Lubeck Marja; Dean JacquiMARJA LUBECK (Labour): Well thank you Madam Speaker. What a pleasure to follow after Mr Simpson almost as good as following after Mr Bishop. But I have to say that the first 54 seconds of this debate were a whole lot better than the last nine minutes that we had to sit through.The previous speaker referred to the old National; well I've got news for that member: this is no longer the party of John Key and Bill English—you have lost that for sure. Also the fact that he seemed to want to provoke me into outing myself as a socialist—I've been waiting for the opportunity to get on that billboard with my comrades. So yes I am a proud socialist and please make me that meme.I don't think the sky will fall in by letting parents attend the parent-teacher interviews for their children. It was real good fortune that this bill was pulled out of the biscuit tin by one of my awesome and talented colleagues of the class of 2020. No doubt we will all see them in Minister jobs as well so rising to those dizzy heights that some have fallen from and you can feel the bitterness when they talk about it which is absolutely—anyway this time of night.But anyway I am talking about this bill for the whole reason that I've had a bill in the ballot for a while now and I would like it to come out. So I'm hoping that some of that magic of the new member might rub off on me while I'm talking—so yes.Look this bill is the guiding principle that is really clear: empower parents to contribute to their children's full potential. That is completely in line with one of our goals and aspirations as a Government as stated by our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of course. Because from the moment she came into Government and she led us into this place she has said that she wanted to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. We always hear about New Zealand being a great place to raise a family and while that is true there is of course always more to do. Our Prime Minister has said that the way we treat children the way we look after their wellbeing and the way we ensure the lives they lead are full of opportunity says so much about the kind of country we are. So on this side of the House we want to be that kind of country. We want to give our children the opportunities. We want to support the parents and caregivers with giving their children the best possible life.On that side of the House they obviously don't because I heard that as soon as this may go through they would reverse it. I would not think that that would be a positive thing for the workers that are seeing the support that we are giving them just to be able to go with their children to their parent-teacher interviews get to know the teachers get to know the environment they're in get to know a little bit about what occupies them when they're not in the house.I'm sure anybody in this House who has been through the parent-teacher interviews will actually understand the importance that those interviews can play in the lives of their children. It actually improves the life of your child. I have been really privileged actually because I've been in a place where I was allowed to have the opportunity to go and sit with my child Max—awesome child—and you know where I could I would learn about my child's academic emotional social development. Hearing firsthand from the teachers how my child was doing academically tracking and being socially relative to his classmates was really important because as a parent while I knew how he was doing at home I had to hear from his teacher about his behaviour at school. Sometimes that could be surprising. So hence again the importance of that time.It is important in that aspect to acknowledge that work has changed for many people. We have much more insecure casualised working where it may not be that easy to have that relationship with your employer and get the time off to spend the time with your child and his or her teacher. It can bring a lot of insecurities to try and take advantage of those opportunities.So there is a disparity in access. Once again a lot of the work that we're doing on this side of the House is trying to change that disparity and make this a more equal world with equal opportunities for everyone. So this bill plays catch-up with our employment laws. It recognises that the level of support for employees and through them their children shouldn't be left to the goodwill of employers. It's a standard that we should uphold for the benefit of every parent with children in school. Because this bill at its very core is about inclusivity.Now this bill is at its first reading it will come again to that hard-working select committee education and workforce. I'm looking forward to all of the submissions and hearing from everyone why this is so important. I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.Ingrid Leary: Madam Speaker? Madam Speaker?ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Just waiting. Giving the Green member a chance.Hon James Shaw: I beg your pardon Madam Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Hon James Shaw.