Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:635;Page:6573] 
1. Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does he stand by his pre-election statement that “86000 children will definitely get 20 free hours under Labour”? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 I stand by my statement made prior to the election that “86000 children will be worse off” under National’s plan to axe the policy of 20 free hours and replace it with a complicated rebate system that offers nothing to low-income families. In contrast based on current enrolments of 3 to 4-year-olds at early childhood centres Labour’s policy of 20 free hours will definitely be available for up to 92000 children. We would expect that figure to increase over time as the number of qualified teachers increases more parents take up the option of 20 free hours and Labour’s investment continues in this very very popular policy. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Why did the Government promise at the last election that 86000 children would get 20 hours of free childcare when in Auckland and Wellington over 70 percent of providers will not be able to offer it and nationwide as many as 40 percent will not be able to offer it? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: What the Government said at the last election was that up to 92000 young people would be eligible for the policy of 20 free hours and that the numbers would increase as the resources for this policy increased. But where the member gets his figures from I cannot imagine because the consultation finished only last week. 
Sue Moroney 
: What is the Labour-led Government doing to put quality early childhood education within the reach of all New Zealand families? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: To use an overused word heaps. Early childhood education is clearly one of the major success stories under Labour. This year we will invest more than $750 million in this area including more than $128 million to implement our policy of 20 hours of free early childhood education. As a result of our investments around 94 percent of all New Zealand children now take part in early childhood education. The number of qualified teachers has increased by 50 percent and funding has doubled since 1999. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: How will a national average subsidy across the whole country accommodate cost differentials such as property costs staff salaries staff qualifications student-teacher ratios etc; if those differentials are not accommodated will that mean that many providers will have to reject the 20 free hours’ offer? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: They may not and of course one of the things in the policy design has been to work out what the rate of subsidy should be and how it will address different regional variances in terms of costs. That is what people are out talking about now. The policy has been consulted on throughout the country over the last week and we hope to set that subsidy rate prior to Christmas or soon after. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How many children will be excluded from the promised 20 free hours and when does he plan to tell the parents of those children that the children have been excluded and actually have no entitlement to the 20 free hours because it is not compulsory for every early childhood centre in the country to provide it? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The policy has been non-compulsory since it was first announced so that is no surprise to anybody. No one is excluded from the policy. It will depend of course on how rapidly we can build up this policy to ensure that it is available to communities throughout the country. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Does the Minister believe he was premature with the announcement of 20 free hours for all 3 and 4-year-olds and would it not have been better to do the sums and work out the detail before announcing the slogan? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: My predecessor was not premature; he never is. 
Sue Moroney 
: What reports has he seen on alternative policies for early childhood education? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I have seen a report of a policy that would include scrapping Labour’s promise of 20 free hours; providing assistance for working families only through a complicated tax rebate system—the more one earns the more help one gets—not providing any help at all to low-income families; and leaving behind the children of beneficiaries. That is a summary of the National Party’s policy. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How will the Government deal with providers who decide they are able to offer say only 6 free hours instead of 20 and how does that sit with the Minister’s promise of 20 free hours for up to 86000 children? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I am not sure what the hypothetical case is that the member is raising about someone offering only 6 hours and not 20. What we are offering here is basically a subsidy for 20 free hours. The rate is the crucial issue as to whether people will take it up. As I say we will announce it either this side of or shortly after Christmas. As I have already said one of the components of this policy will be to make sure we have good teachers and centres around the country. Given our track record so far it is no wonder that everybody believes us and not the National Party. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Will he reassure parents that their children will be able to access their 20 free hours or is this just another cruel hoax being perpetrated on the young people of this country? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I thank the member for his very strong endorsement of the policy on 20 free hours given the advocacy through his questions today. It is good to see that the National Party is now adopting this Government policy as well as others. Will I reassure parents? Yes I will.