Seymour David; Borrows ChesterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): I rise on behalf of the ACT Party in support of this bill. One of the reasons that I support it goes back to a high school student I spoke to a couple of years ago who made the observation that he had greater access to information with his phone on the school bus than he had in the classroom. Fundamentally what this bill is about is—there are several aspects but the most important is opening up access and competition within the digital learning space. We have heard all of the conspiracy theories about how it is terrible that the Khan Academy might get more involved in New Zealand education or Google might get more involved in New Zealand education. They used to say in Russia that Americans do not have real problems so they have to invent them. I say to the Opposition if your biggest problem is the idea that world-leading innovative organisations might get more involved in education then I envy the smallness of your problems.The question that teachers face with a diverse range of students is: which student exactly is the average? How do teachers time their lessons so that they are progressing at the correct rate in the correct subjects and with the correct material for every single student? We are enormously fortunate in this country to have some of the most outstanding teachers in the world who do a very good job of balancing that out but online learning has the ability to further tailor and customise the learning for each student. Online learning can allow individualised customised tuition with real-time tracking of learning. It can allow students to access a broader range of subjects no matter what school they are attending. As we heard from the Prime Minister in this House a couple of weeks ago students on Stewart Island 26 of them are learning Chinese.Todd Barclay: That's right.DAVID SEYMOUR: And there is the member for Clutha-Southland; he knows. What a great story to tell in the week of Chinese Language Week: students on Stewart Island are able to learn Chinese online. Online learning can connect students with innovative new subject experts—no matter where they live. It can empower students by giving them some control over what when where and how quickly they learn. It can provide one-on-one tuition. It can help students who are struggling and extend students who are bored. Online learning is using the technology that has revolutionised so many sectors to get the best results for every individual student. What are the objections that we hear from the Opposition? Apart from its philosophical allergy which I have touched on to any kind of successful organisation that is not from New Zealand they are absolutely paranoid that if parents and teachers in New Zealand were given choices they might take those choices. We heard it from Tracey Martin droning on about What if a particular student was to choose totally online learning?". We heard the Green Party complaining "What if people were to start learning from a screen?". Well I regret to say that the public gallery in this House today is nearly empty so anybody who is lucky enough to be watching this speech is watching it on a screen and only the Green Party can be so out of touch with reality that it complains about screens while being watched upon a screen. The reality is that parents and children in New Zealand have the right to make choices. Our education system should be giving them choices that include the best of modern technology available in 2016. Archaic inflexible arrangements that do not allow students to access the best technology is not just negligent; it is actually withholding our young people from accessing the best of the 21st century. For provisions for communities of online learning alone this bill is more than worthy of support. Is it not a teachable moment when we see that the Opposition's greatest fear is that one day just one day maybe that student I spoke to will be able to access the best technology in the world and access just as much information in the classroom as he can access on his phone on his bus on the way to that school? Thank you.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Tēnā koe Marama Fox—a 5-minute call on behalf of the Māori Party."