Martin Tracey: Education (Restoration of Democracy to University Councils) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMartin Tracey: Education (Restoration of Democracy to University Councils) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 02 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8498. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TRACEY MARTIN (NZ First): Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. Thank you very much. It is always interesting to follow Mr Bennett because there are times when I listen to Mr Bennett’s contributions and I think: “You know I might not know what I’m talking about.” Then I remember it is Mr Bennett and then I remember actually for example the little statement that Mr Bennett just made with regard to the Education (Restoration of Democracy to University Councils) Amendment Bill around the fact that the Green Party member Gareth Hughes was wrong when he talked about democracy and how there was not actually any democracy with regard to student representation or staff representation because they were appointed.Obviously Mr Bennett and the notes he has got—either he has read them wrong or he needs to replace his researchers. What we are talking about Mr Bennett is that there is a seat being placed there for a student representative who is then elected by the student body to that seat. I commend Mr Foster-Bell for his speech. He managed to find the single Māori woman in the whole of New Zealand who has been appointed by this Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment. So well done Mr Foster-Bell—a good piece of research there. You did have to search for it. I guarantee it: you did have to search for it.I want to commend Mr Cunliffe for trying to do the Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment a favour—for giving the Minister an opportunity to undo another cock-up that—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order!TRACEY MARTIN: —all right another mistake that the Minister has made inside amending the Education Act 1989.Just while we are talking about amending the Education Act 1989—there are so many things that have been contributed that will make it easier—Mr Foster-Bell said that the reason why this bill should not be supported is that the Act has only just been amended so therefore it does not make sense to go and amend an Act that has only just been amended. However this Government is in the middle of quite incredibly pressured consultation around amending exactly the Act that Mr Foster-Bell says we should not touch because it has just been amended and only yesterday the Government announced that it is putting in another piece of legislation to amend this Act that it amended only earlier this year.So you cannot have it both ways Mr Foster-Bell. Either it is all right for the Opposition to say that there is a mistake inside this legislation very similar to the legislative changes around the 7-year cap for example and to give Mr Joyce the opportunity to actually admit he made a mistake or it is not OK for the Government to go ahead and decide that it is going to continue to amend the Education Act 1989.Mr Foster-Bell’s conversation also—if you listen to it carefully—argued for exactly this piece of legislation. By mentioning the number of universities—predominantly in America and in the United Kingdom—where there was no student voice on those councils he argued exactly for the reason why it should be required that there be a seat for the student voice and a seat for the staff voice on university councils.Mr Williamson for example talked about how the right believes in the right to choose. Again Mr Williamson obviously did not really read his notes. He did not understand what had happened under the changes that happened earlier this year to the Education Act. The universities did not get their choice Mr Williamson. A hundred percent of the universities submitted and said: “Please don’t make this change.” If the Government if the right as Mr Williamson said truly stood for the right to choose it would have supported that university voice it would have supported the student voice it would have supported the staff voice and it would have supported their choice to have the council structure remain the same.What Mr Cunliffe is trying to do is undo a mistake. He is trying to give the Government the opportunity to put back what is democracy Mr Bennett into the representation of those councils. He is trying to give the Government an opportunity to say: “We should have listened in the beginning. We should have heard and realised that we have had one series of elections without this protection.” Government members have been lauding it that there is this voice here and two voices over here. Without these protections—Mr Foster-Bell has just told us—as we look to go forward that voice will disappear.