Strange JamieJAMIE STRANGE (Labour): Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to take a second call on this bill. I'd just like to ask the Opposition members about consultation. Why do the Opposition members not believe in consultation? That's the question I'd like to pose to them and I look forward to hearing their response. I would have thought the Opposition members would be supporting this bill because in my opinion any form of consultation would improve our education system.If I think back to 2012 under the previous Government—linked to the aspect of consultation which is in new section 1A(4A) amended by clause 4. The previous Government talked about removing the specialist subjects from intermediate schools and there was no consultation. So I'll leave my point at that but the question is—I am curious as to why the Opposition don't support the aspect of consultation. I'd like to highlight just one or two of the submissions that came in. The first one was from the Office of the Children's Commissioner. It talks about new section 1A(5A). New section 1A(5A) talks about—A minor change under subsection (5) is limited to a technical short and uncontroversial amendment that does not change or extend the policy of the statement of National Education and Learning Priorities." The submission that came in from the Office of the Children's Commissioner said "We support the insertion of subsection (5A) to define minor changes that do not require consultation because it further protects the democratic process and strengthens the assurance of public consultation on material changes to any statement of National Education and Learning Priorities that is in force." Then they "propose the insertion of a provision whereby the intention to make minor changes is notified on an internet site maintained by the Ministry of Education. Were the Committee to agree to this proposal"—they carry on. My question is to the member and it's around the minor changes—so whether the member has given some thought to the submission around the minor changes around some sort of internet website maintained by the Ministry of Education where minor changes can be notified. That's about communication and it's about people in the education sector having that clear communication when minor changes have taken place. There was a submission from the National Council of Women of New Zealand which also spoke about minor changes sort of in a similar vein. I think it'd be interesting to hear from the member her views around that.One other submission I'd just like to pick up on and sort of raise a point around was from the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA). The PPTA said "The amendments proposed in this bill make the enduring objectives more consistent with the language and tone of the New Zealand Curriculum the current foundational curriculum policy statement and national curriculum statement established under part 60A section 1." If we have a look at some of those enduring objectives of the New Zealand curriculum I'd be interested to hear from the member her view around the New Zealand curriculum and how this bill relates to those enduring objectives in the New Zealand curriculum and her vision around that.I'd just like to in my last minute here refer back to new section 1A(4A) again around the consultation because I spoke about it previously but I didn't talk about new paragraph (e). In paragraph (e) it talks about where the Minister must consult with bodies representing the interests of early childhood services. And that's a new point that I haven't really heard of much in this debate: the importance of early education—the importance of the first five years of a child's life. Many people in this Chamber have had children go through our education system and I'm sure we'd all agree that the first five years are incredibly important because how someone starts out is a big determination to how they will continue. If our young people start well in those first five years then there's much better chance for them to do well in the rest of their life. So I'm very encouraged that this aspect is included in this bill because what that does is it values our early childhood sector it values those working in the sector and it says the Minister must consult with them around some of the specific challenges within that sector. So I'll leave my contribution there but I'd just like to ask the member if she could answer some of those questions I raised before. Thank you Madam Chair."