Belich CamillaCAMILLA BELICH (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. I stand in support of the Education and Training (Grants—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill. I sit on the select committee the Education and Workforce Committee that considered this short technical bill.We heard a lot today in the House about what this bill may do but I think it would be pertinent to look at what this bill actually does. It is a technical bill that implements new sections 548(5A) (5B) and (5C) that were amended with further clarity at the select committee which I thought was a very collaborative process in relation to looking at the wording of those particular sections which are very brief in their nature. These new sections would clarify that a desirable course of action is available to the Minister and that course of action is that he or she can specify that funding is available for the purposes of employment relations and that's when providing funding for early childhood services and certified playgroups.It was arguable that these conditions could be specified under the existing law section 548(5) but this technical amendment makes it absolutely clear that these conditions can be made when the Minister is determining funding and that it can be for employment relationship purposes. As a former lawyer I can see that this change is desirable as good legislative drafting practice to ensure that the law is clear and understandable and to remove any possible doubt as to its meaning which I think everyone in the House can agree is a desirable aim. In terms of the specific change it paves the way clearly for pay parity in the early childhood sector which is under discussion at the moment with the sector in relation to rates as we heard in the Minister's first speech in relation to this bill today. This bill proposes an interim step. It's not a pay parity bill itself but it paves the way for pay parity in the early childhood sector and this is work that the Government is committed to and this work will be progressed with a separate funding mechanism which is not provided for in this bill.This is consistent with the Government's work to ensure fair remuneration free from historical often gendered norms. This includes the area of work on pay parity as has already been discussed at length in relation to this bill but also this Government's work on pay equity. Members will recall the Government's work on amending the Equal Pay Act to ensure claims of equal pay for work of equal value can be made in this country allowing traditional female workforces to finally be paid what they are worth. Early childhood teachers are a predominantly female workforce and deserve pay parity.Funding has also been set aside to work with Kōhanga Reo to improve staff pay. This is important for equity but also in relation to the Crown's obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.I would like to thank the many submitters many of whom were very passionate educators in this sector or owners of early childhood centres and almost all of whom—and I cannot think of an exception—wanted the best for both children and teachers in the early childhood sector. I think we received 558 submissions and 15 oral submissions.Those opposite have said that this has been a truncated process. While the process was short in its duration I found it both helpful and elucidating and found that there was a significant amount of participation from within the early childhood sector both from unions teachers owners of centres and in fact individuals who were very very interested in submitting on the bill. Much of the substance of those submissions was not focusing on the actual content of this bill which I've said is actually a technical amendment to allow funding to be specified and allow clarity for the purposes of that funding specification by the Minister.Most of the people who submitted on the bill were actually talking about the funding mechanism in relation to pay parity which they had various views on—almost all supporting the aim of pay parity like this Government. So it was not the substance of this bill that those opposite were reflecting on in relation to their opposition to the bill; it was actually possibly issues that they had with a different thing which is the funding mechanism.So in conclusion this bill is a technical bill. It will provide clarity and a path forward for the Government to continue its work in relation to fairness and equality in relation to pay and therefore I commend this bill to the House.