Mallard Trevor: Education Amendment Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMallard Trevor: Education Amendment Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee[Sitting date: 29 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:10530. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South): I want to make a number of comments and probably a number of contributions. The first contribution I want to make is going to deliberately skirt around the Standing Orders of this House by asking about the diary and organisational planning of the Minister of Education the Hon Hekia Parata whose name this Education Amendment Bill is in. This bill is a fundamental change to the shape of education and to the ownership of education in New Zealand. For a Minister whose name is on this bill to take the very same day on which she knew last week that she was going to make announcements in Christchurch to announce that this legislation will go through its detailed Committee phase shows a Minister—Tim Macindoe: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. This member is well familiar with Standing Orders that prevent him from moving in the direction that he is going. He has already indicated that he is skirting around the Standing Orders—The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I am the judge of this. I look very closely at relevancy. I ask the member to come back.Hon TREVOR MALLARD: This bill should be the top priority of the Minister in charge. There is another Minister who takes responsibility in this area Associate Minister of Education the Hon John Banks. It should be his top priority. I just want to know why we have not heard from them. We have not heard from either of them on this fundamental change—a fundamental change—to the shape of education in New Zealand.On Part 1 I want to make a number of detailed comments. But first of all I want to make the obvious point that this is not necessary. We actually have in New Zealand probably the most flexible State education system anywhere within the OECD. It is much more flexible than in the United States much more flexible than in the United Kingdom much more flexible than in Australia and it works better than the education system in every single one of those countries. I think it is wonderful that the plummy private-school voices opposite are the ones who say they are advocating for those who are not succeeding in our system. Giving this system—like they are giving the electricity system like they are giving Air New Zealand—to their mates to run is not something that is going to improve education.I want to ask the Minister in the chair Associate Minister of Education Nikki Kaye to tell us what is wrong with Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti. What is wrong with it? She does not know what Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti is. The Minister in the chair does not know about one of the most flexible and successful schools in New Zealand. I ask the Minister what she thinks about Discovery School. She does not think a thing. Nothing moves—nothing moves between the ears of that Minister when we talk about one of the most successful schools in New Zealand. It is a school that works very much on a community ownership model with an enormous amount of private sector involvement.There is an enormous amount of private sector involvement in both of those schools under the current system. It works it is flexible and it is not traditional. It works because it works in a general context. It works in a context of the current regulations and it shows that Part 1 of this bill is absolutely unnecessary in order to have a flexible approach to education. My colleague Nanaia Mahuta I am almost certain is a product of the kura system—Hon Nanaia Mahuta: The early kura system.Hon TREVOR MALLARD: —the early kura system—which was one that worked within this legislation. It was one which worked within this legislation and was exceptionally flexible around the ownership.The reason that this Government wants to make these changes is not because of the “cup of tea” arrangement. It is not because of the arrangement with ACT because we know that the papers on this were requested not by John Banks not by Hekia Parata but by Anne Tolley. It was Anne Tolley who set the system going and to pretend that it is this sort of arrangement is clearly not the case. I want to move to the question of registration and the ability to track teachers who offend. I find it abhorrent that any member of this Parliament would make it easier—