Education (Pastoral Care) Amendment Bill

I want to echo the comments I made yesterday in thanking members of the House for their constructive work to bring the Education (Pastoral Care) Amendment Bill back to the House with a degree of speed, and I want to thank them for the amendments that they have suggested.

I want to begin, though, by acknowledging again, as I did in my first reading speech, the family of Mason Pendrous. I’ve been reluctant to make any further comment on the case of Mason whilst the coroner was undertaking their investigation. I understand that they have reported their findings today, and I want to acknowledge how difficult that is for his family. Mason died whilst living in university accommodation at the University of Canterbury. The coroner was able to confirm where he died; unfortunately, because his body had been there for some time, they were unable to confirm the cause of his death. I do want to acknowledge that, for the family, that will always leave them with a lot of unanswered questions—questions that we will never be able to answer in this House, questions the coroner has not been able to answer. In fact, nobody is going to be able to give them the answers that they seek. What we can do in this House, though, is take the steps that we can reasonably take to ensure that no family finds himself in that position in the future.

I think that what we’ve shown in the last month or so, as the House has considered this matter, is that, in fact, we all want to do that. We all want to ensure that, when students move into accommodation that is provided by a tertiary education provider, they are given some certainty around the level of pastoral care that they will be provided. I believe that the issuing of a code of practice is going to ensure that we can give that surety. Of course there is still going to be a need for the institutions themselves to look closely at the policies and practices that they have in place to make sure that they are as robust as they possibly can be, and I believe that the code of practice sets up the framework in which they can do that. So, again, I think that the interim code of practice that we’ll be issuing this side of Christmas will give families certainty that, as we head into the new academic year in 2020, there are rules in place where there has been a regulatory gap.

And then over the course of the next year, we can work constructively with all those who have an interest: students themselves, their parents, the tertiary education providers, and others to make sure that there is a really robust code of practice in place from the beginning of 2021. So the interim code—the work is now being finalised on that so that we can issue that as soon as this bill is passed. I believe that that’s something that the House has expressed a desire to facilitate happening and I want to thank all members for that—and then we can make sure that we have something further in place.

I do understand that there are questions that have been raised by the New Zealand Treasury, by the Opposition around the potential fiscal implications of this. We do need to work very carefully through that. It hasn’t been possible to do all of that detailed analysis in the time frame required to get the interim code in place. But, again, I think that there is a desire, a hope across the House, to keep a very active overview and a very active watch on this work as it continues to happen so that we can make sure that those issues are addressed.

The Government has put in place interim funding to ensure that the code can be adequately monitored through the first year of operation. And then over the course of the next year, as we do that further, we can look at what further financing may be required to ensure that putting the code of practice in place in the longer term is properly supported. I’m very happy to answer any specific questions or address any specific issues that members may wish to raise. I do again want to acknowledge that members have worked very constructively to bring the bill to this point, and I thank them for it.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We’re in support of this bill and the details which we traversed yesterday, so we understand the intent, the purpose, and the urgency that brings it here to the House and the collaborative point that we’ve reached. Again, I want to acknowledge Universities New Zealand and those who, potentially, had the most to lose in this bill, considering they were exempted from the Residential Tenancies Act, when they came to the Education and Workforce Committee and said they understood the need for legislation. I think it was clear that really even those who might have felt most aggrieved were on board with the need for this. I think that’s a good thing.

I’d like to continue the discussion that at some point in the future we might be able to bring the international code and the domestic code into one form, albeit that there may need to be a position, potentially, for children—a code for children. But this has been futureproofed, so I think our interests are allayed in that way—that the legislation we’re enabling has the ability to futureproof those desires.

I think, thirdly, what has been most reassuring to us in the development of the code, which now passes to officials—so we’re just enabling the code to be developed—is the fact that it’s a disallowable instrument. And that was sort of a safety net underpinning it for us with the privileges that a member of the Regulations Review Committee has to bring this back to the House—or indeed any member in a slightly more protracted course. I think that was reassuring and gives us some faith that officials will do their best and diligent work. If we have any concerns we could bring it back and debate it, but I think that’s been a very reassuring part—bearing in mind the urgency that we’ve somewhat all agreed to, to propel this bill and move it forward—that it does have that underpinning it. So, we’re supporting this bill and are pleased with its content as it progresses this far. Thank you.

Clauses 1 to 5 and the Schedule agreed to.

Bill to be reported without amendment presently.