Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill

on behalf of the Minister of Education: I present a legislative statement on the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill.

DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

Hon PENNY SIMMONDS: I move, That the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

I want to start by thanking those who took the time to make submissions on the changes proposed in this bill, and my fellow Education and Workforce Committee members who considered the bill, of which both the Minister of Education and I had the privilege of being a member during that process.

This bill was introduced back in March 2023 and makes technical changes to improve the effectiveness of education regulatory systems. The bill makes changes to two education Acts: the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Act 1945 and the Pacific Education Foundation Act 1972. There are also minor technical changes to the regulations.

The bill firstly makes two changes to the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Act 1945 to ensure that it is fit for purpose and that it continues the legacy of the 28th Māori Battalion into the future. The Ngarimu scholarships are an important aspect of our education system, as they commemorate the heroes of the 28th Māori Battalion and recognise the importance of ensuring the continuation and prosperity of te reo Māori and of Māori history, tradition, and culture for future generations.

For some time, there has been legal confusion over who can manage the use of the Māori Battalion’s name and emblems. This was previously a role of the Māori Battalion Association, but that organisation was wound up in 2012. The bill clarifies that the scholarship fund board is the legal successor to the association, and that its functions include administering the use of both the battalion and association’s names and emblems. The bill also creates a new position on the Ngarimu Board, appointed by the Governor-General, which can be held by a person of Māori descent who has served or is currently serving in the New Zealand Armed Forces. Right now, there is one remaining soldier from the 28th Māori Battalion: Tā Robert Gillies. The creation of this new position will preserve the military legacy and provide representation for Māori soldiers who have served or who continue to serve for New Zealand.

The bill also makes several changes to the Pacific Education Foundation Act 1972, which supports the functions of the Pacific Education Foundation. The foundation was established to promote and encourage strong education outcomes for Pacific peoples within New Zealand and to provide financial support for that purpose. One of these key changes is to expand the list of Pacific places included in the definition of a Pacific person who can receive some of the supports and grants which are administered by the board of the foundation. These supports and grants include the Pacific Education Foundation scholarships and the Tulī Takes Flight scholarships, which reduce some of the financial barriers towards study or training. This change will better reflect the changing population of Pacific people in New Zealand and it will mean that more Pacific learners living in New Zealand will be eligible for support from the foundation. The bill enables the Governor-General to update the list of Pacific places through an Order in Council and sets out factors that the Minister of Education must take into account when making a recommendation to the Governor-General to make changes to the list.

The bill also updates the Pacific Education Foundation Board’s purpose and membership to enable it to function more effectively. These changes include clarifying the role the foundation has in providing information and advice to the Minister of Education, the Ministry of Education, and other education agencies on matters related to the educational success of Pacific people and increasing community representation on the board.

The bill also amends the Pacific Education Foundation Act to recognise the unique and important relationship the Crown has with the Realm of New Zealand countries, Tokelau, Niue, and the Cook Islands; and with Samoa through the Treaty of Friendship.

Finally, the bill updates the foundation’s authorised expenditure for purposes not specifically identified in the Act from $500 to $10,000 per year, which has not been updated since 1972. This change adjusts the $500 value by inflation to reflect the value in today’s terms.

In addition to these changes, the bill also makes technical amendments to regulations that impact the education sector. The first of these is an amendment to the Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 to require a police vet and a risk assessment to be undertaken for workers at limited-attendance childcare centres before they begin work. This is consistent with other children’s worker requirements. The second is to update the Children’s (Requirements for Safety Checks of Children’s Workers) Regulations 2015 to include a reference to the Kiwi Access Card as an acceptable form of identity, reflecting the name change of the 18+ Card.

I support progressing this bill through the House. It will update and modernise our education regulatory system and make changes that uphold the mana and legacy of the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund and strengthen the Pacific Education Foundation so that it can support great educational outcomes for Pacific learners and families living in New Zealand. Once again, I thank everyone that made submissions on this bill and my fellow Education and Workforce Committee members for their careful consideration of this bill. I commend the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill to the House.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m delighted to take a call on the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill. This is one that our Government brought to the House in the first place. It’s really important. It makes some small changes, but incredibly important changes too, as the Minister has pointed out, particularly to the Ngarimu Act and also around the Pacific Education Foundation. It’s good to see that the Government has come on board with this. In the first reading, they did vote against it because they felt that it was a small bill. They said that it didn’t do enough. I think. Now that they’re in Government, they realise that sometimes when you’re looking at these regulations, actually they may seem small but they make a big difference to the overall legislation, and particularly around the two areas that I just briefly want to talk about.

