Davis Kelvin: Budget Debate 
Davis Kelvin: Budget Debate 
[Volume:664;Page:11685] 
KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 Let me tell members about the great tax swindle that is also known as Budget 2010. It is a great tax swindle because it is the Budget that has taken money out of the pockets of many and given it to the few. It has given money to the people who do not actually need it. 
Let me tell members about friends of mine in Kaitaia who together earn $60000—their combined income. She earns $25000 and he earns $35000. They pulled out a calculator and did the sums. After they had finished their sums they realised they will be $11 worse off. They were promised they would be better off after this Budget but they will be $11 a week worse off. Compare that with the tax cuts afforded to the head of Telecom who used to get $60000 a week after tax. My friends get $60000 a year before tax. The head of Telecom will get $4500 a week more in his pocket from the tax cuts. I ask the House and I ask New Zealand what he could do with $65000 a week that he could not do with $60000. And my friends are told not to be envious. My friends work really hard. They put in as many hours a week as the head of Telecom puts in and they are told not to be envious of somebody who will get an extra $5000 a week in his back pocket when they will get $11 less a week. 
I really want to talk about education and the broken promises afforded to the education system. What is it that National members do not understand about education? They just do not get it. They do not get that in order to improve the outcomes and the achievement of kids in New Zealand we need to invest in education not cut education. It is ironic that some 3 or 4 weeks ago we were in this House debating the Education Amendment Bill and part of the bill introduced information matching between the New Zealand Teachers Council and the Ministry of Education to identify individuals teaching in schools without registration. I agreed with that because every teacher in every school should be registered. Five minutes later when the Budget came out—the great tax swindle—we found that only 80 percent of the teachers at early childhood education centres need to be fully registered. I wonder why there is that anomaly. We say that it is really important that 100 percent of the staff in schools are registered yet only 80 percent of the staff of early childhood education centres have to be registered. 
Let me tell members about Ruawai Kindergarten. I visited it about 3 weeks ago and the staff told me—I do not make these figures up—that because of the decision that only 80 percent of their staff have to be registered they would lose $46000 every year. I am not making those figures up. That is what the head of Ruawai Kindergarten told me. It is amazing that over here in the Grand Hall we had a situation— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Two members called out “Tell the truth!”; that is unparliamentary language. 
KELVIN DAVIS 
: It was not long ago that over in the Grand Hall we honoured all the excellent teachers. The head teacher from Ruawai Kindergarten received an award for being an excellent teacher. She was recognised for the great work she was doing up in Ruawai. Sitting there she said that she wondered what would happen in the Budget which was to be announced that very afternoon. Ruawai Kindergarten had $46000 ripped out of its annual budget. How is that money going to be made up? That money is going to be made up by charging parents. Ruawai Kindergarten has only 22 kids on its books. That is how many it can enrol at any one time. There are 40 kids on the waiting list. Those 22 families will be charged to send their kids to Ruawai Kindergarten. It is the only kindergarten for about 20 kilometres. If those parents cannot afford the charge—$46000 divided by 22 families—if they cannot afford to make up that money they will have to send their kids 20-odd kilometres away which they probably cannot afford to do or not send their kids to early childhood education. That is a crying shame. 
What we are doing here is re-emphasising or reinforcing the fact that low and middle income people who cannot afford education will not be educated. It is reinforcing that whole cycle of underachievement and that is the fault of this Government. It was interesting to hear David Bennett over there say that National members are listening to the sector and that schools are happy to have a 4 percent increase in their operations grant. Well if the Government had really listened to the sector it would have got a 5.9 percent increase in the operations grant because that is how much inflation is going up by. In fact a 4 percent increase in the operations grant and a 5.9 percent increase in inflation is actually a 2 percent loss. It is about time that the National Government members got their heads round education. The only person opposite who has any experience in education is Allan Peachey who is so out of favour that he is sitting on this side of the House amongst us. He is the only person in the National Government who has any idea whatsoever about education. 
Then we have the sad story about the wharekura. Anne Tolley said in this House that she was really rapt that the wharekura were happy with the amount of funding that they have got but that is because they do not know how much they are missing out on. Under the previous Labour Government the kura in Taumarere in my own patch of Moerewa where I grew up would have received $451000. Unfortunately it will receive almost half of that. The wharekura at Whangaroa would have received $234000 but instead it will get $140000. This is the Government’s investment in Maori education. Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o te Tonga o Hokianga should receive $324000 but instead it gets $218000. I ask how the Minister of Maori Affairs who is also the Associate Minister of Education could allow that to happen. What is it that he does not like about Maori education? Why is he is prepared to support the National Government which is underfunding Maori education to such a horrific extent? It is wrong and both the Minister of Maori Affairs who is also an Associate Minister of Education and the Minister of Education Anne Tolley need to be hauled over the coals or held to account by Maori educators throughout New Zealand. 
If we are going to raise children’s achievement we need to invest in professional development. We need to make sure that our teachers are the most skilled. Every child in every class in every school or early childhood centre has the right to an excellent teacher. That is up to the Government. It is the Government’s responsibility to create conditions where excellent teachers can weave their magic. Those excellent conditions can be attained only by giving teachers the right training and the right professional development. But what do we see? We see cuts made to professional development. We see professional development on how to implement national standards but let me tell members that national standards are about reporting achievement; they are not about teaching. So reporting is over here on this side and teaching is over there on that side. The interaction between teachers and students is where learning occurs. That is where the investment needs to be made not just in professional development on how to implement national standards. National standards on their own will not raise achievement. In fact if they are implemented wrongly and I believe that they are being implemented wrongly they will have a detrimental effect on achievement in New Zealand. 
I met with wharekura the other day and they are concerned about nga whanaketanga which are the Maori national standards. They do not feel that they have had enough time to implement them properly. Fair enough they are only halfway through the trial year but mainstream schools also deserve that trial year. It is not fair. 
I believe that this Budget is a tax swindle it is a Budget of broken promises and it is a Budget for the few not the many.