Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Look thank you Madam Chair. It's a pleasure to take a call on the Education Amendment Bill (No 2) the second of the Minister of Education's ideological bills being pushed through the Parliament in regards to making changes and really just repealing progress which was made under the previous National Government. I think the size of this bill really speaks to the size of the ideas which seem to have come out of this Government because really there isn't much progress happening. There's lots of conversations there's lots of debates and we've got the Tomorrow's Schools debate taking place but in terms of progress there isn't much. So anyway I'd like to touch in my contribution in regards to the area around clause 9 which inserts after section 35C(g) a new paragraph (h) which provides that a private school as part of the criteria for registration must be a physically and emotionally safe place for students." Now as we would all agree in this committee that is something which we wish all schools to be—safe places for students—and it is something which is to be desired in our education system. However there's no definition in the Act as to what "a physically and emotionally safe place for students." actually constitutes. There's no guidance given to private schools as to what that might mean. What does physically safe and what does emotionally safe actually mean? I'd ask the Minister if he could take a call and actually explain what that means through a policy perspective from the Ministry of Education so that private schools are able to actually understand what that will mean. We all know that private schools have to comply with the health and safety legislation and they have to comply with a whole range of other policies and procedures prior to being able to be registered and to be able to maintain their registration. Safety is an important part of that. I know that private schools have very extensive health and safety policies. I'm very close to Saint Kentigern College which is just next door to my electorate office in the fantastic electorate of Pakuranga and I know that they take the health and safety and the well-being of their students very very seriously not only because it's the right thing to do but because as a private school they know that if they don't do that the parents who send their children there can choose to send their children somewhere else. So if they were not to take it seriously the parents who send their children there would very quickly be able to choose to send their children somewhere else. There's King's College and there's other private schools across Auckland and many of these parents actually drive miles to bring their children to Saint Kentigern College or the children go on bus rides which go for miles to get there. So we know that those students and those families are very mobile as to the choices that they could make and so will make those decisions. So yes they already have a huge amount of compliance that they have to meet but secondly the parents will make a choice and vote with their feet. So I've got an amendment which proposes that after this new insertion is placed into the Education Amendment Bill (No 2) we include another section which says that the Ministry of Education must publish detailed definitions of physical and emotional safety by which the school will be deemed physically and emotionally safe. I think that amendment is a very sensible one. It actually adds something of quite solid value to what the Government is proposing here and it gives some certainty and actual policy and procedure which can then be worked with from the schools' perspective. So they'll understand what is required because I think the significant point here is that if a school does not comply their registration is put at risk. That's a pretty significant power which is being taken under this legislation—that if they don't put in place this policy to ensure that there's the physical and emotional safety of the students their registration can be put at risk. Under the provisions here they would be put on a one-year provisional registration and they will have that one year in which they must update their policies. Now we understand that one year is an opportunity for them to be able to do that but what I'm asking the Minister to do is actually give these schools the ability to know and understand what the ministry and what this legislation is actually expecting of them—[Bell rung] Madam Chair. CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Simeon Brown. SIMEON BROWN: Thank you Madam Chair because I've got a second amendment that I'd like to speak to as well on this same topic. This—Dan Bidois: You've thought about it. SIMEON BROWN: I have thought through seriously about this issue and thank you Mr Bidois. It's a very—Marja Lubeck: Well it would be helpful if you'd read the departmental report as well. SIMEON BROWN: Sorry what was that? Marja Lubeck: Well it would be helpful if you'd read the departmental report as well—it saves a lot of questions. SIMEON BROWN: Well Marja Lubeck you're more than welcome to take a call and rebut the points that I'm making but what I'm trying to do here is to actually provide I think quite a helpful suggestion. You know people would like a bit of bipartisanship sometimes—CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Can I—SIMEON BROWN: —and you're more than welcome—CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Order! Order! SIMEON BROWN: Marja Lubeck's more than welcome—CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Order! Can I just check with the member the amendment you're now referring to is for Part 1 or Part 2? SIMEON BROWN: Part 1. CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): And it is the one—SIMEON BROWN: Clause 9. CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): OK thank you. SIMEON BROWN: That's correct. And so that's about making the Ministry of Education actually have to publish what is "physically and emotionally safe"—and I think that's a very important part of it. The other part is in regards to what we see around the transitional provisions which come under clause 14 which again is in Part 1 and these are in relation to the transitional provisions. My second tabled amendment that I'd like to speak briefly to here is about ensuring that a school is not placed on a provisional registration. I'd ask the Minister why he feels the need to put all of the private schools in New Zealand on to provisional registration for a year. Why does— CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Order! Order! It's actually clause 24. SIMEON BROWN: It's under clause 14 new clause 24 of Schedule 1 Provisions relating to Education Amendment Act (No 2) 2018 transitional provisions. CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): No you're fine. Yeah thank you. SIMEON BROWN: Am I correct? CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Yeah you are. SIMEON BROWN: Thank you thank you. So as I was saying these provisions relate to the transitional provisions. My question to the Minister is around why he feels the need to place every single private school up and down the country on to provisional status for six months in order for them to be able to put these policies in place; why does the Minister feel that that is the appropriate way to ensure that they update their policies? I have struggled to find the evidence that seems to have been the reason for this to say that our private schools are unsafe. Yes there's been a couple of complaints; there's been I think two which were referred to in the departmental report—two complaints. We've seen a couple of complaints and we know that there are many many many more complaints in our State schools. So I'd like to ask the question why he feels the need to put all our private schools which do an excellent job educating tens of thousands of students up and down our country every single day—and the Minister raises his eyebrows; do they not do an excellent job? Maybe he can answer that question. Maybe he doesn't like private schools maybe that's part of the reason—I'm more than happy for the Minister to answer that question as well. Why should Saint Kentigern College in my electorate which does a fantastic job educating thousands of students be placed on a provisional registration to ensure that they have policies around the physical and emotional safety of the students? Why does the Minister feel that that is required to ensure that the schools actually implement this new policy? In my view that is basically using a very harsh mechanism for something which—yes it's important but a very very harsh mechanism to get the schools to update their policies. Is there surely not another way in which the Minister would be able to encourage the schools to update and actually just comply with the legislation? They comply with all manner of other legislation without needing their registration put at risk. Why doesn't he trust the private schools to simply update their policies in line with the changes that are being made here? So I'm very keen for the Minister to take a call and explain this because our private schools in New Zealand do do a fantastic job educating many thousands of young people. They are an important part of our education system. On this side of the House we stand up on behalf of the private schools and we thank them for the work that they do in New Zealand as an important sector in our society. I ask the Minister to get up and explain his position on this very important matter. Thank you.CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Well just before I call the Hon Minister for clarity's sake within the House the tabled amendment in the name of Simeon Brown that says "clause 24" should read "clause 14"."