Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:638;Page:8903] 
3.  
KATHERINE RICH (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does he stand by the statement made on his behalf by the Associate Minister of Education yesterday in relation to 20 free hours that “Ninety-two thousand 3 and 4-year-olds will benefit from this”; if so when will these 92000 children actually receive 20 free hours? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 As I have said on a number of occasions up to 92000 children aged 3 and 4 will be eligible for this policy which will be rolled out from 1 July. They can take up that eligibility at any centre that offers free early childhood education and is teacher-led. From the ongoing contact I have had with officials and with the sector—I met just this morning with the symposium on early childhood education—I remain very optimistic. I also would refer members to the fact that it now appears that over 200000 attestation forms have been distributed through the centres themselves for parents to use. That seems to me to indicate a high level of interest. 
Katherine Rich 
: Is it any wonder that the Associate Minister got it wrong yesterday when he grandly proclaimed that 92000 3 and 4-year-olds will benefit from the Government’s policy of 20 free hours when this policy keeps slithering from all 3 and 4-year-olds to “up to” “hopefully” or “around” 92000 kids having access but not getting the actual hours? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I think the member by now must be losing count of the number of questions she has asked on this issue. I do not think that on the way through I have changed at all the phrase that up to 92000 3 to 4-year-olds in teacher-led centres will have access to this fantastic policy. I can say to the member something else that I have repeated and it is that I am sure that by the next election we will see a bipartisan position on this policy. 
Katherine Rich 
: Has the Minister or any of his staff contacted the Associate Minister and told him that the promise in the last election that 92000 3 and 4-year-olds would benefit from this policy has actually changed and that now only a fraction of those kids will receive those hours? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The Associate Minister understands the policy fully. He also understands something else that is very very important which is that if there were a National Government not one single child would get access to this policy because National is dedicated to scrapping it. 
Katherine Rich 
: Has the Minister realised that only he and the Labour Party are now disturbingly upbeat about this policy which sector groups refer to as dangerous morally wrong and the biggest threat to the quality of early childhood education in our generation and which even 37 percent of the members of his beloved Childcare Association do not support? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The figure at the end of that question is quite wrong. If the member would like to contact Nancy Bell she would hear that 67 percent of the Childcare Association’s members have already opted in and only 6 percent have indicated that they may not with the middle group saying they are still talking to the parents. I remain optimistic about the policy and given that Mr John Key is so keen on it—and therefore we already have the basis of a bipartisan agreement—I am very anxious to deliver it for the leader of the National Party if not for the member herself. 
Paula Bennett 
: Can the Minister confirm that a briefing paper from his own ministry dated 21 July 2006 formally advised him that there was a need to contain “unrealistic expectations that could form around the word ‘free’ ” and will he tell the House precisely what those unrealistic expectations are? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As the member will know—because I am sure she has worked on the policy itself—this policy started 5 years ago. The symposium today marks the halfway point. It runs through until 2012. We have yet to train a large number of teachers. We have yet to open a large number of centres. We must ensure that during this period of time we maintain realistic expectations in relation to that overall 10-year policy. We are doing exactly that. 
Paula Bennett 
: Can the Minister confirm that the “unrealistic expectations” that his ministry was referring to in its advice to him on 21 July 2006 were unrealistic expectations that the Government might actually have meant what it said to parents when it used the word “free”? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I know that the member is attempting to use sarcasm but let me just go back to the central point—[ 
Interruption 
] It was an attempt; it was not very good but it was an attempt. As I said to the member previously this policy is a 10-year strategy that is halfway through. For example we have 5000 teachers in training right now to go into early childhood centres. Over the next 5 years the centres will expand the number of teachers will expand and Mrs Bennett—who has become a vociferous supporter of this policy alongside Mr Key but unlike Mrs Rich I notice—will therefore get her way as she sees this policy roll out. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek the leave of the House to table the report in Nelson’s newspaper that Paula’s Preschool which has signed up to the Government’s 20 free hours policy also has a policy of a compulsory voluntary donation to go with it. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Paula Bennett 
: I seek leave to table the briefing document from the Ministry of Education to the Minister which clearly states that unrealistic expectations could form around the word “free”. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection.