Curran ClareHon CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South): Thank you Mr Speaker. Tens of thousands of parents are breathing a huge sigh of relief today at the swift response of the Government in moving to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. I want to acknowledge Mason Pendrous and his family and acknowledge his stepfather Anthony Holland and his friends. No family should ever have to experience that.As well as being a member of this Parliament who sits on the Education and Workforce Committee which will hear this bill I am a parent of two boys one in a hall of residence now and another who was in a hall of residence at the start of this year but it didn't work out and who had a very difficult time. I wouldn't normally discuss my family in this place but I remain angry at the lack of pastoral care experienced by my son and I am angry and distressed along with the tens of thousands of other parents who expected that when their sons or daughters moved into student accommodation there were processes in place for their safety and to support them if they needed it. I do want to stress upfront that the gaps in pastoral care in our student accommodation are not uniform across the student accommodation sector. My other son has had a very different experience and I know lots of other people whose children have had different experiences.But the fact is that gaps exist and they're serious enough for us to act swiftly. This bill puts in place a number of accountability measures for pastoral care of domestic tertiary education students which are binding on tertiary education providers—no longer voluntary but binding and mandatory. I know that other speakers this afternoon have talked about what those changes propose to be. I want to thank the National Party for supporting this bill today and particularly acknowledge Shane Reti who has raised a number of matters thoughtful matters that need to be addressed and considered in the select committee so that we do pass the best piece of legislation.I've spoken to you briefly as a parent. I also want to speak in my contribution for the young people who work within the university student accommodation system and they're the residential assistants or otherwise known as the RAs. A few days ago I read a direct account of an RA and I have the permission of this former student to recount his experience to the House today. I will not identify him the hall or the university but I want to tell his story.In his words: I spent two years as a residential assistant an RA at a university hall of residence. Those two years although they were some of the best were also some of the toughest of my life. As a 22- to 23-year-old I was given 30 to 40 students per year to look after. But it's not just 30 to 40 students; it's 30 to 40 seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds who have just moved to a new city into university away from their parents for the first time and living with 160 strangers. In other words I was looking after 30 to 40 highly vulnerable people. Yes they've got into university. Yes they're often resilient. Yes they're mostly privileged but they're in a time of immense transition and transition equals vulnerability.Was I qualified to look after these kids? No. A week's worth of training lightly covering mental health and sexual violence wasn't enough. I had students on my floor and under my care who tried to end their lives. Students were raped sexually assaulted and assaulted. Students failed courses felt isolated for the first time their mental health declined and they often didn't have the tools to cope. And it was on me and a handful of others to administer the pastoral care that the university advertised to justify the $13000 fee to attend a hall. It's disgusting that the university literally makes millions from this.I asked the vice-chancellor myself twice at the start of each training week for RAs about the adequacy of RA training. The response was always the same: 'You are not to care for these people; you are to refer.' which in itself is fair—that they should be treated for and by professionals who are qualified to. But I lived with these kids. They'd be in my room at 3 a.m. with their problems. Despite this the university refused to increase training.Unis for too long have failed first-year students. It's painfully obvious that halls owe students a duty of care. RAs should be trained and paid better. Managers who don't believe a student when reporting sexual assault or who do not take mental health seriously should be fired. Thank God that Hipkins and the Government have done something. It's sad it took a death to get here but if these reforms work they'll save lives. I hope every university in this country gets fined until something is done. They can afford it. They just need to do it."So I want to thank the Minister Chris Hipkins for his swift decisive action. I want to thank Cabinet for treating this so seriously. I want to thank all parties in the House and most particularly I want to thank and acknowledge the courage and the strength of Mason Pendrous' family. I want to see this bill pass through the House as quickly as possible. Thank you.Bill read a first time. Bill referred to the Education and Workforce Committee."