Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill

Thank you, Mr Speaker. We are discussing the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill, and I want to use my brief contribution this afternoon to comment on the part of the bill that makes some changes to the provisions that govern the Pacific Education Foundation, and this bill amends their Act, which was passed originally in 1972.

The board of the Pacific Education Foundation administers various kinds of support and scholarships and grants for Pacific peoples, including the Tulī Takes Flight scholarships as part of the Government’s goodwill package—in fact, the former Labour Government’s goodwill package that was set up in response to the Dawn Raids. The reason I want to comment on this is that it sparked my interest, because one of the provisions here changes the definition of a “Pacific person” and replaces it with a new definition for an “Aotearoa Pacific person”. The intention here is to ensure that the definition of people who are selected for the board of the Pacific Education Foundation reflect the new diverse reality of New Zealand and our cities. It refers to a person with “indigenous Pacific cultural heritage”, and it expands the list of Pacific places—a longer list than was in the previous definition—and it means that more Aotearoa Pacific learners and their families will be eligible for support from the foundation.

The thing I wanted to say about this is that there is a very live debate going on in Auckland right now amongst the Fijian Indian community, which is a significant, large, and quite fast-growing community—particularly in West Auckland, where I’m based. The Fijian Indians are all the sons and daughters of the Girmits. That is the people who were indentured labourers in the 1800s. In fact, 145 years ago, the first ship arrived delivering the first group of what turned out to be more than 60,000 people who the British colonial authorities shipped from India to cut sugar cane in Fiji, and it was indentured labour. They weren’t there particularly by choice. They were there, actually, in conditions that were far more akin to slavery than the kind of employment practices that we would associate with modern times. The Fijian Indian community believes—many of those people—that they are Pacific people. They have lived generation after generation in the Pacific, in Fiji. They shaped and developed the country that Fiji is today, and many of them and their offspring have subsequently made new lives in New Zealand and are making a fantastic contribution to this country. They now mark Girmit Day every 14 May, and they have reclaimed and celebrate that identity as Girmityas, the people of the Girmit. “Girmit” is a transliteration, from that time in the 1800s, of the English word “agreement”.

So they feel strongly that they should be recognised as a people with a distinctive historical experience and cultural identity that places them in the Pacific, and yet they are not. They are not recognised that way by numerous different Government agencies. In raising this, I’m not having a crack at the Pacific Education Foundation; Labour’s supporting this bill, which tidies up various regulations, but I do think it’s important that as a country and as lawmakers, we can listen to and consider the arguments being put forward by the Fijian Indian community that they should be recognised as Pacific people. For nearly 150 years, they have been in this region. That is the historical experience that shaped them. They are just as much Pacific people and are not people of India anymore, just as Pākehā people in New Zealand who have lived here for generations don’t consider themselves to be, any more, people of Britain. I think that’s a really interesting argument that that we need to consider in this super-diverse country that we now live in.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Isn’t it great to have the Opposition wholeheartedly support us in promoting this bill through the House? I was thinking how good it would have been if they’d supported the tax relief the hard-working low and middle income earners are now getting in their back pockets. Not only didn’t they support it, some of them even asked for it to be donated to them.

This bill addresses somewhat minor but nevertheless important and necessary changes to modernise the legislation. It will preserve the legacy and mana of the 28th Māori Battalion into the future, support the work of the Pacific Education Foundation, and ensure that education regulatory systems are fit for purpose, such as amending the Health and Safety at Work Act. Regarding the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Act, this bill will clear up some legal confusion regarding the administration of the scholarship fund and also management of the use of the Māori Battalion’s names and emblems—this bill will provide clarity as to who can administer the fund. Only one member of the Māori Battalion is still alive, and this bill will help preserve the legacy and mana of the Māori Battalion by ensuring there is representation of Māori soldiers or veterans on the board. This bill replaces “New Zealand Defence Force” with “Armed Forces”, which ensures that only soldiers—rather than civilian staff—are eligible to be the representative on the board.

I would take a moment to reflect on the dedication and sacrifice of those who have and do serve New Zealand and thank them for their service. Lest we forget, as we stand here surrounded by the names of the battles that have been fought to give us the freedom that we enjoy today—lest we forget.