The Ngarimu Act is an incredibly important Act to ensure that we’ve got the Ngarimu fund there that provides funding for Māori students who are undertaking university study or vocational education and training. This has been an incredibly important fund that has come through since 1945 and is based, as the Minister said, on the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion. That was particularly, after World War II, notably to commemorate the service of Second Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu. The fact is that the bill amends the Ngarimu Act to create this new position for the Ngarimu Board for a person of Māori descent who has served or is currently serving in the armed forces. This means that there is absolutely an assurance that the board can preserve its military legacy and uphold the mana of the battalion in the future. That is incredibly important going forward, and it was something that people that were on that board and serving on that board were worried was not going to happen. This is something that will preserve that into the future.

Also, the definition of “Aotearoa Pacific person” is also another incredibly important part and change that these regulations make. The changes to that definition will ensure that the Pacific Education Foundation Act reflects the diversity of our present day Aotearoa New Zealand society and more reflects the learners with indigenous Pacific culture and language and heritage, to enable them to get assistance from the foundation, which is an incredibly important part for those young people and the changing face of the New Zealand Pacific population. It is important that we are now acknowledging that within this particular Act.

It is does seem small. There are a lot of important parts to this, though. The Minister quite rightly pointed out all the different elements there. As I said, they seem quite small. It’s really good to see that the Government has come on board to understand that, while it might seem small, they are very important to these groups of people. I absolutely commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is an omnibus bill that amends specific technical elements of a number of bills, like the previous two speakers have mentioned in terms of their contribution to this bill. So I want to kind of pick it apart just a little bit in terms of the context. The two areas that this bill predominantly amends are the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Act 1945 and also the Pacific Education Foundation Act 1972.

In the case of the Ngarimu Act, as the previous speaker has mentioned, the two areas—one of them is a technical amendment around the successor of the 28th Māori Battalion. So, again, this is something that the Hon Jan Tinetti mentioned just before in terms of the naming of this particular bill and the way that it uses the name of Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu, who is the first person of Māori descent to be awarded the Victoria Cross. The other part of this bill is around creating that new national Māori representation position who is also currently serving in the armed forces.

In terms of the second part of this bill—with the Pacific Education Foundation 1972—there are several areas of this, particularly around the updated definition of “Pacific person”, the broadening of the list of Pacific places a person can have indigenous Pacific cultural heritage from, and also a minor update to the purpose and also some level of specificity around the make-up of the Pacific Education Foundation Board.

Now, during the committee stage, one of those bills we actually had reasonable agreement on and no further comments or changes to the bill because it is reasonably straightforward. However, I want to talk about the broader context of this particular bill and also why the Green Party is in support of this bill as a move towards lifting Māori and also Pacific education, and Māori and Pacific students and ākonga.

In terms of Ngarimu Act 1945, it is an Act that is there to “establish a fund … and to make provision for the control and administration of the Fund.” However, the purpose of this is to “assist Māori education, and certain moneys have been subscribed to the fund:”. We see this similar purpose with the Pacific Education Foundation Act, where “The general purpose of the Foundation shall be to promote and encourage the better education of Pacific people and to provide financial assistance for that purpose.”

In terms of both of the bills that are being amended by the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill is around the scholarship that is available for students at a tertiary level. For both of them, they offer both undergraduate scholarships as well as postgraduate scholarships. But I want to look at the broader context here. It is incredibly important that these bills offer a possibility for ākonga Māori and for Pasifika students to be able to go on to this further education without the financial burden—as indicated in the purpose of both those both Acts that are being amended by this.

In terms of the Ngarimu Act, what we see is that the scholarship applicants, for example, will be assessed based on the ability to “describe ngā ahuatanga [characteristics] that they possess similar to … the 28th Māori Battalion soldiers.” It’s something that can be submitted in both English as well te reo.

One of the things that we are seeing here—and what we should be considering—as we are looking at supporting further bills of a similar nature, is around the bigger picture of Māori and Pasifika education. As we see in some of the other things that are going on around Aotearoa at this stage in terms of education, what we’re seeing in terms of some of the cuts to the Ministry of Education’s office, and particularly to the regional offices that support Māori and Pasifika students in order to reach those educational outcomes, what we are seeing in terms of a call for culturally appropriate education during secondary school level that allows those Māori and Pasifika students to thrive, you know, some of the things that we’re seeing in terms of cuts to the creatives in schools which would have meant that some of these students would then be eligible to apply for some of this funding and have the level of self-confidence to actually apply for some of this funding. This is incredibly important in terms of the goals and aims that this bill is trying to achieve.

