Lees-Galloway Iain: Education Amendment Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLees-Galloway Iain: Education Amendment Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee[Sitting date: 29 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:10555. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North): After that contribution from the Minister of Education we find ourselves in a really difficult situation. Either the Minister is right and the Official Information Act applies only to public entities—and if the Minister is right then clauses 42 and 43 are therefore irrelevant and unnecessary in this Education Amendment Bill—or the Minister is just wrong does not actually understand the Official Information Act and has misinterpreted the advice that she has been given and in fact clauses 42 and 43 are necessary in order to specifically exclude charter schools from the Official Information Act. That I think is an untenable position.The Minister is going to have to further clarify exactly what her position is because I think she is wrong. I think the legislation has got it right: clauses 42 and 43 are required because the Official Information Act does extend to organisations that have a contractual relationship with public entities with the State. Of course private schools are covered by the Official Information Act. So actually I think the bill is right and clauses 42 and 43 are required if the Minister wants to exclude charter schools from the Official Information Act. Or the bill is wrong and clauses 42 and 43 are not necessary and the Minister is right in which case I look forward to her quick handwritten amendment that strikes out clauses 42 and 43. They would not be necessary if the Minister is actually right.Of course clauses 42 and 43 actually are simply an extension of the incredibly undemocratic nature of this current National Government. It is easily one of the most—if not the most—undemocratic anti-democratic Governments that we have had in quite some time. We already know that there are plenty of problems trying to get information via the Official Information Act as it is. The Office of the Ombudsmen is completely clogged up with complaints referring to the Government’s tardy and inappropriate responses to the Official Information Act and then a refusal to fund the Office of the Ombudsmen to the extent required in order to actually process complaints relating to the Official Information Act.Hon Trevor Mallard: Especially 42 and 43.IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Especially clauses 42 and 43 which exclude charter schools from the Official Information Act.What is it exactly that the Minister wants to have hidden from the Official Information Act? Is it possibly the fact that private organisations could be making a profit from offering education through charter schools? Is it that type of information that the Minister wants to keep hidden? Is it anything to do with students that parents might want to find out through the Official Information Act? These are questions that the Minister has failed to answer. All she has done is get up and muddy the waters further—the Minister smiles but she has; she has confused the situation even more—by saying that in her opinion the Official Information Act does not extend beyond the core public sector. In which case we have to look at clauses 42 and 43 and consider whether or not they are even necessary in this legislation. So I think the Minister needs to get up on her feet again and clarify that position.Dr Megan Woods: Colin King.IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Or Colin King could clarify the position as well. He has got the green slips from the Ministers. Maybe he would like to table the green slips and then we would all know what it is that Colin King has received.But what is obvious from the Minister’s contribution that she has made is that there is now quite a question over the necessity of having clauses 42 and 43. It is important that parents get information about their students if they are at charter schools. It is important that they have access to that information. But as Jacinda Ardern pointed out it is quite easy for the Ministry of Education to take a “don’t ask don’t tell” position and if the only avenue that parents have is to go through the Ministry of Education it would be quite possible for that information to be blocked precisely because clauses 42 and 43 are here. I think at this point that it is really important that the Minister get back to her feet and give us a clarification around that.