Henare Tau: Education Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Henare Tau: Education Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:630;Page:2643] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 I want to take the Hon Brian Donnelly up on something that he raised earlier on which was the issue of the self-locking gates on swimming pools. Members on that side just love to trot this thing out. There are 180000 kids in early childhood centres. Most early childhood centres including kohanga—if kohanga have swimming pools—would lock the gates. It is natural. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Self-locking. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Most swimming pools would have self-locking gates on them. Of the odd one that does not I ask members how many kids in the last 12 months have been killed. 
Judy Turner 
: Quite a few actually. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: No not quite a few. The same issue applies to the fencing of swimming pools. Two or three people die and what happens? Those members over there go mad with the rule book and want to put a gate on everything. They want to make sure. Do members know why? It is because they are not bothered with looking after the kids; they just want to shut them out of places. I will tell members how to stop kids dying in swimming pools: we should educate them that water is dangerous and to look with their eyes. The same thing happened when the poor kid in south Auckland got run over in his own driveway. There have been far too many of those incidents. Then some bright spark from the Labour Party said: “How about we fence off people’s driveways?” Gee that would be a great idea would it not? Why do we not just go round the whole of the North Island the South Island Stewart Island the Chatham Islands and the Poor Knights Islands and fence off the lot of it? For God’s sake when are these people going to wake up? When are people going to wake up to the fact that the best part of it is true education? 
I have another example which is a current regulation that is being flouted by early childhood centres. Every childcare centre has to have a first aid kit up high which the regulations state is supposed to be locked. One of the kids gets crook. Nanny Ma who is supposed to be looking after the key for the first aid kit is not there. She has gone down the road to buy some clay for the kids or whatever. Judy who is the assistant caregiver cannot find the key for the first aid kit which is out of the children’s reach. Nobody gets anything from the cabinet because it is over-regulated. Most early childhood centres leave it unlocked just in case. Is that bad? Of course it is not but the regulations state that the first aid cabinets must be locked and out of the way. It is a stipulation. 
I want to bring up the issue of process. I really love how some of the parties that support the Government talk about process. I say that it has nothing to do with process. If members like the idea they should get in behind it. If they do not they should say so. But members should not have the temerity to get up in this House and say that they really like this idea—it is a great idea—but the process is wrong. Come on! Members should pull their heads in. This is about making sure that there are standards making sure that the kids have—[ 
Interruption 
] Well Harry Duynhoven would know. He knows a lot about this. It is amazing. People on this side of the House have worked in kohanga and in early childhood education for years and years. They have not just taken their kids to early childhood centres they have actually worked in the industry. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Name one. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Myself Dr Pita Sharples Tariana Turia—where does one stop? Does the member want me to keep going? No. Most people on this side of the House know what it is like when the workplace is over-regulated. Who does not get educated? [ 
Interruption 
] Well the member can take the Lord’s name in vain. That is OK. That is fine with me. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairman. I have been subjected to a bit of sustained abuse from the other side of the House and I certainly will not have the member alleging that I made comments that I have not. I take offence at his last comment and I hope he will withdraw it. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: Are you raising that as a point of order? 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Yes. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: Thank you. The member has taken offence. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: I withdraw and apologise. He mumbled something; unfortunately it was not very audible. All I want to say is let us get on with making sure that our kids get the best start in life because if we do not then people like Harry Duynhoven are to blame.