Grigg NicolaNICOLA GRIGG (National—Selwyn): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to take a short call to add further to my colleagues' opposition to the Education and Training (Teaching Council Fees Levies and Costs) Amendment Bill. Much has been made of the lack of consultation and I think it's symptomatic of this Government and its increasing propensity to rush legislation through this House in spite of public discomfort in spite of the public feeling it's being ignored. To take for example just recently the introduction of three waters there's been the Māori wards and now this is the latest and greatest from this Government who is making a name for itself in its inability to listen to the users on the street. This is yet another piece of legislation that directly contradicts what the people that it will directly impact—that is the teachers—actually want.Jo Luxton: It doesn't. It's what they've asked for.NICOLA GRIGG: I note the MP for Rangitata's got a lot to say. I can assure her in this House that her constituents would like to hear from her every now and then too so I suggest you get chatty back home instead of in here Ms Luxton.At the heart of the matter in this bill is that the High Court ruled that the Teaching Council acted unlawfully when it increased its fees for a practising certificate from this triennial system to an annual system—that is the heart of it. It was an unlawful tax. This bill will set fees and impose levies but what a way to thank the teachers of New Zealand after all the work they have done in this past three months and indeed this past year. It's not a huge amount of money but that's not what is at issue here. It is the principle: the principle of the majority of those 1000 submitters who went before the select committee and opposed this piece of legislation.We in this House are being asked to provide retrospective validation of a receipt of payments taken by the Teaching Council despite that High Court ruling but we do acknowledge the work of the Teaching Council that it does in regulating the profession and that it does require revenue. But there should be a very very high threshold and a very good reason to push through retrospective legislation and the National Party does not believe this bar has been met here. The precedent it sets is terrible. It is no wonder that every party in this House except the Labour Party has opposed it.The Minister mentioned the submissions and the submitter concerns in her opening address but my read on it is they're still not listening. These submissions were largely against it. Now I didn't even sit on the select committee but I've taken it upon myself to reach out to teachers in my electorate and ask them exactly what they make of it. I know it is a foreign concept to this Government to engage with its stakeholders but here is what a teacher at a high school in Christchurch wrote to me: I received this unbelievable email from the New Zealand Teaching Council who have convinced Chris Hipkins to change the law allowing them to change the fees that they want and potentially go to yearly registration. This was after the council lost in court so now the Government seeks to change the legislation. The fees after the law change will also be backdated and additional money sought from teachers."Paul Goldsmith spoke earlier and made the point that there is a real sense from the profession that it is undervalued. And another constituent of mine has said "I spoke on this subject at our teacher-only day to a staff who feel deeply unappreciated by our Government. Of course this is similar to how farmers doctors nurses midwives police and ACC staff already feel. I'm seeing growing discontentment from people even amongst lifelong Labour supporters. Hopefully people will remember this treatment at the next election." This teacher raises a very valid point. This Government should be focused on lifting student achievement. Our kids are being left behind the rest of the world through no fault of their own. It should not be focused on ramming through legislation that goes against the grain of what their stakeholders want in retrospect. It should be listening to their stakeholders it should be focusing on its core duty of lifting kids' achievement and giving them a decent future."