Brownlee Gerry: Education (Trustee Ineligibility) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Brownlee Gerry: Education (Trustee Ineligibility) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:623;Page:18514] 
GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam) 
: 
 I move  
That the Education (Trustee Ineligibility) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 I would indicate at this point that it be sent to the Education and Science Committee. 
This is a very very short bill but none the less a serious one. It has been in the ballot for quite some years now and arises out of a situation that was made apparent to the Education and Science Committee at the time concerning the election of a person to a board of trustees who had not long since been released from prison having served a sentence for crimes that related to inappropriate activity between that person and children. These are generally known as crimes related to the conduct of paedophilia. 
While it is not in my nature to go around wanting to ban people from doing things and it is not my natural inclination to encumber organisations with too many rules I think it is important that the law does whatever it can to protect children. There are some criminal activities that should prohibit people from being involved in certain activities from that point. I think this is one of those examples. 
So all this bill sets out to do is to amend the Education Act by inserting in section 103 and subsequent other sections about 11 changes to the Act which make it very clear that where each of those changes is made a crime is specified and if someone is convicted of those crimes regardless of whether that person has served his or her sentence appropriately that person cannot serve on a board of trustees in a school. That may sound a little bit tough but I think that these days school boards and the activities that go on around schools are increasingly being seen as the hub of communities even in the most urban of areas. 
People often say that people do not join organisations these days. The idea of volunteering is not as strong as it used to be and community service does not seem to have the same ranking in people’s minds as it used to. I always think we need to look at the many schools throughout this country about 27 in my own electorate each with its own school board and each with its own family parents and friends association. All are working towards the betterment of the community by providing extra services to the school. 
Some people might ask why a person who had served time for a crime should be prevented from being part of that. The fact is that that person has not been prevented if the school wants that person to be involved at some level—although I would advise that the person should not be involved—but they are prevented from taking up a statutory role such as that on a board of governors. 
I hope that the Education and Science Committee has this bill referred to it tonight and I hope the committee considers it carefully and brings a report back to the House that recommends that it be passed. There is no need to say too much more. The bill is very very short. It is quite explicit about what it sets out to achieve and I commend it for members’ consideration.