Kanongata'a-Suisuiki AnahilaANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI (Labour): Good evening Madam Deputy Speaker. It is an absolute privilege to stand here and I know it's because in 1893 when Kate Sheppard and the sisterhood fought for the right of women to vote in this country it was so that we would be here and we're here to contribute. So it is a privilege to contribute in the second reading of the Education (National Education and Learning Priorities) Amendment Bill.I want to acknowledge the teachers that I grew up with before I get to this bill. This bill is really simple but I want to commend my teachers. First of all I started in Tonga at the Hofoa Government Primary School then at Onehunga Primary School then at Manukau Intermediate School—which is now Royal Oak Intermediate School—then at Onehunga High School and then further at the University of Auckland. One of the things that I love about my high school Onehunga High School is it talks about courage: the courage to stand to make a difference. I want to acknowledge Jan Tinetti for her courage in bringing her insight and her experience in the education field to contribute to this Parliament and New Zealand. Whakatāukī—when I was sitting here listening to members being confused about this bill what came to me was a Māori whakatāukī. The whakatāukī that came to me was ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia ō tātou mahi—let the uniqueness of the child guide our work—and that's what this bill is all about. Basically the bill requires the Minister of Education to consult widely on the statement of the National Education and Learning Priorities. So to consult widely on uniqueness it means that the Minister must consult widely. It'll be disrespectful if I don't respond to Simeon Brown's accusation that we were consulting our union mates but I want to read out the submission from the Children's Commissioner who I think everybody here understands speaks for most of the children. Simeon Brown mentioned something about unions and mentioned something about consulting them. I just want to remind the House of only two submitters. Out of the 21 submissions I'm only going to talk about two which I think fully represent some views that I hold. The Children's Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft stated that There has been a previous reluctance to hear from children and that future and similar provisions would become the norm."—should become the norm. He further stated that "Hearing from and incorporating the views of children and young people deliver better and more robust decisions." and they support the intention to create a more equitable system. The National Council of Women—it is fitting that I refer to the National Council of Women on this day the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage. I need to read the first part of their submission because it talks about the membership mainly mothers who are parents and who are bringing up our nation. So just to clarify to members across the bench here—and if you could just bear with me Madam Deputy Speaker I need to read it because when I was sitting here I was thinking that they're talking about not consulting parents but this group well I believe represent a lot of parents. The paragraph—if you can bear with me—reads: "The National Council of Women of New Zealand Te Kaunihera Wahine o Aotearoa … is an umbrella group representing 245 organisations affiliated at either national level or to one of [their] 19 branches. In addition about 350 people are individual members. Collectively our reach is over 350000 with many of our membership organisations representing all genders. [National Council of Women of New Zealand's] vision is a gender equal New Zealand and research shows we will be better off socially and economically if we are gender equal." So what that says is that because of the uniqueness of our children we need to consult widely. So the Minister needs to consult widely and that's the submission of the National Council of Women. Later in the submission they then state that the National Council of Women "supports ensuring that consultation is full and authentic. Members have often expressed their support for better consultation or their disappointment at the lack of authentic consultation". So that's the key word there: "authentic"—authentic consultation. So really can I remind the House that what this bill does is well simply for me—and I want to acknowledge the schools that I've been to because for me it's simple. It's simple. What the bill will do is require the Minister to consult widely including with the National Council of Women—which is only one of the 21 submitters—on the statement of national education priorities. When I am a visitor to the Education and Workforce Committee often when I sit there they talk about Māori and Pacific underachieving or Māori and Pacific this and Māori and Pacific that. Well what this bill is trying to say is that actually we don't need anyone to interpret the views of Māori and we don't need anyone to interpret the views of Pacific if we go to the people and consult widely—that's what we need to do. And one thing while I'm on that subject is that often we hear the words "Māori" and "Pacific" in one sentence. I want to encourage members to use "Māori" which recognises their place in this country as the indigenous people of Aotearoa. Pacific people are migrants to New Zealand just like Kate Sheppard was when she arrived here at 20 as a migrant to New Zealand. So if we are going to speak about the people of this country please I want to encourage every member in their speeches here in the House to talk about two separate groups of people. "Māori" is about the people here that have gone through a lot—no need to go through history—in terms of colonisation. Pacific people travelled and came from the Pacific to here as migrants and somehow we just clump them together clump them together and call them one people. This bill will ensure that the Minister consults with Pacific education organisations and it is specific because what it does is it is authentic—the word "authentic" that the National Council of Women refers to. It needs to be authentic. It needs to be the voices of those people that have their children in our education system that may not necessarily be doing as well as others in this country. I want to go back again to today in the House and it was a passionate debate acknowledging the women that spoke today: from the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern—the sisterhood in this House—through to Nikki Kaye and her speech. It really personified the sisterhood in this House—and yourself Madam Deputy Speaker. I liked your speech because it showed the sisterhood in this House. The foresight of Kate Sheppard and the National Council of Women and all the women that were involved on this day 125 years ago was that we would be here in this House and that the walls of this House would hear the voices. I am grateful that I am here. I am grateful and I want to thank the women for their leadership that has enabled myself to be here. I am No. 137 and some people would say to me "Did you ever think"—did Anahila ever think that she would be a member of Parliament? And I would say in the spirit of Kate Sheppard "Yes." It was the intention of Kate Sheppard's leadership that women are in this House.Greg O'Connor: Destiny.ANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI: Destiny—destiny according to my friend here Greg O'Connor. It was their destiny for us to be in this House and whether the members across the House think that this is something that is minute that this is something that is small—I don't think so. I think having the Minister consult specifically those that need to be consulted is something that Kate Sheppard would agree with if I might say so myself. She would agree with that.To all the women that spoke in this House I want to acknowledge your journey to this House. I want to acknowledge that and I want to acknowledge all the passionate speeches that were made and I even acknowledge David Seymour when he talked about his mum and the women in his family—I want to acknowledge that. It is about courage. It is about courage to stand here and to share your stories. To the men out there I want to acknowledge your future courage in terms of supporting the women coming through. We in this House will have 50 percent women on all parties being able to share their views on this bill. I commend this bill to the House. Malo."