Willis Nicola; Rurawhe AdrianNICOLA WILLIS (National): I rise to speak on the Education (National Education and Learning Priorities) Amendment Bill and I want to start by acknowledging Jan Tinetti and in particular acknowledging her former role as a principal at Merivale School a role that I understand she did well in for her community. It is particularly because of that experience and background that I'm a little bit disappointed in Ms Tinetti today and the reason I am disappointed is that she is someone who has worked as a principal in a school. A principal more than just about anyone else in a school should be aware of the context in which this legislation is being progressed because if you were to look at this legislation and say This is the great priority for this Parliament today according to school principals." then you would think that we are living in a time of great educational achievement and that we are living in a time when there is equality of outcome when people are leaving school with good qualifications and where people are getting what they need out of the school system. But is that the case? Unfortunately no that is not the case because this is in fact a bill that tinkers at the edges of things and does nothing to go to the substantive problems that we in fact have in New Zealand's education system today. We are in the midst of early childhood education teacher shortages primary teacher shortages a secondary teacher shortage.Hon Clare Curran: And why is that?NICOLA WILLIS: We have just had a new global report come out Clare Curran and you should be concerned about this that ranks New Zealand 33 out of 38 countries for inequality in our classrooms. And what is Labour's answer to that report? Their answer is a bill that lists 11 new national bodies that must be consulted when the Minister of Education publishes his National Education and Learning Priorities. And what I would suggest to members opposite is that if they think consultation with 11 additional national bodies will make a jot of difference to a single child underachieving in our school system today then they need to get real.When it comes to making a difference to the learning and achievement of children in our schools we don't start by adding new layers of bureaucracy. We don't start by ensuring that people have to tick this consultation box tick that consultation box write some nice reports and smile at each other. That is not where we start. Where we start is in the classroom and it is disappointing to me today that members opposite who know what's going on in our classrooms who know what's going on in our schools choose to take the time of this House to present a bill like this.I want to draw your attention to the orange bits I've highlighted. The orange bits I've highlighted in this bill are all of the bits that Jan Tinetti had in her original legislation that were struck out at select committee because it was agreed that in fact this bill was going too far ahead of the consultation process that was happening throughout the education system. So what we're left with is the pink bits and the pink bits describe as I said the 11 national bodies that must now be consulted by the Minister.To make it even more farcical we had the Minister of Education in the first reading of this very bill say to us that he thought he would not be doing his job if he didn't consult with these groups which rather begs the question Minister of why we need this bill at all. Does Jan Tinetti not trust the Minister when he says that he doesn't think he'd be doing his job unless he consulted with them? So why is the bill needed at all if this is just what the Minister would do anyway? I expect grander ambition at a time when children are not doing well enough in our schools. I expect more from a Government that says it wants to do better for those in poverty. I expect more from a Government who says that they're going to be doing more for the education system. It is time for new ideas. We have great challenges before us. We have great opportunities before us. We are in a time of digital revolution. The world of work is changing. Get some interesting education policy together for the good of New Zealand's children. This is not good enough. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): This is a split call. I call the Hon Clare Curran—five minutes."