Ross Jami-Lee: General DebateText is subject to correctionRoss Jami-Lee: General Debate[Sitting date: 04 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15245. Text is subject to correction.]JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany): About 18 months ago I started to take a much closer interest in education. It was not an area I had been involved in before and it was not an area that I had taken a huge amount of interest in. But 18 months ago my wife and I had a child and once you have a child you start to take a much closer look at the education system. I have to say that after looking at the policies that the Hon Anne Tolley and the Hon Hekia Parata have been putting in place for the children of New Zealand I have great confidence in the education system that my son will be going through. He has started in early childhood education and in a few years’ time he will be entering school.We have discussed quite a bit today the Programme for International Student Assessment results and it is fair to say that New Zealand has seen some decline in those results. But I have to say I have been absolutely appalled by some of the comments levelled from the Opposition at the National Government’s national standards policy. Let us just remember that in 2012 the children who were assessed under the Programme for International Student Assessment system were 15. They did not go through an education system with national standards in place. It is actually the people who were involved in that system who are saying that a national standards - type system in their early years would have helped those children.Jacinda Ardern: When we were coming seventh they didn’t go through it either.JAMI-LEE ROSS: Opposition members can yell and scream at us across the House as they have been doing all day but the bottom line is that the children assessed under the Programme for International Student Assessment system which has seen the results for this country drop were the kids who came under an earlier system through primary school under Labour Government policies. In fact in 2000 when we were doing very well as a country those children had benefited from 9 years of a National Government and its education policies.But the important thing is that we are working to increase the level of achievement for all New Zealand kids. I am proud that in our country we have just doubled the budget for the early childhood education system—doubled the budget for those children. We have got the national standards system the exact system that the Programme for International Student Assessment people are saying will help those children. It will give them more opportunities to succeed and to be able to read and write when they get to high school. We have also seen the upgrades in the digital literacy area. That huge investment will mean that those kids are going through a schooling system that is working in the 21st century. We have also seen the Teachers Council being reformed and HekiaParata’s work in that area will help those children in the long run by helping to improve the quality of teaching in New Zealand.I also want to counter some of the arguments that Jacinda Ardern was making. I quite like Jacinda actually. We sat in the Television New Zealand green room most Thursday mornings for a while. She is relatively normal as Labour MPs go. But for her to say that this Government is in decline is absolutely wrong. I want to give her some figures. This country is experiencing 2.5 percent growth at the moment. It is one of the fastest growth rates in the OECD. Tell the people who own businesses in the greater eastTāmaki industrial area in my electorate that we are not doing better as a country. They will absolutely disagree with you. Tell those employers that the 90-day trial which has led to 13000 extra people being employed is a bad thing. They will tell you that it is an opportunity for them to take on new people and give them an opportunity. Go and talk to the principals and the teachers in schools likeBaverstock Oaks School in my electorate and tell them that the policies in the education area that we are putting in place are bad for children. They will absolutely disagree with you as well.Talk to the people who commute from Botany to the city and tell them that the investment we are putting into Auckland transport is not good. Tell them that the Auckland-Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative the City Rail Link and theWaterview Connection are going to be bad for Auckland transport. They will absolutely disagree with you as well. They will tell you that the improvements we are making are going to be hugely beneficial for New Zealanders. Go and talk to the people who want to purchase homes in the Flat Bush area who will be able to access more affordable housing in the long run through the special housing areas which are going to lead to more housing supply in Auckland. Tell them that increasing the housing supply is bad for them. They will absolutely disagree with Labour on that too. Tell the people who are developing houses that the policies around development contributions and around local government are bad for them. They will disagree with Labour on that too.This Government has a wide range of programmes and a wide range of policies that are doing a lot for the New Zealand economy and that are doing a lot for New Zealanders. We are doing well as a country. This Government is far from being in decline. This Government is just getting up and going.Kris Faafoi: Ha ha!JAMI-LEE ROSS: New Zealanders know that. That is why Kris Faafoi is laughing. He knows that Labour has got nothing that can counter it.