Pallett SarahSARAH PALLETT (Labour—Ilam): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a privilege to rise to speak in this debate on the report on the inquiry into student accommodation not as a member of the committee but as a mother of two university students and also as the MP for Ilam which is where the University of Canterbury sits. As we're aware this inquiry was triggered by the tragic death of 19-year-old Mason Pendrous in his room at the University of Canterbury. I'd just like to take a moment to talk a little about Mason in the words of the Hon Justice Toogood in his report. He said that Mason was regarded by those privileged to know him as a very likeable friendly and helpful person with a quiet independent personality and a quirky sense of humour." I'd also like to acknowledge the profound losses of Mason's stepfather Antony Holland who he called dad and his dad Steve Pendrous. My younger daughter was the same age as Mason in 2019 and also at university and so I can only begin to understand and imagine the depth of their pain and will apologise for any additional distress that this process will undoubtedly be causing.As parents we know that our young people are profoundly vulnerable when they first leave home to go to university or take on further study. They are most vulnerable at a time when they feel invincible. Above all what we want for our children and young people is for them to be safe. Now we know that university accommodation typically costs more than accommodation in the private sector and the expectation with that additional cost being that there will be a little more oversight and that students will get a student experience whilst also being close to their peers. But this inquiry has shown that this increased perception of safety is just that in many cases—a perception—but there is a great deal of variation across the country.Here I need to acknowledge the commitment of the leadership team at the University of Canterbury led by Vice-Chancellor Cheryl de la Rey. I'd like to outline a few of the changes that they have instigated since the tragic death of Mason. They have a totally new framework now for pastoral care in all their halls and don't offer semi-independent accommodation packages to their first-year students any more. They've made significant and immediate increase to the ratio of residential assistants who live on sight and these are often senior students who provide oversight and support. The students will often reach out to the residential assistants when they have a problem but this report did highlight that some providers didn't have an effective escalation process so this needs addressing clearly. In Canterbury the management of all halls has been strengthened and they've established a student success framework with an e-learning platform called Analytics for Course Engagement or ACE which has been really successful at ensuring that there's greater tracking of the students' progress as they continue through the university journey. It's been particularly successful during the COVID-19 lockdown because it enabled the student advisers to monitor the student wellbeing more effectively and so successful has it been that University of Canterbury is working with the Tertiary Education Commission to explore future implementation at other tertiary institutions. In addition they've created a buddy system which is available for all first-year students and expanded the induction process and programme which covers support services.So in short whilst I am really heartened to see the University of Canterbury take a lead in making some positive changes I would urge continued improvement and I would also urge all of our tertiary institutes to keep Mason Pendrous in their thoughts as they work to make their positive changes that are so needed. As my colleague across the House Chlöe Swarbrick just quoted from Mason's stepdad his dad "He was a young man who changed the world." Thank you Madam Speaker."