SpeechHARETE HIPANGO (National): This bill came before the Education and Workforce Committee. I wasn't a member of that and members who are speaking addressing the House today were. I note that there were 1033 submissions from interested groups and individuals and there was oral evidence heard from 112 submitters. It's well-known by our first speaker Nicola Willis that the National Party is opposing this bill for the grounds that have been outlaid. May I just for the benefit of the public traverse how this bill came to the House. Essentially it was because there had been an action brought by the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) to the High Court against the Teaching Council for actions that they were seeking to impose which was effectively that the Teaching Council sought to impose a fee or was charging an annual fee as opposed to what used to be a fee every three years. So it was noted that prior to the Education Act 1989 which is the relevant legislation for this case the PPTA took proceedings to the High Court and they were successful on the grounds as follows: that the Teaching Council failed to consult before imposing annual certification that the Teaching Council failed to properly consider the merits of annual certification that the Teaching Council misconstrued and misapplied key elements of the statutory regime relating to payment by instalment in the default three-year certification period and furthermore that the Teaching Council's decision to set a fee for issuing a practising certificate amounted to an unlawful tax. It's inaccurate that members across the House say that that is incorrect. There is a High Court ruling and decision which clearly states that a fee that was set for issuing a practising certificate amounted to an unlawful tax. So as a result this bill the Education and Training (Teaching Council Fees and Costs) Amendment Bill is to reset the course of that High Court decision to reset and impose the fees. The National Party opposes this bill because it is inappropriate for that to be done so and I pick up on my colleague Nicola Willis' saying that it's somewhat peculiar that here we are as the National Party standing in support of the PPTA when it's well-known that the party for the unions is the Labour Party—the very Government that is seeking to impose what the High Court deemed to be an unlawful tax".I think it's important in standing and speaking and addressing the House today to acknowledge the teachers of Aotearoa New Zealand their students and also the families of teachers and students during this COVID-stricken period and particularly thoughts turn to Auckland where our children our students have been locked out of learning for the last nine weeks and still hold with bated breath the Government's announcement today as to what plan if any there's going to be to provide some measure of certainty. The certainty that this bill provides once it is passed into law is that it is highlighting yet again that we have a Government who will turn its mind to do what it sees fit dispensing with and not listening to the very people—the teachers of Aotearoa New Zealand—to what their plea and their plight has been. It's certainly important that when actions and proceedings are taken to the court to seek clarity around legislation there are rulings that are favourable and indeed take heed of the plight of the applicants. In this instance it was the teachers of New Zealand. I will have colleagues from the National Party who sat on that committee who will be able to speak to the detail of the bill but a key message is that this has been an incredibly untidy process by this Government which perhaps reinforces the action that has been taken by this Government in leading the way with a lack of clarity and a lack of certainty during this COVID time. But the untidy process from the Government in response to the High Court decision is to bring this bill with its amendments before the House.The National Party acknowledges the important work that the Teaching Council does regulating the profession and that the council requires revenue to effectively execute its role in doing so. However it has not been the teachers' fault that the Teaching Council did not consult—did not consult—adequately with the teachers much in the same way that this Government chooses not to consult with the nation of Aotearoa in the legislation and the policy imposition that it imposes on us. So the hard-working teachers of Aotearoa New Zealand—particularly during these COVID times of the last 18 months—have done the most remarkable job in helping students through this period of time. However the uncertainty remains and we are told as a nation just to wait until the Government is ready and the Minister is ready to make announcements. So we await with bated breath what may come out from the Minister this afternoon as it impacts on our teachers of New Zealand on our students of New Zealand and on the families in support of them.The National Party have a minority view and that has been recorded in the Education and Workforce Committee's report. The reality is that the National Party and in Opposition we do not have the numbers for this bill to be thwarted and halted. The reality is that the Government holds power holds the numbers and will put through whatever it deems fit irrespective of the views of its people of its entities of its groupings of New Zealand and in this instance of the teachers.So as is known the Government is yet again amending another piece of legislation a bit of a hatchet job patching and fixing things up along the way when it should have been done when the Education and Training Act 2020 was before the House. So again we have evidence where things are untidily done by this Government and it's as an afterthought it comes to try and repair.So the Teaching Council as I said—in summary—is an independent body. They are responsible for registering and certifying our teachers of New Zealand keeping a register of all teachers protecting the reputation of the teaching profession setting standards for teachers' practice and behaviour managing concerns about conduct or competence and making sure teaching students and new teachers get the right training. It somewhat goes against the grain when we have again a bill coming before the House and the Government seeking to—as they think and as they see fit—amend something that goes against the grain for the teaching profession here within Aotearoa New Zealand.So rather than addressing the fundamental failings in our education system here we have a Government led by its Minister for what seems like the umpteenth time doing a one-off fix-up hatchet job to the Education and Training Act 2020. The Government's education priorities are wrong. They've lost sight of the basics in education. The Minister should be focused on getting our children back into school regularly teaching them a world-class curriculum and measuring performance—ensuring that they are making progress. During COVID times our schoolchildren and our classes in Auckland for the last nine weeks have been thwarted and halted from having access to learning and education. As I say we wait with bated breath to see what announcement-pronouncement comes from the Government today. In the meantime I stand as a member of the National Party in opposition to this bill because what it does is it undermines our teachers of New Zealand by doing a hatchet patch-it job on another piece of legislation. I do not commend this bill to the House."