Kaye NikkiHon NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central): I am pleased that this is the final time that I'm actually going to speak in the committee stage of the debate—[Interruption]—and I can hear the sadness in the voices from the other side. But I did want to acknowledge and respond to the Minister who said that every time I commented on the chair of the Education Council it would somehow be harmful to her political career. So instead I'm going to make sure I compliment all of the other members of the Education Council so that there's safety in numbers. From Anthony to Claire to Simon to Ripeka to Nicola to Helen and I just again want to acknowledge Barbara. Thank you very much for the contribution that you've made.Secondly I do want to just pick up on a couple of final points. As I have said previously we don't support this bill because we believe in a competency-based model. We understand the history of the Education Council and we support that entity. But I also want to make this point to the Minister: part of the whole reason that we've spent months on this has been about this argument from the other side about giving the independence to the profession. That's why we've had all of this debate about the representation. I do think it is a bit rich to have that debate but at the same time have the Minister considering basically the ability to direct the council on a range of issues and we're going to continue to discuss that openly and publicly because we think that the tens of thousands of teachers out there deserve to have real clarity about what the Government's plans may be in terms of directions of the council and that does diminish the independence. So if we were going to name this council something different we certainly wouldn't be able to name it the Independent Education Teaching Council of Aotearoa" because we know that the Minister has some other plans in the works.The second thing I do want to just pick up on is what my colleagues have mentioned. Look again we accept that this bill is going through the House. We accept that the Minister has a different view around the entity as do other members of the Education and Workforce Committee but we have just pleaded given the whole conversation—there's 19 other reviews happening in education—as to why it is that we need to push so hard and fast now when there's a range of other discussions that are occurring in the education area. We don't think this is the right time for this bill. We've actually argued on other bills to delay them in part because of the education conversation that's occurring. And I think there is a real case for having some steady hands and taking this process through in a slow and easy manner. That would mean supporting our amendment—at this last point of call at 5.19 on a Thursday afternoon—to show some goodwill to the Opposition and that you're very serious about this appointments process and considering the delay in the commencement of this bill.I will just finish by acknowledging Māori Language Week and acknowledging "Aotearoa" in the title and I say to all members of this House on this Thursday afternoon that we just acknowledge the important role of Te Reo Māori in New Zealand and hopefully we have members opposite supporting my Education (Strengthening Second Language Learning in Primary and Intermediate Schools) Amendment Bill in Parliament. That would be a wonderful thing. So I just reiterate that the members over on this side do oppose this bill and we really plead with the Minister to consider delaying the commencement."