Kedgley Sue: Address in Reply 
Kedgley Sue: Address in Reply 
[Volume:652;Page:1074] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 Last week when the Secretary-General of the United Nations was calling for a green new deal he observed that if we are to emerge from the present global financial crisis we must break the tyranny of short-term thinking in favour of long-term solutions. Short-term thinking he pointed out got us into the present crisis; only long-term thinking will get us out of it. Surely that is the challenge before our Parliament and this Government—long-term thinking and long-term solutions. 
But last Friday we had a stunning example of short-term thinking and in my view incredibly stupid thinking when the Minister of Education announced that she was removing the requirement for schools to sell healthy food in school tuck shops. That move has effectively scrapped the school food guidelines which have been developed over 3 years and were working well in schools around the country. I believe this is an extraordinarily short-sighted and stupid move when we consider that New Zealand like most of the Western World is facing a long-term epidemic in obesity-related diseases and poor nutrition is the leading cause by miles of death and premature disease in New Zealand. The Ministry of Health estimates that obesity costs $500 million in direct health costs and that one-third of our children are overweight or obese. Experts are warning that unless we radically improve the diets and eating habits of young New Zealanders our health system will shortly be overwhelmed in coping with the epidemics of type 2 diabetes obesity cardiovascular disease and so forth and that the damage will be irreversible. 
Most people are aware of these looming long-term epidemics and most New Zealanders therefore accept that we must improve the eating habits and diets of young New Zealanders. That is why the school food guidelines were introduced and why the previous Government passed a regulation requiring schools to sell healthy food. Sure a couple of principals bleated about it but most schools and most parents have been right behind the idea of providing a food environment that promotes better learning and behaviour in pupils. The principal of Wellington East Girls’ College said in the media a few days ago that she had been sceptical when the guidelines were brought in but they were having a very positive effect. A Wellington College pupil said he was quite gutted when lollies were removed from the tuck shop last year but now he thinks that is a great idea. He says it is actually good to have the temptation taken away. 
I could quote many other examples of the overwhelming support for getting junk food out of schools and for promoting healthy eating. It is well established that diet affects children’s behaviour and also their ability to concentrate and learn in class. It is well accepted that children who are loaded with sugar and caffeine struggle to concentrate and that when they eat healthy food they are better able to concentrate in class better able to learn and better behaved. It is also well established that eating high-sugar food contributes to dental disease; we have a major problem of that in New Zealand. 
So all of that begs the question of why just as real progress is being made in changing the food environment in our schools the Government would ditch that very positive initiative. Why would the Minister ditch it and remove any obligation to sell healthy food in tuck shops so that there is now no standard and no expectation that schools have to sell healthy food? That is an astonishingly stupid and short-sighted policy. 
 I now seek an amendment to the amendment to the motion for the Address in Reply in the name of Sue Kedgley. I seek to move an amendment to the amendment in Phil Goff’s name to insert before the words “and expects” the words “and commits to a green new deal to simultaneously combat the economic crisis and the climate crisis in a way which is fair to all New Zealanders to give our environment the greater protection it desperately needs and on which our economy entirely depends and to conduct politics in a way which is honest open and democratic; and supports the continued representation in this House of the true diversity of voices in Aotearoa New Zealand;”. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker.