Fenton Darien: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Fenton Darien: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:678;Page:1439] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 I appreciate the opportunity to take a call on Part 2 “Transitional provision”. I have not taken a call in the Committee stage of this bill but I have been sitting here as a parent with a child overseas feeling somewhat alarmed. 
Grant Robertson 
: Are you the contact person? 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Have I been named as the contact person by my son and daughter who happen to live in San Francisco at the moment? They do have a student loan. Am I the contact person and how would I know? Under this transitional provision I am not certain even though it does appear to give some breathing space in that it is a transitional provision until the close of 31 December. So there is some breathing space I think so I might have some time to find out whether I am the contact person and whether my address my email my phone number and other details have been given to that very very frightening but very efficient department called the Inland Revenue Department.  
I felt moved to take a call on this transitional provision in Part 2 to ask the Minister in the chair the Minister for Courts some questions about this. As I said as a parent with children overseas like so many parents I regret that my children have decided that they have to go and live and work overseas. They have taken other opportunities because— 
Dr David Clark 
: More and more New Zealanders are doing it.  
DARIEN FENTON 
: Thirty thousand or so have gone to Australia but actually my children have gone further afield as I said to take up opportunities that they simply cannot get in New Zealand.  
I also listened to the debate about repayment holidays. I do not want to go into that now because I know it is not relevant—and thank you Mr Chairperson for your guidance—but as I said I do feel very very moved to take a call as a concerned parent about what this transitional provision will mean. For the purposes of those people who are listening on their crystal sets tonight— 
Grant Robertson 
: Thousands of them! 
DARIEN FENTON 
: —thousands of them listening on their crystal sets—let us see what it says. It says in clause 34(1): “Until the close of 31 December 2012 the definition of contact person in section 193A(5) of the principal Act must be read without reference to paragraph (a) of that definition.” I am trying to find my way through the bill and through the principal Act to see what that means but what it says to me is that there is at least some breathing space for me as a parent and for my children who have escaped overseas to reconsider whether— 
Grant Robertson 
: You want them back? 
DARIEN FENTON 
: —of course I want them back—but to reconsider whether I am a suitable person to be a contact person under this bill and whether they may want to think about whether they want to expose their parents to the vagaries of this bill particularly with all of its consequences with the shortening of the repayment holiday.  
As I have said I have listened to the debate with great interest. I will follow the debate further. I am deeply disappointed that we have not been able to persuade the Government to make amendments that may well have led the Labour Party to support this bill but unfortunately because of the Government’s attitude the lack of common sense that we have had— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Order! Transitional provision. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: —and the lack of common sense perhaps in the transitional provision— 
Dr David Clark 
: There’s no lack of common sense in the transitional provision though. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: True. Well we could have had a longer transitional provision of course. It could have been until 31 December 2013. That might have been of even more comfort to me as a parent. But I do appreciate the opportunity to take a call on the transitional provision in Part 2.