Hide Rodney: State Sector Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
Hide Rodney: State Sector Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
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RODNEY HIDE (ACT) 
: 
 I am not surprised that voters keep coming up to Nandor Tanczos to ask him what he is doing here. He started his speech by saying that the Greens are going to support this bill and that they have made a commitment to support it all the way. That is what  
Hansard 
 will record him as saying. Then he went through his speech and convinced me that this bill is bad. He went all the way through his speech saying how bad the bill was then said he was going to support it having convinced me that it is bad. 
I must also admit that I look at every bill Trevor Mallard introduces into this House and think: “This will be a bad bill.” He has never disappointed me yet. I am amazed as I go around the schools of New Zealand to hear teachers say: “We didn’t like him when he was a teacher and he is worse now that he is a Minister.” 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Which schools? Name one. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Do not deny it. Can anyone find a teacher who likes Trevor Mallard? I cannot. Everywhere I go they say: “He was not a very nice man when he was a teacher and he has not improved in the Labour Party.” which I can understand. When one looks across at the Labour caucus one sees that it is not something to make one feel bright cheery and optimistic about the human condition. 
But let us go back to Trevor Mallard. I say to Mr English that this is what we might call a bully-boy bill from a man who was going to fix the rugby union with a bottle in the right place. This is his approach to public policy: the teachers go on strike; where is that bottle? Well he is not allowed to say that in front of Helen Clark so he comes down to the House with a bill that says: “Oh the person who I tell what to do can stop the pay of the teachers if I want it to be stopped.” That is what this bill says. [ 
Interruption 
] I say to Mr Donnelly that yes it does. If they go on strike their pay will be stopped. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Only if they go on strike. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: That is true. But there is another option. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Getting as bad as Nandor. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: If you shared the haircut you would look all right. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: I do not know what is in that tie but I am feeling a bit woozy. 
What do we have boards of trustees for? To run the schools. We have a misalignment here of the decision to run the school and the pay and the decision about whether teachers’ pay can be stopped if they go on strike. We have two options here. As Mr English pointed out one is to shift more power to the centre to the Government which is the Trevor Mallard option—“I know best; let me have the power with the State Services Commissioner”—versus the option of giving more power authority and control to the boards. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Bulk funding. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Absolutely! 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: They would deduct it if it was bulk funded. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: They would not need this bill. So why do we not put the money across to the board of trustees and have the board pay the teachers? Then the board would have the authority to stop the pay. Is that not what we expect a board of trustees to do? 
What we have is this mad situation where we pretend that the board is running the school—but the Government is paying all the salaries. Then if teachers go on strike Trevor Mallard has to ring the State Services Commissioner to stop the poor teachers’ pay. In fact the teachers are not in dispute with the board that employs them but with the Government that does not employ them. That is the madness of this bill. So why do we not come to the logical conclusion and say: “If the board is going to employ the teachers why not give them the money to pay this?”. Would that not solve it? But Trevor Mallard would hate that. The thing a bully boy wants all the time is the bottle. He wants the bottle. He wants to have the power. He has to have the big hammer to throw around. 
Simon Power 
: He wants to be the king of the Heinekens. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: He wants to be the king of the Heinekens in order to be the bully boy. 
Of course if we did the logical thing and started trusting New Zealanders started trusting parents started trusting boards of trustees—indeed let us be perfectly frank started trusting teachers—we would devolve the payment of teachers to the board. We would allow the board to run a school and we would not have this legislation handed down. Imagine what would happen in New Zealand. We would have some responsibility and accountability. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: This is the speech I want to send to the PPTA. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: I would love Trevor Mallard to give this speech to the Post Primary Teachers Association. If he gave that speech then came to the House with this legislation he would have National Party support. He would have the New Zealand First Party’s support I think—no?—he would have the ACT party’s support and depending on what tie Nandor Tanczos was wearing he might get Green Party support. 
Opposition Member  
: What about United Future? 
RODNEY HIDE 
: United Future would vote for it. Of course we still have not heard from Craig McNair. Craig McNair should speak. He has just left school and he can tell us what it is really like. I am surprised Darren Hughes is not here because he has just left school. 
Simon Power 
: What do you mean? He’s on his school holidays. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: At 9 o’clock he is at home in bed. 
But why does this Minister not trust boards of trustees with the responsibility to pay teachers? Why will he not trust boards of trustees with the responsibility to run schools? Why will he not trust parents to look after in their communities the best interests of their children? Why will this Minister not allow some freedom and responsibility some diversity and choice? Why is it that at every opportunity Trevor Mallard comes to this House and says: “Give me more power. Give me more control. Let me walk around as the king of the schools.”? 
I think it is revenge time for this Minister. I think there are some old headmasters from the days when he was a schoolteacher whom he has to settle a score with. He has got out the Heineken bottle or something because he wants the power. 
Here is a question for Mr English. I ask him whether he can remember a Minister of Education who was more disliked. 
Hon Bill English 
: No. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Never—and in the shortest time possible. 
Hon Bill English 
: He’s more disliked that the Hon Merv Wellington. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: I can hardly remember Merv Wellington. He is more disliked than the Hon Merv Wellington. 
John Carter 
: He’s dead. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Oh I never had the pleasure of meeting him. But this Minister of Education in the short time he has been Minister has managed to alienate more schools more boards of trustees and more teachers than any other Minister of Education I have witnessed. I am staggered that he is coming down to this House with a bill to give Michael Wintringham the power to stop teachers’ pay. What the hang has that got to do with Michael Wintringham? What does a school’s management have to do with him? I cannot figure that out. The Minister never explained it. He walked into this House and mumbled something about: “The teachers really annoyed me last time because they went on strike and the boards seemed to like them and I had to keep paying and that gives teachers too much power. I want the State Services Commissioner to have the opportunity to cut their pay if they go on strike.” 
How many times does it have to be said? It could be fixed simply by saying that we have boards of trustees. They run the schools. We should give them the money to pay the teachers. If the teachers go on strike it is against the board is it not? It is not against the State Services Commissioner for goodness’ sake. Let the boards sort it out. That is what happens in the good schools in New Zealand.