Mallard Trevor: Christ’s College (Canterbury) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Mallard Trevor: Christ’s College (Canterbury) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:661;Page:9571] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) 
: 
 The Labour Opposition will support the referral of the Christ’s College (Canterbury) Amendment Bill to the Government Administration Committee but will not necessarily support it any further unless some amendments are made to it. 
There are three areas that I want to discuss. The first is the very broad nature of new subsection (4) inserted by clause 5 which is the circumstances clause and effectively the operative clause of the bill. In my opinion the rights to overturn the wishes of donors are much more than are necessary and there are not the protections that the select committee decided were appropriate in the Methodist Church of New Zealand Trusts Bill that came before the House not very long ago. I say to the people who drafted the bill that I think it is poor drafting for them not to take into account the view of the House on what was seen to be the excessively liberal nature of the provisions of that earlier bill. I am concerned about that and there has been an attempt to take a degree of liberty with the House beyond that which was shown by way of the amendment of the Methodist Church legislation in the fairly recent past. I think a better approach would have been to take account of that; then things would probably have gone more smoothly. 
The second point I make is one of politeness. Although with a local bill there is a requirement that bills come through the local member there is not such a requirement for private bills. But I think most members of the House are aware of the fact that the normal approach is to invite the local member of Parliament to bring the legislation to the House. I say to the governing authorities of Christ’s College that the fact that they have chosen not to do that has been noted in the House. One would expect people who see themselves as important in the way of historical precedence to follow that history unless there was a good reason not to. I understand that no invitation was given to the local member to introduce this bill and that lack of politeness has been noted by this side of the House. I would expect that at some stage the authorities responsible for the bill would like to explain that to the House. 
The major point I will make—and I will be interested in the views of the Minister of Education when she speaks on this bill—is that it appears that as with legislation on other independent schools there is no reference in this bill to the question of the day in education and that is the issue of national standards. 
Jo Goodhew 
: Oh pardon? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Well national standards I am told will run through to National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2. I understand that Christ’s College notwithstanding the habits of some other people offers National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2 but we see within this bill no reference whatsoever to national standards or to the willingness of Christ’s College to take on board what is seen as a far-reaching and important approach to improving the standards of education. I want to know why that has not been included in the bill. Do the proprietors of Christ’s College think that national standards are so poor and so useless that their school would go backwards if they had national standards? Because that is the view of a lot of schools. A lot of decile 10 schools and a lot of very wealthy schools are concerned about the diversion of their teachers to the testing regime that is being implemented by the Minister and about the fact that their standards will drop as a result of a removal of focus from teaching and learning. When the member who is promoting the bill speaks in reply I want to know whether she has been involved in that sort of discussion with the proprietors of Christ’s College. 
I want to know what proposals the school has to do with the excess money it has obtained as is made clear in new subsection 4(c). I am very surprised that we have had no quantification under new subsection 4(b) or 4(c) or for that matter 4(a). And I wonder whether the member in charge of the bill has been briefed as to the quantities that are involved. Seeing that the Government is so keen on national standards—and I will talk to my colleagues on the relevant select committee—it might well be that as part of the legislation it is appropriate to set up a fund to finance the implementation of national standards at Christ’s College. It would be good to see whether that is a priority for the proprietors of Christ’s College. Of course the standards go through to year 10. Christ’s College I understand has students in years 9 and 10. I am not sure whether it has years 7 and 8. I ask the member in charge of the bill whether it has years 7 and 8. 
Nicky Wagner 
: 9 and 10. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: It starts at year 9. So for those years—years 9 and 10—the national standards apply to that school. 
Jacqui Dean 
: You should’ve asked your own member. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No the member in charge of the bill is meant to be on top of the issues. She is the one who has been briefed by Christ’s College on the bill—quite improperly. I must say that Nicky Wagner’s answer to the question today showed a higher standard of understanding of the area of national standards that she was being asked about than Anne Tolley did earlier in the day. But I must say that that is not necessarily a high test and it does not mean that she is coming anywhere near the ministerial standard. She has not received an Achieved yet but she is showing potential and she is showing improvement in a way that is not necessarily shared by her front-bench colleague the Minister of Education. 
But I will ask the Minister of Education when she contributes to this debate to explain why it is not important for students at Christ’s College to meet national standards. Why have they been exempt from the assessment regime? Why do parents at Christ’s College not get a report based on national standards in the way that those from surrounding schools do? Why is there an opt-out arrangement for them? Are they considered to be too good for national standards? Is it because they are too rich and so national standards do not apply? What is the reason? I am sure that the member who is in charge of the bill Nicky Wagner will explain when she speaks at the end of the debate but I am also sure that it is a matter that is appropriate for the select committee to consider. I am surprised that the bill is going to the Government Administration Committee. It is fair to say— 
Grant Robertson 
: It’s an outrage. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Well it does not know much about education. It has a very good chairperson but then the Education and Science Committee has a good chairperson as well Allan Peachey who is full and frank on education matters. He should be the Minister of Education. I am sure that between Allan and me we could have got this bill sorted out. We will vote for the bill but there is no guarantee of our ongoing support for it.