for this change, with nearly 200 schools across New Zealand submitting expressions of interest since the fund was first announced. Open-plan classrooms were noisy and hard to manage, and putting walls back up is a practical investment that backs our schools to do what they do best.
This funding builds on the $10 million already committed last year, which has already seen eight schools finish their classrooms, with more on the way. New schools are no longer built open-plan, so this is about fixing the older ones.
In other news, the Government is taking action to protect children online, back parents, and hold technology companies accountable for the risks their platforms pose to young people.
We’ve introduced the Online Safety (Minimum Age and Child Safety Risk Assessment) Bill which will establish New Zealand’s first dedicated legislative framework for children’s online safety. This comes on the back of parents asking the Government to do more to protect children online.
We’ve heard them, and we’re acting by raising the minimum age for high-risk social media platforms to 16 and requiring platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent under 16s from holding accounts.
A 2025 survey found 90% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 used social media, with one in three respondents saying they spend at least five hours a day on these apps. Nearly 40% said they wished social media had never been invented. The first reading of the Bill will take place during the next parliamentary term.
Ramarama Stream Bridge Replacement
Construction will begin next month on a new two-lane bridge on State Highway 25 north of Whiritoa,
The new bridge will replace the existing single-lane Ramarama Stream Bridge, which is nearly a century old and carries more than 2,500 vehicles each day, including around 13 percent heavy vehicles.
Brian Perry Civil will deliver the approximately $10 million Ramarama Stream Bridge project. The new bridge will be built immediately east of the existing bridge, allowing traffic to continue using the current crossing during construction and minimising disruption. At least one lane of the new bridge is expected to open to traffic by August 2027,
“The Government is also funding improvements across the wider Coromandel, including the replacement of the Pepe Stream Bridge in Tairua, completed work on the Boundary Creek Bridge north of Thames, and the replacement of the Onetai Stream Bridge north of Paeroa.”
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