Willis NicolaNICOLA WILLIS (National): Tēnā koe. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa i tēnei wiki Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.[Thank you. I pay you all warm compliments of the week Māori Language Week.]I rise to make three brief points in this call. The first is to respond to speakers opposite who have perpetually referred this evening to the fact that this bill the Education (Teaching Council of Aotearoa) Amendment Bill will somehow revive democracy. They've said that this bill is about ensuring that teachers' own members can elect themselves to their own body. I just want to question the Minister of Education Chris Hipkins as to whether he believes it is truly democratic if as was the case in the last election for the Teachers Council only 13.7 percent of registered teachers choose to vote. And I'd ask the Minister how representative can a body truly claim to be if the vast majority of that profession choose not to vote and have not had a say in electing the members of the council?But I'd also say that if you're putting yourself on this high principle of democracy I would take you back to the purpose of the Teachers Council which in fact is to be a steward for education in the country. That is where I want to come to this question of the name change. In particular I want to draw the committee's attention to a submission from Ms Yvonne Groot who has made a very specific call where she has said I cannot believe that you are changing the name of the council yet again surely the cost of doing so could be better spent elsewhere like speeding up and improving the application process." As has been discussed by previous members around $700000 will have to be invested in this name change. So my question for the Minister is: has any consideration been given to what effect $700000 could have on speeding up the application process for teacher registration at the Teachers Council? What effect could that level of resource have?The reason of course this question is so important right now is that we have been told time and again by that Minister that we are facing a teacher shortage. I would have thought in light of that that it would be quite proper that officials would have considered how resources could be applied to ensuring that the registration process occurs smoothly. But as Ms Yvonne Groot points out in her submission "What is in a name anyhow it is what actually happens within the organisation that matters."We've had some speakers previously claim that the cost of this name change is only $220000. I would like to point out that in fact the cost of elections every three years—in which only 13.7 percent of people have historically chosen to vote—will be $150000 that the associated cost with increased membership is $105000 per year and again I would ask the Minister: what would the potential impact of those resources be on the ability of the Teachers Council to conduct its job if they were applied otherwise?Finally I want to come to an amendment in my name which goes to this idea of how we get the right skills and knowledge on to the Teachers Council because what we have consistently argued on this side of the House is that representation should be competency based. The reason we have said that is that we want a range of skills and knowledge brought to the table. Historically of course that's meant that a number of registered teachers have been around that table. In fact right now there are registered teachers on the Education Council whose wisdom and experience bring great richness to the role. What my amendment suggests is that we should also in the future ensure that the Minister has a mind to understanding the partnership principles between the Crown and proprietors of special character schools when he is making appointments.The reason I have tabled this amendment is that I think it's very important that the Teachers Council does have a diversity of thought and experience on it. What we don't want is a uniform set of experiences. We want to make sure that it has those who have particular experience with special character schools which by their very definition are there to be different from State schools and offer education which is significantly different from the State option. So making sure that people with that varied experience are there is important.Of course this is something that was backed up by submitters. In particular I draw your attention to the submission from Filipe Menezes who drew attention to the fact that—sorry it wasn't Filipe although he made some good points which I'd like to refer to later. Frian Wadia pointed out that the Minister of course is only actually required to give regard to the views of parents and the wider community with one of his appointments. I would argue that that is substandard and means that this council will not operate as effectively."