Moroney Sue: General Debate 
Moroney Sue: General Debate 
[Volume:668;Page:14863] 
SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 That was the Minister of Women’s Affairs who did not once mention this Government’s track record on women’s affairs. Is it any wonder? The Government has gone backwards so fast on women’s issues that she could not even clock it. The way a Government spends its money shows its priorities even in recessionary times. That is why it is shameful that the largest cut has been to early childhood education. That cut shows that the Government does not care about this nation’s children. It showed us as much when Nick Smith at question time gloated about taking away child-resistant caps so that young children may not be safe. They will be able to get into the laundry detergent in the wash houses of the very houses that Pansy Wong just spoke about. 
The public is starting to ask what this Government has against children. They have noticed that when the funding cuts came they hit the very youngest most vulnerable children in our community who are those aged under 5. It was the cuts to early childhood education that showed what a low priority children are to this National Government. That is despite what all the research says. All the research tells us that it is early childhood education in the years from birth to 6 that really makes the difference to life outcomes from there on in. That is where the investment should go. Even the Prime Minister’s own science adviser Sir Peter Gluckman told the Prime Minister this. That is where the investment should go but the Prime Minister has allowed funding cuts to early childhood education in the years from birth to 6 years of age. That shows a lack of priority for children. 
Then the Government set up a task force. After making funding cuts the Minister decided to overhaul the whole early childhood education sector. I can tell members that I have just been to a conference this very morning here in Wellington and the early childhood education sector is up in arms. It was not consulted at all about the review it had no say over the membership of the review and it is very concerned that there does not appear to be anyone on the review panel who has any experience of working in early childhood education at all. It is chaired by one Michael Mintrom. I am very worried about what I read about Mr Mintrom. He does not come from the early childhood education sector so we do not know a great deal about him. In the year 2000 he wrote a book called  
Policy Entrepreneurs and School Choice 
. The premise of that book is “Understanding how policy ideas catch on even when their workability remains in doubt.” What does that tell us about where this task force is headed? “Understanding how policy ideas catch on even when their workability remains in doubt.” is the type of comment that causes the sector grave concern over what this task force may well come out with. It represents yet another broken promise from National. 
I do not know whether members opposite have recently dug out the National Party’s policy on early childhood education at the last election. Almost every promise in that document has been broken already. The first thing National promised was that it would enhance 20 hours’ early childhood education by keeping the existing subsidies and fee controls. Yet Anne Tolley told us just yesterday that she has scrapped two of the subsidies that supported 20 hours’ free early childhood education. She admitted that yesterday in Parliament. That promise has been broken. Then National went on to say that it would reduce staff ratios. That is what it promised going into the last election but because of Anne Tolley’s and John Key’s funding cuts to early childhood education staff are being sacked from that sector. That means that children are in environments that have fewer adults and fewer staff who are involved in early childhood education. That reduces quality and reduces staff ratios. It is yet another National Party broken election promise on early childhood education. 
Families are feeling very betrayed. They believed National when it said that it would leave early childhood education alone. It clearly has not done that. National has broken its promises to those families because it does not prioritise children. I was shocked because another broken promise from National—and I was in the room—was when Every Child Counts asked for a cross-parliamentary group to support children.