Willis NicolaNICOLA WILLIS (National): I rise to make comments on a range of matters relating to both the title and the commencement of this bill. In doing so I want to first respond to some comments by the Minister of Education who in referencing the debate around whether or not this bill's commencement should be paused until the Waitangi claim has been heard said that it was not appropriate for him to comment on a claim before the Waitangi Tribunal. I would contrast that with what he thinks is appropriate which is that he believes it's appropriate to progress a piece of legislation that is subject to that very claim. He thinks it is appropriate to move through the House a bill which will commence as soon as the Royal assent is given and which will at that point contravene the wishes of those making the claim. So it is very precious I think of the Minister to say that oh no he can't make any comments but that yes he can act in a way that so clearly defies the wishes of the claimants in this case particularly because what we are debating here in this clause is simply that this should be delayed—that the commencement shouldn't occur until the claim has been heard. The application has been put in for urgency it would be possible for this claim to be heard quickly and it is appropriate therefore to consider that this bill should not come into effect for partnership schools until a later date. The second point that I want to make—having canvassed that point which has been well-canvassed by previous speakers—is this question of when in fact this legislation should come into effect because of course it does have a number of other provisions relating in particular to polytechnics and universities and to national standards at primary and secondary schools. In relation to a number of those sections there are very detailed transitional arrangements in the bill. So it is always relevant when we're looking at the commencement of a bill to question whether the commencement is the right commencement date given the huge breadth of transitional arrangements that will be triggered at that point because those transitional arrangements take significant effort of implementation for all of those involved. I am talking about the mums and dads sitting around school boards of trustees who the minute that this commences—which if we are to believe the Minister will be the minute that this bill is given the Royal assent—will then be required not only to get their heads around what this new piece of legislation means for them and their schools but to get their heads around the transitional arrangements that will occur prior to the specific clauses coming into effect for universities polytechnics and councils. This means distracting themselves from the business of how to improve the rankings of our universities in international eyes and distracting themselves from the business of the pastoral care of their students in order to look at the transitional arrangements that need to be put in place. The third point that I want to make is around this question of extensive consultation because the Minister in briefly mentioning the title and commencement was clear that he believed that extensive consultation had taken place on each of the matters here. I want to contrast that and suggest that this is yet another reason why the commencement of this bill should be delayed because we look at the Tomorrow's Schools review which is currently under way—and which has been under way for many months—we look at the review of the education system in general and we look at the strategic review of early childhood education. All of these reviews have been going for a number of months and their report-backs have been delayed because the Minister is of the view that there is sufficient view in the community that needs to be heard and that it is not time yet for him to report. So given the level of debate that we have had about these partnership schools' clauses and given the statement today by Waitangi leaders in relation to their claim would that not suggest that more consultation is required and that this commencement date is inappropriate? I would put it to you that it would. I want to briefly mention an amendment in my own name. That is an amendment that would change the title of this bill. The title of this bill is particularly lacking in imagination and particularly lacking in any sense of vision or an idea for the future. It is simply the Education Amendment Bill"—very dull indeed—and I think it speaks to the fact that the Minister doesn't actually have a central governing idea or vision for what he will do for our students. There isn't a concept of progress or achievement that he's able to put in lights in his title to the bill and I'd suggest to him that the prosaic title of "Education (University and Polytechnic Council) Amendment Act" as suggested by my amendment would quite properly describe the contents of this bill."