Pettis Jill: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
Pettis Jill: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
[Volume:638;Page:8292] 
JILL PETTIS (Labour) 
: 
 It is with real pleasure that I rise to speak to the bill because the whole student loan scheme is an issue that I feel very passionate about. Like most parents around this House who are roughly my age we have children who have been students. And we have been students ourselves so many of us know personally what the former loan scheme used to be like for students in the very early 1990s before Labour came into Government and was able to institute a much fairer loan policy. 
I could regale the House with the many many stories that my children’s friends used to tell me about the impact the former loan scheme introduced by the former National Government meant for them personally. One of the huge differences I noticed when Labour came into Government was how the constituency work and the topics which were some of the major issues that came through our offices changed. One of the issues that did change dramatically was the amount of work that my office was doing around issues connected with student loans. Once Labour’s policy came into force the amount of work we were doing on student loan issues dropped away markedly. In fact I cannot remember the last time I did a case concerning student loans. That is great for students and it is good for New Zealand. 
This bill really is a continuation of Labour’s policies to make the student loan scheme fairer. Basically that is all that the people who came to see me and my children’s friends who were talking to me were asking for. They were not asking for a free ride. They knew that tertiary education was expensive and they were just asking for a fair deal. That is one of the reasons why I have always felt so strongly about our student loan policy and it could not have come in quickly enough as far as I was concerned because New Zealanders and young New Zealanders were really just asking for a fair go. This further extension covered in the bill—this continuation of making the student loan scheme fairer—is all that people were asking for. 
Part of the improvement in tertiary education that I am proud that our Labour Government has been able to deliver is the funding of institutions on the basis of quality and relevance. I well remember when we were in Opposition how the old market-driven model that National applied was basically about “bums on seats” as we say. Our tertiary education institutions were forced by the previous National Government’s onerous and draconian tertiary education policy to concentrate on numbers rather than on quality and relevance. I am delighted that the improvement in our tertiary education policy has enabled tertiary institutions to refocus on quality and relevance. 
It is not easy for those who deliver tertiary education services. We always know that demand exceeds supply. One of the things we can say about education in general in New Zealand is that all of those who are involved in delivering education in New Zealand want to do only their very best. They want to deliver only the best for their students from early childhood education right through to tertiary education degrees and the doctorate level. If one wants to get rich one should not work in the education sector. People who work in this sector do so because they are passionate they are driven and they are committed. They want to improve New Zealand and they want to leave this country a better place. The way they are able to do that is by being in front of a lecture theatre or classroom or leading young people and imparting to and sharing with them the knowledge they have gained over the years regardless of what stage of the education process those students may be at. 
I am grateful for the altruism shown by the people who work in the education sector because it is a huge commitment; it is not an easy task. I want again and I have done this many times to take this opportunity to extend my personal thanks to those who are involved in educating our society. 
Colin King 
: You are starting to repeat yourself! 
JILL PETTIS 
: It is worth repeating. It is worth saying thank you to those people who are sharing their knowledge with young New Zealanders. That member who is generally regarded as being fair has just had I am sure a momentary slip in his normally pretty good attitude. I am happy to say thank you as many times as it is required. One of the things about our culture in New Zealand is that sometimes we are great at criticising but we are not as flash at saying thank you. They are two very simple words and I am happy to say thank you as many times as possible. So just in case that member missed it I say thank you to all the people who are sharing their knowledge with young people in New Zealand and improving the lot of our society. 
 It is a pity that member interjected because I did not intend to dwell on the National Party as there is really not much to say about it. But I accept that one is forced to respond to a careless and out of character interjection. What cannot go without being asked is the question: “What’s National’s policy?”. Can those members opposite give us a policy? Do they have a policy? There is silence—not a dicky-bird! The only message I can hear from National on its tertiary education policy is—listen—ratatat-tat! That is Mr Key’s flip-flops. That is Mr Key flip-flopping all over the show on yet another lack of policy and that is National’s position on tertiary education. 
Mr Key has several views. I ask members to bear with me for just a moment. In one of his statements he said: “Labour’s no-interest loan scheme is rushed and reckless thrown together in desperation before the election.” Then ratatat-tat! Further down the track as he was flip-flopping Mr Key said—perhaps to a different audience because I understand that he changes his response depending on the audience he is standing in front of—“We’d have a look at it. Let’s just see what conditions they put on it and what impact it has.” Well I wonder what audience he was standing in front of when he said that. 
Let us see what sort of a direction that is coming from somebody who thinks he will be a leader of this country. It is kind of like those hats with two peaks we see some people wearing—“Take me to your leader.”—because he’s never quite sure which way he’s going. We are talking about education which is one of the most important sectors in our society and today we are talking about tertiary education. Fancy the main Opposition party not having a clear policy on tertiary education! Have members ever heard anything so vacuous? Have they ever heard anything that is so—oh we are not allowed to say that word? Have they ever heard of such lack of direction about a policy area that is so critically important to New Zealand’s future? The main Opposition Party—well the party that purports to be the main Opposition party—does not have a clear unequivocal policy on tertiary education. I tell the National Party that it should get up to speed and get a policy. I ask it to give us a policy—on anything!