Seymour David: Education Legislation Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSeymour David: Education Legislation Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 08 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8672. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): I sometimes have to remind myself that this is actually the best system of Government that humans have so far discovered but that does not apply to the honourable Minister who introduced that bill. I want to pay a tribute to Hekia Parata who has worked passionately and diligently to introduce a bill that is fundamentally enabling. “Enabling” is the key point that has been missed by every other member in this debate. So many members on the other side of the House have made the argument that they know a school somewhere that might not want to take advantage of an enablement in this bill. What a non sequitur—to say that because not everybody wants to take advantage of a freedom the freedom should not be allowed.This bill enables educators to act more freely in a number of ways. It allows for instance principals to operate more than one school. There is ample evidence that the critical factor in the success of a school is the school leader. Are the Opposition members seriously saying that a top-flight high-quality school leader who has the ability and the desire to lead more than one school and whose communities both want him or her to lead that school should not be allowed to? Is that what the Opposition is really saying—that those leaders should not be enabled to do that because of the Opposition’s ideology even though the school communities and the principal both want that transaction to occur? This is about enablement a concept the Opposition cannot or at least will not understand.Phil Twyford: “Enablement”?DAVID SEYMOUR: A similar argument could be made for opening hours and allowing schools to become more flexible. I would like to focus on a particular enablement and Mr Twyford I am not too concerned as to whether it is a word or not because everybody knows what I mean.The enablement for partnership schools kura hourua is that their sponsors can be tertiary institutions. I liken this initiative to the concept of a teaching hospital where a highly competent institution with a great store of knowledge and human capital is allowed to transfer that knowledge to the operation of what it studies. In the case of a teaching hospital it is medical researchers running hospitals so that people get better care at that hospital. In the case of a partnership school sponsored by a tertiary institution that has a deep well of know-how and resource it will allow students to get better service from the range of schools open to them.Only the Opposition would say that if the student wants to do it if the teacher wants to do it if the tertiary education institution wants to do it and if the sponsor of the school wants to operate the school then oh no we in this House should stand up give asinine content-free speeches and tell them they shall not pass.I am proud to be on the side of a Government that says to our communities that we will enable them to do the things that make their lives better. That is what it means to be a liberal. That is what it means to stand on this side of the House. That is what it means to be connected with communities and care about them—Phil Twyford: They’re not liberals.DAVID SEYMOUR: —and give them better options for educating themselves. The member interjecting over there knows that his party should be supporting this policy but his party cannot and he knows exactly why that is and the letters are P-P-T-A. How pathetic. This bill enables our communities to better educate their children and their mokopuna. I stand proudly here today for the ACT Party in support of this bill. Thank you.