Robertson Grant: Budget Debate 
Text is subject to correction 
Robertson Grant: Budget Debate 
[Sitting date: 31 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2772. Text is subject to correction.] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
: 
 It was interesting to hear the Minister of Police refer to Cicero. Presumably that is the Cicero who was the author of the book about Riley the rat which the former Minister of Education read to the Post Primary Teachers Association. But remarkably enough she was actually a better Minister of Education than Hekia Parata. It is absolutely incredible. I did not think I would ever say those words in the House but it is true.  
We have seen the worst anti-education Budget that I can remember from this Government. Its members come from a party that simply does not understand education. They do not understand how the education system works and when it comes to education they are driven by a mentality that sees the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Overall this is a Budget without a vision for sustainable growth and without hope to ensure that a new generation want to build their lives for themselves and their families in our country.  
The Government said it wanted this Budget to be boring. Being boring is no aim but more than that being boring in the way the National Government is doing it is damaging. It is damaging to New Zealand because there are such big issues that this country has to face. Being boring in the way the National Government is saying is neglect. It is neglect of the future of this country. But this Budget is not actually boring when it comes to education. Right through from early childhood education to tertiary education this Budget is the worst Budget for education that I can remember. 
 This is a Budget from an anti-education party that simply does not understand the education system. It starts right at the early childhood education level. That sector is still reeling from having $400 million ripped out of it in the 2010 Budget. It pushed the costs for many families up by $60 to $80 a week to have their children in early childhood education. That was the record from the 2010 Budget. Now we see a freeze on the funding for those centres. That will see the costs for parents with children in early childhood education go up once again.  
How many times do we have to tell this Government that investment in early childhood education pays off again and again in later life? Every dollar put in gives $10 or $11 back. But this Government ignores that evidence time and time again. It freezes the funding and makes sure that parents will have to pay more. Parents who are already under financial pressure will have to pay more for early childhood education.  
But it is in the compulsory sector that this Budget really fails the future of New Zealand. Much has been said already in this House about the failure of this Government in the compulsory sector— 
Phil Twyford 
: There is so much to say.  
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: There is so much to say. But the real story is the fundamental flaw in the assumption that the Minister of Education and John Key are making and that is that funding education is a zero-sum game—if we want to keep class sizes reasonable we have to give up on teacher quality. That is the assumption from this Government. That is how it sees this. Well I have got a message for John Key and Hekia Parata. Our children’s future is not something to be traded off. It is not one commodity to be traded off against another commodity.  
Of course we want good quality teachers in front of classrooms. That is why Labour invested heavily in professional development. The National Government came in and took money out of professional development for teachers and now tries to celebrate—this year—that it brought some of that money back again. It is not a zero-sum game. We can have quality teachers and keep class sizes at a reasonable level if this Government is prepared to actually prioritise education.  
Class size increase is a deliberate policy by this Government. New Zealanders should make no mistake about that. New Zealanders should make no mistake. Parents right across New Zealand this National Government is deliberately increasing the size of classes. We know from evidence right around the world about the impact that will have. We know that John Key and Bill English know that. In 2004 Bill English said it. He said that increasing class sizes will cause trouble in classrooms and especially for children who are already disadvantaged. Yet that is exactly what this Government is doing. This Government is increasing class sizes and disadvantaging students.  
We have already heard a lot about technology teaching. I just want to make the point that was already made in question time today. There are students who attend schools that are not intermediate schools. These are schools that go from years 1 to 8. Students who perhaps might be at a school like Wellington Girls’ College previously have been to schools in Wellington that go from years 1 to 8. When they go to their technology classes they go and do them at a primary school that offers that. We have heard today from Mt Cook School here in Wellington that as a result of the changes this Government is making which will reduce funding to most of the schools that contribute students to that technology centre at Mt Cook School they will have to close that centre if the Government does not change its priorities. They will have to close that technology centre and five teachers will lose their jobs. Many of those students will lose the opportunity to learn the skills that they learn in technology classes. John Key received an email yesterday from a group of engineers. Those engineers—15 of them—signed this email and they said: “Please do not make these changes to technology education because that’s where we got our interest in technology. That is where we got our start to be engineers.” The very thing the Government tells us it wants—people in high-value jobs adding value to the economy—starts in schools. But that is what has been taken away by this Government.  
The way it has treated the compulsory sector has been absolutely appalling. Would it not have been better if this Government had actually sat down and formed a working group with teachers and schools—before it made these decisions rather than afterwards when it has stuffed up and is trying to back-pedal? The problem is that even the back-pedalling is not enough because this reduction in the number of teachers in schools will damage the educational future of New Zealanders.  
There is no need for this to be a zero-sum game. I want to repeat the commitment that David Shearer made earlier this week. Labour in Government will reverse these class-size changes. We will reverse these because we think it is important that every child—wherever they are wherever they are from—gets the same opportunities. We are not going to put in place a regime that will see class sizes increase.  
In the tertiary education area we have seen some bizarre changes. I want to make the point that the proposal to completely abolish student allowances for postgraduate study for master’s and PhD students was not in the National Party manifesto. There was absolutely no indication that this was what the Government was going to do. There were some indications it was going to raid the loan scheme and change that around but no indication whatsoever that there would be these cuts to student allowances.  
Student allowances go to people from low and modest income backgrounds. They are provided because people from those backgrounds will struggle to undertake tertiary study without that support. In the House this week we have seen Steven Joyce and John Key get up and say: “It’s relatively similar.”—the amounts that are going to be received by those who now will have to borrow from the loan scheme. Well I want to tell Mr Key and Mr Joyce about a 24-year-old single mother who is trying to complete her master’s degree here in Wellington. She at the moment receives just on $353 a week to be able to support herself and her child while studying to do her master’s. Under the scheme that is now being put forward she will lose close to $140 a week from what she gets. She simply will not be able to carry on and finish her postgraduate study. She will not be able to achieve her potential and that is what this Government is responsible for. It is responsible for taking away potential from people. I want to send a message to this Government. “Stop doing this. Stop taking away opportunity from people. Stop making sure that people can’t achieve their potential. Make sure you invest in education.”  
The Labour Party sees education as a priority. It is fundamental to the health and well-being of our society and the success of our children. It is the key driver in creating a prosperous and growing economy. When Labour is in Government we will invest in education. When Labour is in Government we will ensure that we actually use a Budget to address the issues that are fundamental to our economy. Let us get monetary policy right. Let us actually support exporters. Let us make sure superannuation is sustainable for the future. Let us actually make the tax system fair and balanced so that everybody pays their fair share. And let us invest in education. That is what a Labour Government would do. This Government is failing the future of New Zealand.