Swarbrick ChlöeCHLÖE SWARBRICK (Green): I'd just like to address respectfully the statement made by the previous Minister of Education the Hon Nikki Kaye about schools fighting back with regard to national standards. It is on record—and it was presented to our Education and Workforce Committee—that two-thirds of teachers report that national standards narrowed the curriculum which they could teach which I note that my colleague Jan Tinetti mentioned in this Chamber just previously.A public good is defined as—and I quote—a commodity or service that is provided without profit to all members of a society either by the government or by a private individual or organization." Many a time I have stood in this House in community halls in universities and in hui and stated that education is a public good. Even this past week or a few weeks ago I dared the Opposition to disagree with me that education is a public good and to disagree with the proposition that the State—that the Government—should provide a high-quality education to all children in this country without cost as a barrier to entry and their silence speaks volumes. It would seem to indicate that there is an unequivocal consensus in this House that education is a public good. The issue is however that there is a difference between service delivery and surplus.There was a huge amount of debate this past election about financial management. As we've begun uncovering the previous Government filled the void of huge funding gaps across every pillar of public service with nothing more than wayward empty rhetoric about surpluses. This past election a previous Prime Minister and subsequent Leader of the Opposition delivered what he believed must have been a zinger with the line "People can't go shopping with your values." but what we're finding as the wool is lifted from our eyes and the books are opened is that the real situation financially inherited by New Zealanders is that the Opposition valued little more than surplus.The sad irony about their claim to good financial management is that somebody has to clean up the mess. You can only sweep issues under the rug for so long and a lack of investment in early stages costs more in the long run. You can only pretend you're good with the books until the dividends of under-investment begin to multiply.What we're talking about with education is literally our future. We're talking about what should be a conscious investment in society. We are talking about our kids.Myself and colleagues have spent months in select committee hearing of the ticking time bomb that we are facing in the education sector. Over the past decade the number of people enrolled in teacher training dropped by 40 percent. Meanwhile half of all new teachers are quitting within the first five years. Although it could be consistent with the teacher bashing and the union bashing that we've heard from the Opposition that created such a culture it's more likely the chronic devaluing of the contribution that teachers make to our society. This Government is committed to actively reversing that beginning with our 30-year review of Tomorrow's Schools.Then there's the critical issue of where our kids actually are learning. In select committee we learnt that the school property portfolio—one of the Crown's largest property portfolios valued at $14 billion—has according to the Auditor-General's report not been adequately managed. The funding provided did not take into account actual maintenance needs 2014 schools are over capacity and 488 are at risk of overcrowding. It's time to reverse that.I'd also like to draw attention to the in-depth article from this past week from North & South which provided personal stories from teachers and from parents of children with special needs who for lack of resource are being excluded from our education system. School principal Riki Teteina stated "The child not only has to fit the criteria they also have to be more severe than another child [who is] applying for the same funding. One will lose out." That is what another parent called a situation such that it seems to be The Hunger Games for children with disabilities.That is simply not good enough and this Government will not stand for it. This Government is committed to delivering on an education system that values and nurtures our future."