Muller ToddTODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): It is a great privilege to stand and speak for a few minutes on the second reading of the Education Legislation Bill which is in the name of Minister Joyce and of course the Minister of Education Hekia Parata who I believe is demonstrating day after day an absolute philosophy to have child learning and supporting them to ensure that they can be the best they can be at the core of this Government's delivery in education.It is absolutely critical that we do this because in my view we are on the cusp of extraordinary technological change not only here in New Zealand but across the world and it is an absolute obligation on this House and on this Government that we create conditions that we provide the opportunity for our young people to be able to enter that changing world equipped with skills and resilience and capacity to be able to be successful. That is what this bill does. It creates flexibility in the governance framework of education and I have found it not that surprising to be honest but extraordinarily consistent of the left and of Labour and others on that side who are unrelentingly ideological that when this Government puts choice in hands of the board of trustees they oppose it because we cannot have that can we! We cannot have a board of trustees given the choice as to whether they should consider employing a trainee teacher because that is not appropriate because the unions have said that is not appropriate. So let us block it! Well I find that quite remarkable and if you just look through some of the key recommendations that we reflected on—yes the debate at the Education and Science Committee was quite heated and we have heard some of it already this evening. When we considered Supplementary Order Paper 176 relating to creating the opportunity for the new teacher training category in schools the key word that we discussed which is encapsulated in this bill is the enabling" of this position. It is not telling the board of trustees to do it. There is no direction from the Secretary of Education but it enables a board of trustees and a school so that if they think this is an opportunity that is going to enhance the learning of their children they have the choice. The Opposition says: "Oh where's the evidence?". Well I will tell you what the evidence was. The evidence was the schools where this is in place turning up to the select committee and saying: "This is working for our kids." Well as a parent who has kids in school when I hear teachers turn up and when I hear people from the school turn up and say this is adding value then for me that needs to be part of what we are offering and this is what that particular clause enables and so should it. Then on the debate about principals leading more than one school—yet again—from Chris Hipkins what do we hear? We hear: "Oh I agree about it in principle. It sort of feels OK. But where are all the permutations of the contract for when it might turn to custard maybe somewhere in 5 10 years' time?". Well with respect Mr Hipkins we trust our boards of trustees to have the competency to have the community at heart and the capacity to enable a contractual interface between them and this principal of great talent to make it work for their school and their kids. Again it is a kid-centric model—not a union-centric model that sits over that side but a kid-centric model—and that is why I am so proud to be able to support this Government and the leadership in the education sector that Hekia Parata provides. At her core and you see it expressed every day is an absolute determination to keep our children at the front of our focus—not those who protect the interests of those involved in the sector who do not always agree but the children are at the focus.Tracey Martin: Rubbish—absolute rubbish.TODD MULLER: It is not rubbish Tracey Martin. It is not. I just conclude with the reference to the school opening hours to reinforce the point. Again in this bill is the freedom for the conversation to occur around a board of trustees their communities and their parents. No compulsion—there is no compulsion in this. This is enabling. It is for boards of trustees it is for parents it is for communities and it is for our kids. Long may that continue and long may this philosophy being led by Hekia Parata hold the day. Thank you very much."