Macindoe Tim; Williams PotoHon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): Kia orana Madam Assistant Speaker and a very happy New Year to you and to all members many of whom are looking tanned and I hope are feeling rested after a wonderful holiday. Could I say to Chlöe Swarbrick I'm very pleased to hear her acknowledging the merits of the teaching profession as a former secondary teacher. I was also pleased to hear her acknowledge that currently on the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand the majority of members are teachers so I'm not sure quite what problem she thinks that she is going to solve.I must admit I came to work this morning not particularly looking forward to putting on a suit because as we've all sweltered over recent weeks the idea of a suit and tie wasn't very appealing but here we are in a rather nice air conditioned building and I'm actually quite enjoying the temperature. In fact after listening to Government speakers for the last hour or so I think I'm going to sleep very well for the first time all year tonight and I'm really looking forward to it.Members opposite will recall no doubt to their embarrassment and shame that before Christmas in this supposedly really important 100 days of action they spent almost every day in this House filibustering on bills that they'd inherited from the previous National Government that were totally non-controversial that everybody supported and that we were quite happy to see go through quite quickly. But oh no they slowed them down because they had absolutely nothing of their own to introduce.And here we are as they come towards this supposed milestone the completion of their 100 days of office and they have in their desperation dug down into the bottom of the barrel to find a former member's bill which is called what the Education (Teaching Council of Aotearoa) Amendment Bill. But wait we've just heard from Mrs Martin that the really exciting addition is going to be putting New Zealand" on at the end of that title. That's really going to be important.I cannot believe that this Government in its 100 days of action is still here in the new year incapable of coming up with something that is really of significant moment. If this bill is the highlight of their 100 days of action they are in deep trouble. As the Hon Paul Goldsmith alluded to they are doing it only because it was a member's bill that was already drafted and they had nothing else ready to go.So let me ask my colleagues: was this topic a big issue on the campaign trail last year?Simeon Brown: No.Hon TIM MACINDOE: No I didn't think it was. Do our constituents raise it at our local events or when we bump into them at the supermarket or at our meetings in our electorates?Simeon Brown: No.Hon TIM MACINDOE: No? No they don't. More importantly will this bill help the new Government to fund their extravagant policies and to improve the quality of teaching in New Zealand?Simeon Brown: No.Hon TIM MACINDOE: No it won't. That's what the Act it will replace was designed to do and it's worth remembering that the previous Government allocated serious money for that purpose. There was a very genuine and significant commitment.Or is this just another sop to their union backers this time especially from the NZEI Te Riu Roa who write their education policies and are demanding payback for all their effort from the campaign trail last year? Yes of course that's what this is about. So the highlight of the Government's 100 days of action will be passing the Statutes Amendment Bill and now changing the name of the Education Council to the Teaching Council. Wow hold the front page what an amazing record!Hon Chris Hipkins: As opposed to the pumpkin?Hon TIM MACINDOE: Ha ha! Yes well at least my pumpkin was doing something purposeful. At least my pumpkin was growing Mr Hipkins and now I know—here we have an admission from the Minister of Education that he joined with Jamie Strange. They were both out there in the dead of night with their knives and their sickles severing the stem of my pumpkin and I'm distraught and I'm devastated. Mr Hipkins I'll be back I tell you what. There's more where that came from.The Hon Nikki Kaye in leading off the National Party's position on this bill made the very serious point that the original Teachers Council was not achieving what it should have been. That is why we in the previous National Government made the changes that we did. I was on the Education and Science Committee when we considered that bill and I want to say to Mrs Martin who made a fatuous ridiculous claim before that I've never never heard anybody argue that anybody can teach. I've never heard that view expressed—not once.I am very happy to acknowledge the fact that we have an excellent teaching profession in this country and I agree with Jan Tinetti that the vast majority of teachers I know and with whom I've been proud to be associated have always felt a great deal of pride in their profession and pride in their work and in particular get absolute joy out of nurturing young people into doing the very best they can and becoming fine young people. That's what makes teaching so rewarding and so I don't think there's any distinction or difference of opinion about that depending on which side of the House you're on.But all this bill does is reverse necessary changes that the previous Government made to ensure that the council had more scope to invest in leadership as well as teaching and some of the initiatives that were introduced under the Hon Anne Tolley and then the Hon Hekia Parata and carried on by the Hon Nikki Kaye were making a very significant difference. They were not demeaning as has been inferred by some of the speakers opposite; instead they were saying this is such an important job such an important profession that we need to ensure that we do everything we can to lift the standard of teaching to the highest it can be because the children of this country deserve nothing less.That's why I was very proud and pleased to be able to support it. Through our original plan $200 million was set aside for development programmes that would have been transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Education Council. So it was a very significant commitment by the previous Government. It was over three years; it would have been starting this year.We oppose this bill that the new Government is introducing adapted from a member's bill because it reverts to an old model that hadn't been working well rather than a skills and core competencies approach to lift the quality of teaching. I lament that and I urge the Government to reconsider.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I understand this is a split call. Marja Lubeck—five minutes."