Seymour DavidDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of ACT in support of this Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill. This is a relatively minor and technical bill. It effectively changes the rules around two organisations that have a statutory basis—that is that law passed by this Parliament is important to their operation. Sometimes when organisations want to change how they operate they actually need Parliament to sign them off. Now I think reasonable people could ask Does Parliament need to pass so many laws for specific organisations? Maybe people should be left to their own devices and do their business under the normal laws that apply equally to all across New Zealand." but the facts are that these two organisations—first the 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund and also the Pacific Education Foundation—have both been established by Acts of Parliament and if they want to change how they operate they must make changes.And ACT is not here to be particularly difficult. We think if that's what they'd like to do then Parliament should assist them and allow them to operate the way that they would like to operate. However I would make a couple of comments about the particular content which is not the way that we would have done it. Again the bill seeks to modify the functions of the Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board to recognise the successor of the 28th (Māori) Battalion (NZ) Association Inc. Well that's all fine but it also says "create a new national Māori representative position on the board. This position will be held by a person of Māori descent who has served or is currently serving in the New Zealand Defence Force."Now again I just ask: where does this Labour Government—where does the majority of this Parliament—get off stipulating in law that a person should have a particular ethnic background to qualify for a position?Hon Kelvin Davis: This is what the board wants. This is what the board wants David—for God's sake.DAVID SEYMOUR: And I hear Kelvin Davis saying "But this is what the board wants." I know this is what the board wants. That's why we're supporting it but that doesn't mean that we're not able to comment as a Parliament given that the board is asking Parliament to pass a law. As parliamentarians we get to comment on the law that we're passing. Now I know that this is complicated for Kelvin Davis but if you think it's a worry that he's here in Parliament just remember that he was once running a school where he was responsible for children's education so you know someone of his cognitive ability can probably do less damage in here than he was to New Zealand then.Hon Kelvin Davis: No that doesn't become you David. All those little put-downs they're just disgraceful.DAVID SEYMOUR: So we actually think it's OK for Parliament to comment on the laws being made. We disagree with specifying people's ethnicity for a position—Hon Kelvin Davis: Because you want Pākehās to run the Ngārimu board—how disgraceful. You can't let Māoris have anything eh?DAVID SEYMOUR: —but as I've explained at some length to everyone except for Kelvin Davis who's still rabitting on over there we respect that it's what the board would like but we don't think that it's the right way to do business. We think that the right way to do business is to treat people based on their merits and what skills they can offer to a position rather than their ethnic background.The Pacific Education Foundation Act is also being amended and these are quite welcome changes. What it's effectively doing is saying that the Pacific Education Foundation Act can actually apply its I guess benefits or scholarships to people outside of New Zealand and what it's really doing is allowing this New Zealand institution to help build more bridges with Pasifika people inside and outside of these Islands. And I think on balance that's a very positive thing because—Hon Kelvin Davis: Why don't you want to build bridges with Māoridom David? DAVID SEYMOUR: Again you know we wouldn't—and I know Kelvin Davis is still rabbiting on over there but you know we wouldn't have chosen to have ethnicallybased scholarships. But if you've got them and if we're viewing what this particular piece of legislation is changing then I actually think there is a very important policy objective for New Zealand to strengthen our connections with our Pacific neighbours.I was in Apia with the former Prime Minister where I was able to meet the wonderful Fiamē Mata'afa the recently elected Prime Minister the first female Prime Minister of Samoa—a formidable woman committed wholeheartedly to democracy; it was a real pleasure. That trip reminded me that the Pacific is part of New Zealand's neighbourhood and to the extent that New Zealand can use its cultural connections its sporting connections its people connections its business connections to help strengthen our ties with our Pacific neighbours that is not only good for people living in those Island nations; it's good for New Zealanders as well because without putting too fine a point on it if we are not strengthening our connections with the Pacific someone else will be and unlike this country they're not a democracy. And so I think that this initiative of amending the Pacific Education Foundation Act in order that that particular institution as it would like to can better connect with people in the Pacific not just in New Zealand but Pasifika people right across the region and that an Order in Council can be issued to amend who exactly qualifies for these scholarships giving more flexibility in the way it operates—those are positive things and for those reasons ACT is very happy to support this bill.But I just make the point that you know while we understand this is driven by the organisation while we think Parliament should be facilitative while we question whether or not you know Parliament should actually be involved in the rules of these organisations at all—and maybe they should just be operating under the general laws that apply to all—given that they are subject to this legislation we're very happy to support and facilitate them getting the changes they need to operate their way. However far be it for me to tell the Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Scholarship Fund board how to operate but we just make the point that at some point this country is going to have to move back to the simple idea of universal humanity: start focusing on the 99.9 percent that humans all have in common and stop trying to constantly divide ourselves with superficial differences because the way I grew up the right way to look at people was actually to treat them equally was actually to look through people's skin to what lies beneath and to recognise that the differences that some people make so much of are only skin-deep. True beauty is on the inside—that it's absolutely correct that we should be treating our fellow humans based on what is similar and in common not constantly trying to bring differences.And this legislation does that. So much of what we hear in this House does that and there's never been a successful society that has succeeded by focusing on differences. All successful societies have been those that seek to work and find common ground in order that people can better cooperate.Rawiri Waititi: Society was built on difference; it's called colonisation.DAVID SEYMOUR: And I hear the Māori Party guy blabbering on here trying to interrupt and get on the microphone. What I'd say to him is: I'm sorry but you're just a person—you know you're not tangata whenua you're not special; you're just a person born in this country with the rights to one 5-millionth of the opportunity it has to offer. Just another person—just part of universal humanity; welcome to humanity and it's a wonderful place to be. If you could just stop trying to focus on the differences then we'd all be getting on so much better.So I finish by commending the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill to this House and we look forward to further debate on this in later stages. Thank you very much Madam Speaker."