Mapp Wayne: State Sector Amendment Bill (No 3) — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
Mapp Wayne: State Sector Amendment Bill (No 3) — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:616;Page:12167] 
Dr WAYNE MAPP (National—North Shore) 
: 
 I want to focus in particular on clause 3 “Purposes” because as referred to in the previous debate this has the philosophy of both the major parties and indeed all of the parties. It is a real choice. For Labour members the choice is this. They want to centralise so therefore the clause has the words: “… to enable the State Services Commissioner in negotiating collective agreements …”. The Government will stand in the stead of the board of trustees. The power goes from schools to the centre. That is the Labour way. We heard the Hon Lianne Dalziel talk about their love of the unions and their cosy relationship with the New Zealand Educational Institute and the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) which are well-known funders of the Labour Party. That is the sort of arrangement Labour likes and that is what it favours. 
The Government will give all possible powers to the State Services Commissioner to reinforce that arrangement because the more power one gives to the State Services Commissioner the more power one gives to the unions. That is the corollary which is not stated explicitly in the bill like that but it is the intent. The Government wants to empower unions and this is its mechanism to do so. That is not in the interests of the children and neither is it in the interests of the teachers because it treats all teachers the same. 
I worked in the tertiary sector and one of the most important changes was shifting from a national collective contract to having essentially university or tertiary-specific contracts. When that happened there was a tremendous blossoming of diversity and a real recognition of the abilities and talents of individual people within those institutions. That is how it should be. Teachers are not some form of cloth-capped unionists marching in rank and file although those who would belong to the PPTA and devote all their negotiating power to it would have one believe that that is the case. Teachers are responsible professionals. In the modern era of the 21st century modern professionals negotiate with their employers. Their employer is not the State Services Commissioner; their employers are the boards of trustees. That is the relationship that should occur and schools ought to be funded directly on that basis. 
 That gives real power to the boards of trustees to the community and to the teachers and principals in those workplaces. It strengthens those relationships. It makes ultimately for a more harmonious working relationship because people know where they stand. They have to have that direct relationship between themselves and their employer whereas the Government would have them hiding and buried within this collective of the Post Primary Teachers Association which would undertake all the negotiations. That may advantage the not-so-able teacher but it certainly does not advantage the range diversity and abilities of teachers throughout the school system. If we want a modern 21st century education system we will celebrate the diversity and ability of those teachers. That way we will attract the best people into the teaching profession. 
Dr Lockwood Smith former Minister of Education knows the importance of giving real power to boards of trustees. That is why he was such an advocate as Minister of Tomorrow’s Schools which now unfortunately are “yesterday’s schools” because this Government has crushed initiative. This Government would bring power back to the centre back to the State Services Commissioner so that the Minister could have his cosy little relationship with his mates—I guess they are former mates in the sense of colleagues in the PPTA—and have those kinds of negotiating powers.