Delahunty Catherine: General Debate 
Delahunty Catherine: General Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:4591] 
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker Roy. Tena koutou. Picture this: a Dunedin 10-year-old develops a cost-benefit analysis of solar power versus wind power as energy sources for his school; a Pukerua Bay school wins the Enviroschools Green-Gold Award for sustainability which includes building a native tree nursery with a local revegetation trust; and a bilingual young student welcomes MPs to his school in te reo and English. Then there are young Libby and Matt who made a butterfly garden a worm farm and a vege garden at their Tauranga school and the little boy who made his own sandwich from a lettuce he had grown himself and pronounced it the best he had ever eaten. How does stifling such a sense of achievement and self-responsibility and an embryonic interest in primary production further this country? There are 212870 children now participating in similar programmes across the country so why—to use a wonderful English expression—are we cutting off our nose to spite our face? A face with the nose cut off is certainly an image of considerable horror and people who deliberately do that to themselves might be considered very bizarre indeed and equally so a country trying to manage an economy during a world recession and ecological meltdown. This is not a time for self-mutilation; it is a time for wise investment. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: When is the time for self-mutilation? 
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY 
: I ask Maurice to answer that. 
Children and the environment sound like motherhood and apple pie. Educating children to value and understand their natural environment and how to work together to value and protect it sounds even more wholesome. It is just the sort of thing the Green Party would consider core to the curriculum. We did and it is. In 2002 the Green Party negotiated $13 million over 4 years for the development of the Education for Sustainability advisers. Their role is to help teachers integrate programmes for sustainability into the curriculum. In 2005 the Green Party secured funds from the Government for the advisers programme the kura kaupapa Maori programme Matauranga Taiao and Enviroschools. Six hundred and eighty schools are active participants in Enviroschools with more than 212870 children learning literacy and numeracy science and innovation planning and social studies and culture and biology through the lenses of sustainability for their future. There is also a waiting list of 210 schools and early childhood centres that want to become part of this great project. 
As John Key said to the Enviroschools students in that video in 2007 to the inaugural Enviroschools YOUth Jam our clean green image is extremely important and we need to share our brand with the world. Enviroschools listened hard to his suggestion and in addition to developing the fabulous programme at home they are exporting their model to the world. Enviroschools is being promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a small but profitable export of educational excellence. Chile in particular has benefited from the relationship with our Enviroschools. People are passing on their expertise to teachers in Chile and exporting their innovation to benefit kids everywhere. However there were Budget cuts to all environmental education initiatives funded by the Ministry of Education including the Enviroschools Foundation; Education for Sustainability advisers; Matauranga Taiao which is professional development for teachers in kura Maori; and the environmental education guidelines review. Together the four programmes constituted less than 1 percent of the education budget but the budget for them is all gone. 
So why are we cutting off our nose to spite our face? And why did the Prime Minister tell this House that these programmes can survive on no money whatsoever? Enviroschools meet a range of priorities dear to the current Government’s heart but far more fundamental Enviroschools meet a kaupapa of human survival on planet Earth: the need for all our children to be deeply reconnected to the relationship with natural resources and the Earth. Why would one cut this funding unless one does not actually want children to grow up with an understanding of what it means to be green? Hutia te rito o te harakeke kei whea te komako e ko? If we rip out the heart of the harakeke where will the bellbird sing? That is the question that we put to this House when we talk about Enviroschools which is one of the most powerfully successful programmes by anyone’s definition. It is now cut destroying the hopes of children who are participating in those schools because a Government cannot see that investing in these things will actually provide a future for these children and for this country. It is a sad day when we are being lobbied constantly by the parents teachers and kids. Members will hear more of this because this programme is about a kaupapa that really makes a difference to children. Kia ora.