Belich Camilla; Dean JacquiCAMILLA BELICH (Labour): Madam Speaker tēnā koe. It's an honour to speak on this bill the Education (Strengthening Second Language Learning in Primary and Intermediate Schools) Amendment Bill. This is my first call since I have returned to the House following the birth of my son James and I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues for assisting me during the time that I had on leave and also my colleagues from both sides of the House now that I've returned to Parliament. So thank you very much for that. It's a pleasure to take a call on a matter that I feel very strongly about and that is the issue of learning a second language. This bill was originally as we've heard introduced by the Hon Nikki Kaye and then on her retirement from this House adopted by the Hon Paul Goldsmith. I also along with my other colleagues wanted to pay tribute to both of them for bringing this important issue before the House. You will recall that my Labour colleagues voted for this bill at first reading. I was also privileged to be on the select committee for part of the consideration of this bill not the entire consideration but part of it. On the select committee we received a large number of submissions highlighting more than a dozen languages all diverse all important as possible second languages. The most suggested language was actually Urdu. As part of our considerations we also heard from the Minister and from the ministry. Just this morning we were in select committee the Education and Workforce Committee and we heard Minister Hipkins. He was asked about this bill and he emphasised that he is a big fan of second languages as indeed am I.We also heard in the reports and from experts that there are many benefits both cognitively for children who learn second languages and in terms of cultural understanding. In fact this year there are more than 126000 enrolments in years 1 to 8 learning a language other than English or te reo Māori at school and this was reflected in the committee's final report that was delivered to this House. It also reflects what was identified by teachers principals and education unions who submitted on this bill. The report identified a space for growth in the education workforce capacity to teach second languages and also to ensure substantive consultation and resourcing and that a considered implementation in this area would be warmly welcomed. However not every tool is suitable for every task and indeed it is the case with this bill. There are three key concerns with this bill and I think some of these were touched on by the previous speakers. The first is that the bill would make second language learning in primary and intermediate schools mandatory. There is currently no such requirement in primary or intermediate schools. As you would expect this comes with some significant cost. In this case we've just heard from the Minister that to implement this bill would cost hundreds of millions. The second issue with this bill is that it requires a significant workforce in order to implement the proposed mandatory language learning. This workforce currently does not exist in New Zealand. So even if the funding did exist the workforce does not exist to deliver this bill. This is in part due to teacher shortages that occurred under the previous National Government and we in this Labour Government have been investing in teacher training and we are seeing the numbers of teachers increase actually. However for this bill to be implemented we would need many many more teachers. The third reason that I wanted to highlight which has also been touched on by a member opposite was that during the select committee process we also received advice from the Ministry of Education raising concerns regarding our obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi in relation to te reo Māori. It is for these reasons and for other considerations that we would not be supporting this bill to move forward. However that does not mean that there is no need for further work on the issue of second language learning. In fact it is my view that we as a country must do better in this area. This is why the Government as we've heard the Minister announce today has a new strategy to address this issue. This national languages strategy that we just heard the Minister announce this evening will focus on talking to parents teachers schools and communities. And it is my view that that is the appropriate way to develop such a strategy in order to further second language learning. I just wanted to take another moment before we move on to that strategy to just reflect on what this bill would have done had it been implemented—just to emphasise the position that we're taking on this side of the House. This bill would have led to the identification of least 10 priority languages. Then schools would have been funded to deliver their priority language and that priority language would have been a language that was determined by their board of trustees. This bill would not have taken due regard in my view of the place of te reo Māori te reo tūturu o tēnei whenua the original language of New Zealand. It does not recognise a special place of Pacific languages in particular the importance of Pacific Realm languages. It also does not in my view take due regard to New Zealand Sign Language our other official language. It does not provide for some communities that may have more than one important heritage language that they wish to resource at the same level and I think this point was raised by my colleague already. It does not provide for transitions from schools with different priority languages. The situation of a student in primary school having one priority language and then not being able to learn it at high school would be a concerning situation. And it does not address the issue of curriculum crowding which I understand for those who are educators is a legitimate concern. It does also not address the shortage of teachers that New Zealand currently has for just one language te reo Māori. This language as we've heard—and I think we need to emphasise—is an extremely important language unique to this country.As I've said not every tool is suitable for every task. And so that is why at select committee we recommended that we not vote for this bill now at second reading but we will be developing a national languages strategy. This strategy that should be developed as I've said with parents teachers schools and communities will provide a robust framework for sustainable provision of second language learning in New Zealand. Such a strategy could incorporate existing programmes new programmes and with the help of the Ministry of Education look for what more is needed for teachers in this space. A well-thought-out implementation that considers the wider aims of the school curriculum and allows schools to tailor learning to individual students' needs—these are the things which we should include in a national languages strategy which as the Minister has said is the likely conclusion of this bill not going through to a second reading. It's also important to take a holistic view of education in my view. The Minister of Education recently announced a programme for curriculum refresh. By developing a strategy with this curriculum refresh in mind I think we can set the scene for a refresh of our curriculum including languages as a whole. Now I just wanted to also reflect on my personal experience with second language learning. I was actually incredibly lucky to learn a second language at primary school. The language that I learnt was te reo Māori. I learnt it in a bilingual class at Thorndon primary school which is not too far away from where we are now. I felt hugely honoured to be able to learn that language in that context and then I followed through to do Māori as a subject at secondary school in what was then bursary which is showing my age a wee bit. I then went on to do a degree in Māori studies. I did not realise at the time that I was learning te reo Māori how unique I was in terms of a Pākehā child in the history of this country being able to learn te reo Māori at a State school. I felt incredibly honoured when I became aware of the huge work that went into promoting te reo Māori in what's known as the Māori renaissance before I was born and before I entered into the education system. Learning te reo Māori has been a significant gift for me and one that has given me great insights into myself and into my place in New Zealand as a Pākehā New Zealander and for that reason I'm in support of second language learning. However as I said not every tool is suitable for every task. And so in relation to this particular issue I think we will not be supporting this bill but we would hope to acknowledge the work done by those on the other side and also continue this incredibly important kōrero that will I hope assist our children in being mostly bilingual by the time that they finish primary school and if not primary school secondary school. Thank you.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): I call Mark Baillie.Chris Baillie: Chris—close. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Chris I beg your pardon. I call Chris Baillie.