Macindoe TimHon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. I have to say to Mr Strange that far from being an excellent bill this is another appalling one. This is a particularly bad week for a Government that has passed some shameful legislation and in this case some pointless legislation that goes against the best educational interests of the children of this country. I want to pick up on the final point that my colleague Denise Lee was making in her excellent contribution. I'm a February baby and I started school when I was 4 years old as part of a cohort entry. No I don't blame my long-suffering mother for wanting to shove me out the door at the earliest opportunity; looking back I'm sure I'd have done the same thing. But I am glad that I did because I started school with a group of friends many of whom remain friends to this day. I recall my first day at school very clearly. It might not surprise some members to know I got into trouble on my very first day at school. I'm sure that pointed to a subsequent political career. I was sitting in the front row in an assembly and the principal was up on stage pontificating. I didn't find him as fascinating as he evidently did and I took out a plastic aeroplane that I'd got out of the Weet-Bix or the Corn Flakes packet that day and I started flying it around. The next thing I was summoned up on to the stage to atone for my sins and to be publicly humiliated. But the person who was most humiliated was my older brother who was sitting near the back of the assembly that day. It's his birthday today so I feel it's a particularly appropriate time bro to say after all these decades: I apologise for the shame and humiliation I caused you that day.But there is an important point to make here. As our society changes for many parents this is a necessity. There are many single-parent families where the parent who is the caregiver has to go out to work and being able to send a child to school—perhaps just a few weeks before the child turns five—makes a huge financial difference. That's the point that Denise Lee was alluding to before when she pointed out that we're only talking about a few weeks; it's not as if we're sending a child who's three. I have to say personally I'm not a fan of sending four-year-olds to school but I think for Jamie Strange to say it's an appalling thing to do flies in the face of reality for many New Zealand families. I would hope that we would look at the welfare of the children and the needs of the parents to provide for their families—and I salute all those parents the length and breadth of this country who are doing just that. Let us never forget: this is a fabulous country where the vast majority of parents love and care for their children and want only the very best. Here we have another ideological provision that will mean that no child will be able to start school before he or she turns five regardless of the conditions that may make that the most appropriate thing for that particular family. When the last National Government was in office we introduced that opportunity entirely to give that choice and flexibility to parents. I cannot believe that the Labour Party and their coalition partners are taking that choice away from parents when the evidence is clear that this is what is in the best interests of many of those families. The other thing I want to turn my attention to—because there's much in this bill that I oppose—is the illogical decision to repeal the start-up of communities of online learning. This flies in the face of technological advances and it's another blow to the regions in particular from the New Zealand First Party which claims to be a champion of the regions. When one looks at who communities of online learning can really benefit in many cases it's people who live in isolated rural and provincial communities. It's also the children who are attending schools where there is a small roll and there's no ability for those schools to employ teachers in the school to deliver the subject that the child—particularly at secondary level—may wish to be studying. I think of subjects like Mandarin but there are so many languages now where it's really desirable for us to be able to offer them to New Zealand schoolchildren but it's not economic for a single school to do that. So it makes perfect sense to suggest that online communities of learning should be able to deliver those programmes in a way that is able to be accessed by a child from north of Kaitaia down to Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands or wherever. I know the Government will say Oh well it's all part of a review of Tomorrow's Schools." But why do it when it is such an illogical thing to do? Why do it when it's actually a cruel thing to do to the children who benefit? I have only a five-minute speech so that's all I can cover but those are two very important reasons why I oppose this bill."