Wong Pansy: General Debate 
Wong Pansy: General Debate 
[Volume:623;Page:18494] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 Labour members who are so proud of the Labour Government’s achievements could not even speak for 5 minutes on them. Today is a very important day. Kung Hei Fat Choy Gong Xi Fa Cai. I wish everyone a prosperous Chinese Year of the Rooster. Today marks the arrival of the Chinese lunar year 4702. I welcome the statement issued by the National leader Dr Don Brash that the Chinese New Year is a time for New Zealanders from all walks of life and all ethnic backgrounds to celebrate cultural diversity. Indeed the many celebrations that have been held in the past 2 weeks—and no doubt there will be many more still to come—show that many New Zealanders are taking part in these celebrations. It appears they have decided to have fun and a good time—it is not limited to any race or cultural community. 
The essence of Chinese New Year is a celebration of relationships: ancestors are remembered elders are respected families get together friendship is renewed and goodwill is shown to all. In the good old days the Chinese New Year celebrations lasted 15 days on which the seventh day is designated to be the people’s day. Relationships cannot be taken for granted and need to be nurtured. We need to embrace respect and value each other. Only then will world peace have an opportunity to emerge. 
However strong relationships can be sustained only through treating each other with honesty and integrity. Patronising attitudes especially shown to minority groups will only serve to stereotype and minimise the contributions and integration of those groups. The growing size of Chinese and Asian communities has ensured that they are no longer just visible but they are vocal as well. In a democracy like ours this is good news because it is essential that every citizen should feel comfortable and compelled to participate and integrate effectively. Some might feel uncomfortable but so be it. 
However Chinese New Zealanders are very nervous on this very important day because they are well known for valuing educational achievements. The debacle over scholarship exam results alongside the concerns over lack of funding and the incompetent implementation of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement system has certainly put a damper on this very important day. Chinese New Zealanders are not very pleased especially when the Associate Minister of Education David Benson-Pope who has in his portfolio the compulsory sector and special education simply refused to take responsibility for this debacle. A request for another inquiry and more spin would not solve this very important issue. 
Chinese parents alongside other New Zealand parents share the same aspirations for their children. Their children are entitled to have a first-class education to ensure that they have a good head start in society. But it does not look like this will happen under the Labour Government. It has been 5 long years and we have seen problems in our education standards and the funding issue in our education sector continue to spiral. None of the Labour members who have taken part in this debate have given a satisfactory answer to the public about the future of our children’s education. Do they not deserve a Government that will treat them with respect and will ensure that the funding and standard of our education sector is well maintained? I am looking forward to the next Labour member who takes the call not wasting the public’s time but to giving specific answers about the future of our education system.