Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Thank you very much Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise to take a call on the Education Amendment Bill in opposition to the Education Amendment Bill. I think this bill could be put into three themes: a lack of accountability complete ideology and a rushed and sham of a process. I will be touching on four of the key themes of this bill in my speech: firstly on partnership schools; secondly on national standards; thirdly on the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics of New Zealand; and lastly on to the fees-free policies. What we see in this Government is one of the most ideological Governments that New Zealand has ever seen and the most ideological Minister of Education that New Zealand has seen. He spoke of pragmatic changes in his speech but there are no pragmatic changes in this bill. He spoke of resolving errors and omissions in the Education Act but all that this bill puts into the Education Act will be errors and omissions. We just heard from the Hon Jenny Salesa who just sat down who said that Labour has been very clear about its opposition to partnership schools. We'll touch on that soon and we'll hear a few comments from Willie Jackson and Peeni Henare and hear exactly what they do have to say about partnership schools. She then said that she thanked all of the submitters who came and submitted to the process. Well I've got news for the Labour Party: the majority of those who submitted on partnership schools submitted against repealing partnership schools and closing those schools down. So I think those facts need to be put on the table and on the record for all New Zealanders and all of those listening to understand the facts of what we are debating here tonight.Firstly this bill removes partnership schools and removes the partnership school model. The Minister might be trying to say Well we've managed to move these schools and they're going to remain open and we're going to keep them going." But there are key differences in the partnership model to the special designated model that he has moved them to. What he is doing is putting ideology above kindness ideology above caring and ideology above the 1500 young people whose lives are being changed and whose lives are being impacted positively by these schools. One only needs to go so far as to go and visit one of these schools and you will see the difference that they are making in the lives of the young people who are being taught at these schools. I challenge the Minister and I challenge the Labour Party members to go and visit these schools and see what they are doing the impact that they are having and the results that they are having on some of our most disadvantaged communities on some of the communities that they represent on that side of the House. Young people—Erica Stanford: Not any more.SIMEON BROWN: Well they don't represent them. That's the problem as Erica Stanford rightly points out. They don't represent them because if they truly represented those young people they wouldn't be down here in the House clapping their hands and closing these schools on a Wednesday evening. So this is a bill that drives to the heart of the ideological difference between what National believes and what Labour believes in.Chlöe Swarbrick: That's ideology.SIMEON BROWN: Labour and the Green Party—thank you Chlöe Swarbrick—and New Zealand First believe that the Government knows best. The State knows best. We believe that there are people who can choose and their parents can choose how they believe their children should be educated and that there are other ways in which education models can work and that outcomes are more important than the model that the Government dictates.So National is strongly opposed to removing the partnership model and will when we're back in Government be putting this model back in place. That will only be two years away at most because we know what a shambolic Government this is on the other side of the House and how disorganised disunited and shambolic that they are. We'll be back in Government very soon and we'll get our education system back on track when the most ideological Minister of Education Chris Hipkins will be kicked out of his office and will probably also lose the seat of Rimutaka. So back to the bill.The second point that I'd like to talk about is the removal of national standards. Again we go back to the fact that this is about removing accountability. It is about ideology above what matters for parents and what matters for children. We have to remember what national standards do. They provide a nationwide picture of achievement and they allow parents to know how their child is doing. We don't want to go back to the bad old days when parents didn't know what their child was doing and they were given some report that kind of said this or kind of said that. What parents want to know was how their child is doing how their child is achieving and how they can support their child in their educational journey. This legislation takes away that ability for parents to be part of that process because of the ideologically driven nature of this bill.We have to remember who is behind this bill and we have to remember the support that this Government gets—Hon Tracey Martin: Don't say it.SIMEON BROWN: —from its unions and its union friends. I know that Tracey Martin is counting how many times I'm going to mention the word "union" but it's the union friends who support the Government on the other side of the House and who are adamant in their support of making sure that they get some—I wouldn't use the word "payback" because I used that yesterday and I got into trouble for it but—Kieran McAnulty: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. If I'm not mistaken Speaker's ruling 52/1 prevents members from trying the little trick that was tried just then: saying "I won't say something but …" which has just been evident there and I would ask Madam Deputy Speaker that you reflect on that ruling.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I don't need to reflect on it. I was already glaring at the speaker who knew jolly well that he had transgressed. I don't need the help; however it's nice to know that you have been reading the Speakers' Rulings.SIMEON BROWN: That's very good. Thank you very much Madam Deputy Speaker.These changes are supported by the unions but parents know what is needed parents know what they need to know about their children and parents will be voting for National to be back so that we can bring back into law standards and bring into law the opportunity for accountability in the education sector. I can't wait for the next election once more.Thirdly I'd like to touch on the changes that this bill makes to the governance structure of our universities and polytechs. Again this is about removing accountability and weakening the governance of the structure. It's putting in place student voices and teacher voices around the governance tables and the councils. What we know is that these bodies are governance bodies; they require governance skills. But the changes that this bill makes are that those who are elected by the students or by the staff will be deemed to have the knowledge and skills and experience that those who would be appointed by the Minister have. It is essentially a weakening in the governance and structure of our universities and our polytechs. It is about weakening the governance of these institutions and it is about weakening our education institutions further.The last point I'd like to touch on is around the fees-free changes. We know on this side of the House that the fees-free policy has been a $2.8 billion policy that has achieved no increase in enrolments in our university and tertiary institution sector. It is $2.8 billion that they have poured in without any impact on enrolments or any impact on the number of students going to university and studying. But what this legislation does—and we know the process was put in very quickly. They got elected and then they had to put the process in. Now what they're doing is they're putting a $5000 fine in place if you make a false declaration that you haven't studied before—$5000. That's all it is. A $5000 fine if you're caught. And it's not a statutory declaration it's just an ordinary declaration so it's a lower standard. It's not the same standard that most people have to do for many other things that they go and get Government services for and get a statutory declaration which they have to have witnessed. This is a lower form of declaration and that is what this bill has put in place. It's almost a year late. The fees-free policy started at the beginning of this year and now we're discussing the second reading of the Education Amendment Bill which puts in place a scheme. Will they be going back and checking on all of the students who enrolled at the beginning of this year to ensure that they actually qualify for free fees? We'll be asking these questions in the committee stage. We'll be bringing some Supplementary Order Papers through to clarify what is meant by this legislation.But I'd like to go back and touch on partnership schools and the partnership school model. We know that on the other side of the House they're not united in their opposition to partnership schools. We know that they're not united in their opposition to partnership schools because we know from what we've heard from Willie Jackson and Peeni Henare. Peeni Henare said the bottom line is "Why would you stop something that is working?" That's the question that the other side need to answer: why do you stop something that is working? That's not said by me; that's said by one of their own. They need to answer that question here in the House tonight.My challenge to them is show me some evidence. Show me why they believe that partnership schools should be closed and how they are failing our schools because they are not. The evidence is clear. They're making a huge difference in the lives of many of our most disadvantaged young people."