Martin TraceyEDUCATION (TEACHING COUNCIL OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon TRACEY MARTIN (Acting Minister of Education): I move That the Education (Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.On behalf of my colleague the Hon Chris Hipkins I wish to commend the third reading of this bill to the House. I want to acknowledge the incredible collegial collaborative way that this Government has worked together to make sure that when we were in the Opposition listening to the tens of thousands of teachers having their identity stripped away from them by the previous Government—by taking out the word Teaching" for example from the council which they almost 100 percent fund from their own levies—we listened to them. We worked together to try and put some sense back into what at that time was a National Government who didn't care about the tens of thousands of people represented by those that submitted to the Education and Workforce Committee nor did they care about the fact that there should be no taxation without representation—that if the teachers themselves fund the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand they should have the right to elect representatives to it.What was interesting in the readings we've seen up to this point is the fact that the National Party the Opposition has argued that because there was a low turnout by the teaching profession—a profession which had been under attack for over a decade a profession that had been overworked and underfunded. This is something that this Government on this side—all three parties that form up the decision-making body of this coalition Government this MMP Government that works constructively and collegially in an adult way—is doing to make sure that the issues that are important to New Zealanders are addressed as quickly as we can as constructively as we can.So we recognise that they were under-resourced ignored and insulted by the previous administration. They were overworked. Often—and this is the other bit—all consultation was done over the Christmas - New Year period or during the fourth term. Now anybody who has anything to do with education knows how difficult it is or would be to consult on a document such as this bill in the fourth term of a teaching year but that was often what was done and some might say deliberately done by the previous administration. So it is with a real thrill that I stand here today on behalf of the Minister of Education the Hon Chris Hipkins and on behalf of New Zealand First and say that we support this bill through the House. It brings back the level of democracy that should never have been removed. Rather than remove democracy why wouldn't anybody support a greater education programme or support programme or even some sort of investigation to find out why teachers didn't participate in the election of representatives on to the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand? This side of the House who works much more collaboratively with the education sector will ensure that there is greater understanding about how that process can be undertaken and about why it is of value to them and will make sure that they are represented there along with other members. So with that I don't want to take any more of the House's time. Everything has been traversed here. The Opposition will stand and say something about money remembering of course that they spent millions upon millions of taxpayers' dollars renaming things in the last 10 years and re-announcing things that had already been announced. But they will go there in an attempt to justify their opposition to bringing back democracy to our education profession by bringing back recognition of teachers into the name of this council—by bringing back what is the voice of educational professionals to their professional body. The fact is that it is funded by them and it administrates and is the overview of them and the fact is that they are the ones who are going to either benefit or be derided most by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa so therefore they should have a say. We support the bill. I recommend the bill to the House. Kia ora."