Donnelly Brian: National Certificate in Educational Achievement Moratorium Bill — First Reading 
Donnelly Brian: National Certificate in Educational Achievement Moratorium Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:606;Page:4053] 
Hon BRIAN DONNELLY (NZ First) 
: 
 I first have to comment on the statement made by Helen Duncan that we looked back to the introduction of School Certificate—that certainly must date her because School Certificate was introduced in the 1930s—and to the statement by National’s education spokesperson the Hon Nick Smith that National believes very strongly in examination at the sixth form level. The question has to be asked as to why for 9 years National left in place an internally assessed Sixth Form Certificate if it believed so strongly in examinations. 
If this bill provided for a moratorium on the increase of National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) fees New Zealand First would vote for it because the comments that were made by Dr Nick Smith are absolutely correct. The worst feature about the implementation of the NCEA has been the horrendous increase in fees locking out the very students whom the NCEA was designed to accommodate. The members on the Government side of the House need to hang their heads in shame on that one. 
However this particular bill to put it bluntly is a nonsense. The horse has bolted. Level 2 of the NCEA has already commenced; it is well under way. This bill is simply an ACT gimmick. I draw members’ attention to its introduction date: 5 December 2002. How did ACT ever believe that it could get this bill through the parliamentary process before the end at the very best of the year 2003 when level 2 of the NCEA will have been in action for a whole year? Are we then to stop it after that year and go back to Sixth Form Certificate for which we will have no grades to base it upon? This bill is simply an ACT gimmick. It should be noted in fact that only 14 schools out of 336 are not doing level 2 of the NCEA even though they have the option of doing transitional Sixth Form Certificate—only 14 out of 336 schools. It is those 14 schools and the people who surround them that in fact ACT is trying to curry favour with. 
But there is an exquisite irony in the situation that we find ourselves in. It is pretty obvious that Donna Awatere Huata is passionate about this bill and it is also pretty obvious that ACT is totally opposed to the continued implementation of the NCEA. I want to know—and I will certainly be listening to hear this—how many votes ACT will actually cast. Will ACT cast its full complement of votes to record both Donna Awatere Huata’s opposition to the NCEA and the full ACT caucus’ opposition to it? 
If ACT does not cast the nine votes that its whip carries that will demonstrate that the only reason ACT is hanging on to Donna Awatere Huata is to have the $110000 per annum that it is able to achieve by doing so. ACT can demonstrate how much integrity it has by the number of votes it casts because ACT holds Donna Awatere Huata’s vote in its whip’s hand. 
The Minister Mr Mallard delayed level 1 of the NCEA for one year and there were still tremendous implementation problems. No one can deny that there were serious implementation problems and serious underfunding. There are still serious implementation problems that have to be overcome. But it is interesting to note that England has announced that it will throw out the A levels and O levels and will introduce a system almost the same as the NCEA. I also point out that the conceptualisation and design of the NCEA was not National’s. It came about through the National - New Zealand First coalition. New Zealand First is proud of its involvement in the NCEA because we believe that in the next couple of years people will understand the full profound and positive effect that the NCEA will have on our education system. We certainly do not pull away from it; as I say we are very proud of it. 
The system that existed prior to the introduction of the NCEA was far far worse than the NCEA. People talk about percentages. Let me tell members that virtually no one understood what a percentage in School Certificate actually was.