This bill also makes amendments to the list of Pacific people in New Zealand who can benefit from the Pacific Education Foundation easier, and this ensures the definition reflects the diversity we have in this country now and into the future. This also updates the Pacific Education Foundation board’s function and reporting requirements, enabling better support of Pacific education outcomes. On this side of the House, we recognise the importance of education—a good, solid one—as evidenced by Minister of Education Stanford and this side of the House’s unwavering and relentless focus on improved educational outcomes for all New Zealanders, and anything that contributes to this, such as this bill, should be commended. On that note, I commend this bill to the House.

Whāia te iti kahurangi; ki te tūohu koe, me he maunga teitei.

[Pursue the rarest of treasures; should you bow your head, let it be to a towering mountain.]

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s my pleasure to speak to this particular piece of legislation before us today, the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill. I’m very passionate about our young people achieving and ensuring that our tamariki mokopuna have the best opportunities in front of them, both in our compulsory education sector and also right through to secondary school education and through to higher learning, whether that be in polytechs, universities, or trades training. I’m an absolute believer that every person should have the same opportunity to learn, the same opportunity to carve a path to a good life, to a good job, and to raise their family.

I’ve been confused by this Government’s position on mātauranga, on education. At the one end, we have charter schools—an ideological experiment that enables certain schools in this country to be funded more than others—and at the other end is a Government that wants to micro-manage compulsory education in our State school system. The introduction of compulsory reading, writing, and arithmetic for one hour a day really takes away any confidence that we have in our practitioners, our teachers, and the people that we trust to teach and learn our tamariki.

I’ve been confused by the cancellation of a number of building projects up and down the country, and particularly in Auckland, in my own community. But what I do see today is some sense and a kaupapa in education that I personally find very important. I’ve travelled to Te Tairāwhiti—and I acknowledge the member for East Coast, Dana Kirkpatrick MP—on the East Coast and the wonderful place of Turanga Gisborne, where they house the museum for the 28th (Māori) Battalion. Eight weeks ago, I visited there for the first time. It’s a special place. It’s a special place to this country, which honours people who went to fight for this country, for who we are, but also it’s where my grandfather’s picture sits, as somebody who served this country for, in effect, what we have now.

When I was lucky enough to travel to Tāmaki-makau-rau Auckland, after growing up in the wonderful place of Hawke’s Bay, I had the opportunity to go on to further education, to university, and, as a first in family, study at undergraduate level. I wanted to go to university because I knew that at that place, whatever it was—and I’m not sure that at that time I knew exactly what university was, but I knew it was a ticket to opportunity, and I knew it was a ticket to influence the lives of others, to make New Zealand a better place, and that I in my lifetime can make a contribution to some of that.

Then, as a part of Ngā Tauira Māori, the Māori Students’ Association, at the University of Auckland, this particular contribution and investment in rangatahi Māori was in fact a pathway to that success. It enabled people to study at undergraduate level. It took away particular barriers that were there, unnecessarily in some senses, and the injustices that we face in this country, where not everyone has the same opportunity as the guy or girl next to them. That funded their opportunities, their hopes and aspirations to lead a better life and be educated. So this particular legislation, I have followed through the first, second, and third readings, from the last Government to this one, and I’m pleased that in the House today we are able to come together and that Labour will continue to support this original piece of legislation that we established in the last Government.

I acknowledge this Government for continuing it through to completion, because the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Act is an important one. It enables some of the technicalities to be taken away, to make it easier to fund rangatahi, young people, and particularly Māori, to access the learning opportunities that they desire. But also it looks back to the people who have served this country, just like my grandfather, who sit in that place in Te Tairāwhiti in honour of the fight, of the justice, but most of all the opportunities that they provided to all of us. Tēnā koe.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, it’s a great pleasure to rise and take the final call on the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill. There are three main parts of the bill in the sense that we’re looking to firstly preserve the legacy and the mana of the 28th Māori Battalion into the future, we’re looking to support the work of the Pacific Education Foundation, and to ensure that education regulatory systems are fit for purpose. But I would like to focus my contribution today on the first part of this, which was about focusing on preserving the legacy and mana of the 28th Māori Battalion.

