Nimon KatieKATIE NIMON (National—Napier): I'm really pleased to be standing here to speak to the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill and specifically to shed some light on some context. On Friday I was really privileged to join Minister Stanford in Gisborne to attend the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships awards. For those of you that don't know my electorate goes all the way up into Gisborne and boundaries with that of my good friend and colleague Dana Kirkpatrick to the southern area of Gisborne District. So I was very privileged to be there and present with my friend Dana who knows so many of the community. It's quite amazing to see her be greeted by people with such joy. It was a real privilege to be there.Erica did a fantastic job of acknowledging the very importance of particularly the 28th Māori Battalion but also the Ngarimu VC scholarship awards and the history and some real history was shared on this particular scholarship fund while we were there. One of the points—and there were so many points; the whole ceremony was five hours in the glorious Gisborne sunshine might I add. The history was that there was money put aside in recognition of Ngarimu after his life was lost in the war to acknowledge the descendants of his family. I believe that about £7500 was raised by parliamentarians at the time in support. And with inflation I think you could calculate it it would be in the millions in terms of what money was raised. As that has gone on over time it has raised a significant amount so we've actually been able to contribute to the careers of the most incredible bright young Māori people. I just make a point as to why some of these changes in this bill are so important. One young gentleman Heremia McGarvey I met at Lake Waikaremoana earlier this year when I was with Minister Potaka—[Interruption] Yes a fantastic Minister. We were opening the Lake Waikaremoana track with Tūhoe iwi. Heremia is part of that iwi and I met him there. I thought What an impressive young man. He's going to go a really long way." I have to say it was one of the most proud moments when I sat down in the audience at the awards on Friday to see Heremia McGarvey's name in the programme receiving a scholarship. He is studying law in Wellington and I thought "My gosh he really is an impressive young man." This award recognises men like him and some of the other men and women who receive these scholarships. They were not just undergraduates. There were also those with a doctorate a Master's vocational education and there were some incredible video acknowledgments made. One was to the head girl of Rangitoto College which the Minister acknowledged herself being a former student of Rangitoto College as well.The point here in this bill is the change that is necessary to be made which is to modernise the language so that we can protect organisations like this. The descendants are very important to this and it was hosted at C Company Memorial House. But it's important that the fund is administered and acknowledged to be in the right place. The other thing to add—and we were very privileged to have Willie Apiata VC in our presence. It was an incredible thing I've got to say. One of the highlights of my day was meeting Willie Apiata a true hero—and yes he is tall. He spoke off the cuff. He didn't know he was meant to be speaking and he spoke off the cuff to his experiences and why this scholarship award is so important. He made the point so perfectly himself that you've got to keep this going so that those that receive it and those that go on to receive it understand how important it is and what it means to the future of these young people—and actually they are not all young people. Some are incredibly successful people in their 50s and 60s who have led incredible lives and continue to study and contribute.I've made acknowledgment of the board members and so one of the points in this bill is about the board members of the Ngarimu VC scholarship and the scholarship fund Act. Of course we have representatives from Māori electorates many of whom were there on the day. I acknowledge my colleague Cushla Tangaere-Manuel who is the member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti and was there representing her electorate. I think the point is that we've got our Minister of Education our Māori electorate MPs and we have also got representatives from the various companies within 28th Māori Battalion. But to have a new Māori representative position on the board this is fundamental. Just to draw your attention to it there is on the board someone that has served or is currently serving in the New Zealand Defence Force. Now that might be one Willie Apiata VC. Now I'm not going to do the Governor-General's job and decide who it is that's going to take that position. But it felt quite interesting to me sitting in the audience and wondering why it was that he wasn't on the board. He was such a significant part of that organisation. He was there representing but it's because there is not a provisional place for him on the board. Now this amendment would allow that. Now as I say that's not to say that he necessarily will take that board position but for this amendment to create a position for him I think is something that will take this bill a really long way. So look I say that that particular aspect of the bill is really important to me and I say I have experience with it—just to see the importance of what happens when you really continue the legacy of something so fundamental to our country.There is something to point out on the next aspect—and obviously this is a three-part bill. A lot of people have referred to it as an omnibus bill. It does cover a lot of points but the next aspect is the Pacific Education Foundation. This is something really interesting and I've made a couple of points here. Under the Pacific Education Foundation the amount that was meant for each financial year hasn't been changed since 1972. My good friend and colleague Hamish Campbell made the point of modernising this bill so we don't have to keep changing it. What we're doing here is allowing ourselves to have this information change with time without having to constantly go back in and make further changes.Another point to make is about the "Aotearoa Pacific person" a person who is living in New Zealand who is granted a permanent residence but is from a Pacific nation. Now I think this is really interesting to acknowledge. We've got an upcoming trip a delegation to the Pacific Islands. Actually it's a Speaker's delegation and one of the countries that we are visiting is Niue. There's a really interesting background on Niue:1950 people live in Niue but more of them live in New Zealand. It's important for us to acknowledge those people under this programme.I hear members opposite scoffing at this but actually this was their bill and had this bill gone through during under their time I have no doubt they would speaking to all these points in such depth. Now all of a sudden it doesn't sound as important to them as it did when this bill was under their watch.There are some really fantastic aspects to this bill and I think that it's important that I highlight these. Unfortunately some of these things are really necessary for us to change and one of the points that I've got here is about the childcare centres. I am actually—and it's amazing that it's taken me this long to bring it up—the chair of the Education and Workforce Committee and just recently we heard from the Associate Minister of Education who's responsible for early childcare education centres. What's been identified during his time as the Minister is that for some of these childcare centres that are attached to perhaps gyms for example or malls actually it hasn't been a requirement for these people to have police vetting. And so it's really important. Some of the interesting information in this bill is that employers—although they're already required to police vet it's not before they start employment.I know from my experience managing a bus company that you have to vet all of your staff. It is a fundamental part but actually they need multiple police vets. If you were a firefighter and you were a bus driver you need to have two checks. It doesn't matter that you don't need to necessarily go across both of those. And so when you start in one of these roles it's so fundamental that you are checked by police. My good friend and colleague Carl Bates known in Whanganui as the "everywhere man" has two young children in early childhood education and an example for him would be knowing that if he were to take his children when he was going to the gym to a childcare centre they would have the same health and safety expectations and that his children would be safe and with people who are fit and proper. Just to summarise the points we've got here there are three key aspects to this bill and I think it's really good."