Hipango HareteHARETE HIPANGO (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. Following on from my colleague Penny Simmonds who with my colleague Erica Stanford both sat on the Education and Workforce Committee for this Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 3). As has been declared and disclosed the National Party opposes this bill for a number of reasons. I think the most important and pressing reason is that it's noted that this is a debate under urgency and as is the case under urgency" means that there is often a truncated process and that due process does not occur in terms of that level of engagement with our New Zealand public.I turn to the gallery and I acknowledge members from Te Whare Wānanga o Raukawa who are present here—Robin Hape with others—who have come and travelled down for this important debate. Kia ora.I have noted I didn't sit on the select committee and that I've been called in as a member of the National Party to address this House under urgency on this debate. Therefore the knowledge that I have is somewhat limited not being a member of that committee but it's not limited in terms of where we have legislation trying to define Māori concepts and Māori ways in existence of who we are what we are and our level of engagement. And therefore I understand that this bill is attempting to confine and limit what the concept of wānanga is.I'm aware from having read the select committee report that this bill was referred to the select committee on 28 March this year. Submissions were called for with a closing date of 1 May 2023 and my colleague Penny Simmonds has indicated to me and also to the House that extensive submissions in that truncated short time were heard from the representatives from the three whare wānanga throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. There were written submissions from 1124 interested groups. Oral evidence was heard from 55 of those submitters.As I've often referenced in the House I speak premised from associations of my lifetime and experience. And although I don't come from an educationalist background my background is around child welfare and protection. An element of this bill that addresses child protection is around the improvement of safety for children at schools and early childhood education centres.National supports the intent of the bill insofar as every child should be safe whilst attending school every parent deserves to know as guardians and every caregiver that their child will be safe and that everything is done to ensure a child's safety whilst under the ambit of that protection and umbrella at school. So the National Party does support changes to automatically change the eligibility criteria of school boards so that everyone convicted of an offence as is outlined in Schedule 2 of the bill is automatically ineligible to serve on a board unless exempted by the Secretary of Education. So as spokesperson for children and Oranga Tamariki that background in terms of child welfare safety and protection I've always advocated as being front and foremost of mind for me. So it's important to declare the National Party intent is in support of this element of the bill.As I've indicated the differing view is around that in terms of the composition and make-up of school boards that should be premised on skills based and competency and to reflect the community that the representation of those members of the board come from. So the National Party takes the view that it's not deemed significant or relevant within this bill to identify the diversity of the school in that community that they come from. That is for the community and for the board members to do so not for this Government in the very paternalistic approach and stance that it takes.The members also believe that the bill should have been delayed in order for the whare wānanga and those persons who come from that wānanga and also the concept in terms of mātauranga Māori—what that is and for those persons to agree on alternative terms for Crown entity wānanga and non-Crown entity wānanga. These are intellectual property issues. Should this Government again be dictating what the construct of that is? That is for our people te ao Māori and those working in this specialist area to define not for legislation to confine. And that's what the National Party stance and view is that this legislation is doing.It's also noted in the differing view within the select committee report that the proposed Order in Council mechanism that would be used to replace the placeholder terms of wānanga is not being protected under this bill. So my contribution is somewhat limited in terms of time at this point in time but I've referenced that again I speak from a premised association and relationship. I've mentioned that my service has been around child welfare protection and the law. I do not come from an educational background or that sector but the relationships that I have and I refer to Te Whare Wānanga o Raukawa and Matua—and Professor—Whatarangi Winiata in terms of having led and been a guiding light still with the establishment of Te Whare Wānanga o Raukawa; and many of my whānau from Whanganui travel through still on a regular and daily basis to attend for their learnings and the contributions that we take home from Ōtaki Raukawa back to where we come from.So in terms of relationships again the association and correlation Professor Whatarangi Winiata in terms of his learnings he shared with me at one stage that as a young man when he was a university student here at Victoria University he learnt from my koro Hori Hipango in his earlier days. And I refer to the words that Matua Whatarangi referenced and said that in his student days back in the 1960s he would travel through to Te Pūtiki Whanganui to wānanga with my koro in terms of the reo and in terms of as a young man learning from one of the kaumātua.So the concept of wānanga isn't something that should be legally defined and constrained within such a short period of time when we've had the representatives from the three whare wānanga through our Aotearoa make submissions. The point of concern is that this is something that is the intellectual property and construct and concept that comes from te ao Māori should it be confined and defined at short notice within this legislation.So that is the contribution that I make at this point in time. This is the second reading I believe. The bill will come back to the House. The National Party has indicated that it will be presenting a Supplementary Order Paper for improvement of this legislation that is being rushed through in such a short time. And on the basis of the contributions that have been made the National Party does not support this legislation as it attempts to construct and define something that really should be left to those who know better than the Government."