SpeechHon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): As soon as I heard the honourable" I thought "At last I'm in." I think I might be the only one here. Ha ha! Thank you for the call and could I also acknowledge the Minister. I think that this new approach that we have to committee stage is working so much better and I do acknowledge the Minister for his willingness to engage. We're having a much more useful interaction I think. While I want to ask him a couple of questions on aspects of the bill that I'm concerned about and that as he will know ultimately have led National to feel we can't support it nevertheless I do want to put on record that there's much within the bill that we do support. It does make a lot of sense to be bringing aspects of our education infrastructure in legislation together.I am very glad that common sense has prevailed Minister as far as hugs and a degree of restraint particularly for young children. I think almost on a daily basis when I was five and six I was either stubbing my toe or grazing my knee. I even remember—I was in standard 1. Now colleagues that's year 3 but I was in standard 1. I remember going to the front of the classroom and sharpening my pencil into a rubbish bin standing up and cracking my head on the bottom of the blackboard ledge. Yes I'm sorry it was a blackboard not a whiteboard but I'm only 94! I cracked my head bled all over and the teacher of course gave me a great big cuddle. Then she phoned my mother and I had to get taken off to the sick bay and my mother followed the pool of blood all the way up to the sick bay. Anyway that is of course a very sensible—Hon Chris Hipkins: So that's where it all started to go wrong.Hon TIM MACINDOE: That's where it all started yes. One wouldn't wish to make inappropriate remarks but yes Minister that probably is where it all started.The other thing is I want to pick up on the comment he made a moment ago about the fact that often the ministry find themselves the meat in the middle of the sandwich. I fully agree with that not just because I am a former Associate Minister of Education. I saw the Hon Tracey Martin who succeeded me as Associate Minister and we have the Minister here as well. In fact I do want to acknowledge Nicola Willis and congratulate her on taking over the role as the National Party's education spokesperson. One of things you have to look forward to Nicola is getting your name on a spade in Christchurch. There's a group of us who had the great privilege as a result of all the rebuild projects and schools in Christchurch who have our names forever etched in that spade which goes round to all the different projects as you turn the sod.Not only am I a former Associate Minister I'm going to out myself—because I'm not sure if even the Minister knows this—as a former employee of the central north office of the Ministry of Education in Hamilton and there aren't many people in the National Party who can lay claim to that. But on either side of an election defeat in 2005 I worked in the student support team there and got to see the work of many of those people who are sometimes dismissively and I think unfairly described as bureaucrats who actually do a huge job for us around the country. So I do want to give them a pat on the back. I know they come in for a lot of criticism and I know that there's often frustration about the bureaucracy within the system but nevertheless most of the people who are in there are in there for thoroughly good reasons and have a lot of expertise to share.Now let me get on to the aspects of the bill that—Jamie Strange: Ha ha!Hon TIM MACINDOE: I'm not sure why my Hamilton colleague across there finds that so funny but perhaps he thinks occasionally I digress. I'm not sure. We are of course concerned about the way in which this bill progressed through select committee and the fact that three of the six months allowed for it were in lockdown. Given the significance of it—it is an important measure—it is of concern to us that it didn't have what we would consider to be normal scrutiny in the select committee.Now my colleague Nicola Willis has already talked about the way in which the bill strips boards of trustees of their right to develop consult and review enrolment schemes and I echo her concern. I was grateful to the Minister for responding to it so I won't repeat it. Dr Parmjeet Parmar the excellent chair of the select committee has also talked about some of our concerns in relation to the staffing and the vetting of people who work in early childhood education centres. But having been the shadow Attorney-General at the time that the COVID-19 Public Health Response Bill was going through the Parliament those who are listening may remember that one of the things that particularly concerned us was about the granting of police powers of entry without warrants. Now while I don't expect that police will be regularly going into the homes where early childhood education is taking place in home-based education nevertheless the fact that that even exists is a worry. I would like to think that this Government would give us an assurance that that is going to be removed very very quickly because for the life of me I cannot see how that is justified now in the post-lockdown period when we're back at level 1 when it never would have even been contemplated before we commenced going into lockdown and up through the alert levels in March and April of this year.The other two questions just in the limited time I have available are to ask the Minister to explain the minimum eligibility requirements that have been established for principals. Naturally we want to ensure that we put really good mechanisms and support around principals but it is a job that is increasingly demanding and difficult to staff particularly in some of the more remote areas. Could he please just explain the thinking on that? Also what is the case other than within Pacific Island countries for stopping offshore awarding of NCEA? We believe that our export education market is really important—[Time expired]"