Peachey Allan: Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Peachey Allan: Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6824] 
ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 We have heard from the youngster of the Labour Party Chris Hipkins. If I could humbly give that member a little bit of advice it would be that if he is going to be successful in this place it would pay for him to get his story right and be consistent with his front-benchers. What is Labour’s position on the issue we are debating? Is it as was expounded by the young member there is it what former Labour Minister Clayton Cosgrove had to say or is it more ominous that that? This is what Clayton Cosgrove said in 2008— 
Jacinda Ardern 
: Repeat it three times. 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: You should hear it three times. You are going to hear it again because you need to listen and to learn. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Order! 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: I am sorry Mr Deputy Speaker. I most humbly apologise. This is what Clayton Cosgrove had to say when he was defending plans to make membership of the Real Estate Institute voluntary and when he argued in favour of voluntary membership and freedom of association. He said: “We haven’t had compulsory unionism for 20 years. Why should I as a politician tell you or anybody else what you should belong to? If you want to join the footy club the workingmen’s club the institute—go for it. It’s your choice and you should have that right.” 
Jacqui Dean 
: Who said that? 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: Clayton Cosgrove the member who almost lost his seat. It seems to me that Labour members are arguing that students should not have the same rights of freedom of association as other New Zealanders. That is the basic argument of Labour and that is where I take issue with the stand it is taking. 
I congratulate the ACT member Sir Roger Douglas. This matter needs to be debated and I look forward to chairing the Education and Science Committee which will hold hearings on the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill. I want to send a very very clear message now as to what I will be looking for at the committee. National is supporting the bill going to the select committee in order to give the select committee and New Zealanders the chance to consider an issue that is very very important to students and to New Zealand generally. The key question and the one I will look to have addressed is why university students are being denied the right of freedom of association that all other New Zealanders have an entitlement to. Has this country gone so far backwards in its thinking that it is not prepared to enter into an open and honest debate and discussion on the issue? 
I will also be seeking an explanation for why if the situation works at the University of Auckland where there is a voluntary students association it cannot work anywhere else. Why can the students of Otago Canterbury Victoria and Waikato not have the same rights and privileges of New Zealanders and of freedom of association that the students of Auckland enjoy? I will be looking for that issue to be discussed by submitters. 
I will conclude by reiterating what I have said. The bill is about the rights of New Zealanders to enjoy freedom of association. Labour members have already made it clear that it is their intention to deny young New Zealanders that right. I will not be so easily convinced.