The Minister of Education was asked if he subscribed to a particular political philosophy. "Well, no. There are great dangers in a rapidly changing world of wedding yourself to a philosophy which would become quickly outdated. So I do not want to become a captive to one rigid political philosophy. I suppose if you wanted a phrase I'm a mixed economist."

By way of explanation, Mr Wellington said, "In a small country like New Zealand there is simply certain things that the state must - because there is no alternative out there - must provide.

"But point two, where there is a possibility of encouraging that which is not the state or central government -well, you know - we should be doing that.

"So what I'm saying is, there is no alternative to the state in conjunction with other groups such as the churches (I'm talking about education) running education.

"On the other hand, in my view the state has no place in doing anything other than encouraging industry, farming, fishing, and so on. So I think the government has a very important role in the servicing sector of the community and that those not part of the state system have a very important part in being dominant and predominant in the productive sector."

More specifically, Mr Wellington described his aims as Minister of Education.