I’ve spoken in some ways on this before but from a slightly different angle. This time, I’d like to talk about not only the lead up to the Māori Battalion itself but Māori contributions to the wars of New Zealand over time—the wars that New Zealand has partaken in over time. Going back to the Boer War and into World War I, they often went as volunteers and served our country, and it was with great honour that they served our country. It was when they went to the World War I that we had such great Māori leaders as Harding Waipuke Leaf, who’s from my part of the world up in Northland, from Hokianga. He was a great leader of men, and he really contributed to our efforts in World War I. At one point, he was told he wasn’t allowed to actually fight, he had to go and dig the trenches and so forth. But then he got sick of that. So, at one stage, he just simply picked up a rifle grab and made the battle cry “Fight like the Ururoa, fight to the death.” The Māori contingent has then gone on and contributed in such an amazing way.

Then, along came World War II and the formation of the 28th Māori Battalion, an amazing battalion made up of four companies: A Company was from the Northern tribes, my part of the world and were known as the Gum Diggers; B Company were from the Bay of Plenty tribes and they were known as the Penny Divers; then there was C Company from the East Coast, who were known as the Cowboys, probably something to do with the horses they all rode around up there, and probably still do to this day according to Dana Kirkpatrick, my colleague from the East Coast; and, of course, then there was D Company, which was from the rest of the country, and they were known as Ngāti Walkabout. They went off to war, and, actually, Ngāpuhi at one point weren’t going to go because Sergeant Leaf—Harding Leaf—wanted to go back to war but he was too old. So Ngāpuhi simply sent the message down to say, “Look, if Sergeant Leaf can’t go, we won’t go.” So guess what! Off they went. But, unfortunately, Sergeant Leaf was killed in action in—I believe it was Crete—in the first battle of Crete in 1941. A true hero.

As we progressed through the war, the 28th fought in many places and fought Rommel’s Afrika Korps and the Italian forces. Battles followed in Egypt, El Alamein, Tebaga Gap, and Takrouna. During the Battle of Medenine in Tunisia, the 28th suffered 22 casualties—right? One of these was Second Lieutenant Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu, the man this scholarship is named after, which I thought was quite appropriate as this inspired leadership obviously earned him a VC. Then they went on to fight in the big fight of all, which was of course Monte Casino—that was in Italy. In here, we can find the names of all the battles; you’ll find the battle of Casino. The Māori Battalion suffered the heaviest losses of any of the battalions that fought there on our behalf.

Then, as the war came to an end and we came back—hold on, I’ve got to find my place. Here we go—I got a bit lost. As the war came to an end, we came home. The final command of the Māori Battalion—Sir James Hēnare sent the members of the battalion back to New Zealand and said “tu Māori mai”, “stand as Māori”, as he dismissed his troops. It was then, actually, when we talked about the mana of the battalion, preserving it—I think we need to reflect on, when they came back, the lack of mana and respect that was shown to the Māori people when they returned to New Zealand. For example, they were not entitled to the same service rate when they came back, in terms of pay; they were not entitled to enter into our ballots for farms.

Then there was something that I discovered with the help of my colleague across the floor Peeni Henare. He told me the story of the local RSA in Kawakawa, where, after the war, the only Māori allowed into the RSA were the officers—and that was Sir James himself, but he refused to go in because his troops weren’t allowed to. That was not reversed until, I believe it was, 1985, which is a long time. That’s only very recently. So it’s one of the things that really did trample over the mana, and I think it’s important that we recognise those things. That was an injustice that was undeserved because they all went to war as volunteers. I think we really need to respect that contribution to our people, and people need to acknowledge that history.

Finally, as we come to the conclusion, I’d like to thank everybody who’s contributed to this debate. It’s been a great debate, and I’d like to conclude by saying what the battalion would have said as they went into battle:

Mō te Atua! Mō te kingi! Me te whenua!

Auē! Ake, ake, kia kaha e!

For God! For King! And for country! For ever and ever. Be strong. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a third time.