In 2022 we’re seeing that only 32.9 percent of all Māori school leavers have attained NCEA level 3, which is a decrease of 44 percent from 2021. This is in comparison to the national average of just over 50 percent. Even during pre-pandemic areas, we’re seeing a decrease of 4.2 percent in terms of those students who are leaving, who are obtaining NCEA level 3, who then would be eligible to apply for this funding. We’re seeing only 42.7 percent of Māori school leavers go on, in 2022, to enrol in tertiary education. Only 42.7 percent of Māori school leavers will be eligible for the scholarship that we are talking about at this stage. It is down 7.4 percent from those who left in 2020.

When we’re looking at the Pasifika school leavers, we’re seeing similar stats. We’re only seeing 43.3 percent of all Pasifika school leavers who have attained NCEA level 3 compared to the national average of just over 50 percent; a decrease of 8.1 percent. We’re seeing this is also a decrease of 4.7 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. We’re also seeing that only 44.5 percent of those school leavers go on to enrol in tertiary in 2022, again highlighting that only 44.5 percent of Pasifika school leavers are eligible for the Pacific Education Foundation Scholarships that is a part of this bill.

I think when we’re looking at the broader context, it’s really, really important that this bill addresses the need for those technical changes for us to look ahead in terms of what we want for ākonga Māori, what we want for Pasifika students, and also in terms of the scholarship that they can be able to obtain in order for them to be confident in their ability at a tertiary level, while at the same time alleviating some of those financial burdens.

At this stage, what are we doing as a Government, as Parliament to inspire these ākonga Māori, to inspire these Pasifika students when it comes to being able to reach their aspiration, be able to reach their full potential so that they thrive in our educational system? The purpose of these bills talks about things that allows for tino rangatiratanga, allows for our obligation under Te Tiriti. So, you know, when we’re talking about whether it’s gang patches, when we’re talking about Māori wards, you know, I would like to see those students as part of this bill—when it talks about recognising the emblem that is associated with the 28th Māori Battalion, I would like to see those students who are able to wear those emblems to be able to wear them proudly down the street without having to be concerned about the fact they might be mistaken for gang patches.

So, you know, these are things that are incredibly important when we’re looking at the broader context of education because education is intergenerational, and this bill looks to perfect some of those things that we are able to offer. So the Green Party is in support of this bill because we believe that we want to lift all ākonga Māori, all Pasifika students, so that they’re able to thrive in the best way they can, and this is why we’re supporting it. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise in support of this bill. It is the third reading, and there are, obviously, some minor changes, and I think they have been well traversed in the House and we’re all in support. I commend this bill to the House.

I’m just going to say a few quick things. Just in response to Lawrence Xu-Nan, who called this an omnibus bill, these scholarships are really, really important scholarships. They have a proud heritage, but it is nevertheless a small omnibus, and I just think it’s curious that sometimes we have bills on issues of this scale when there are much, much larger things which don’t require legislation at all.

I was also interested, Lawrence, in your comments about the decline in educational performance over the last couple of years. It’s good that you’ve come to that realisation and that we’ve got something to fix on this side of the House.

The final thing I wanted to say is New Zealand First has always been a very, very strong supporter of “first in family” scholarships and both the Pacific and the Ngarimu 28th Māori Battalion trusts do those things: inspire, give opportunities. I commend this bill to the House.

The next call is a split call.

Tēnā koe e te Pīka, otirā tātou, tēnā rā tātou. Tēnā tātou i te āhuatanga o ō tātou hōia, te hunga i tuku i ō rātou tinana kia ngaro mō tātou te iwi te painga. Ngā kaumātua o te rua tekau mā waru i ngaro atu i roto i ngā tau, i haere mō te pakanga mō te iwi, mō ngā mokopuna, mō ngā tamariki, mō ngā whanaunga i mahue mai i te kāinga.

Koia tonu tērā ko te mōrehu e toe tonu ana, ko Tā Rōpata Gillies. E Koro Bom, tēnā koe.

[Thank you, Madam Speaker; indeed all of us, greetings to all of us. Greetings to us all with respect to our soldiers, those who offered their bodies to be lost for the benefit of us all, the people. The elders of the 28th that were lost over the years, that went to war for the people, for the grandchildren, for the children, for the relatives that were left at home.

Indeed one of those is the survivor that remains with us, Sir Rōpata Gillies. Koro Bom, greetings.]

I rise to speak to this third reading of the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill. Rather than traverse the ground that’s already been covered well, I’ll focus my contribution on the importance of retaining the legacy and history of the 28th Māori Battalion, and not only the 28th Māori Battalion, but the native contingent of World War I—the early Māori and other Pacific Islanders of the time who were sent to World War I to fight for King and country.

Some of the things that come with the story, with this kōrero—and I’m quite sure this’ll be news to many in this House, but our tīpuna, our great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers were sent to World War I to work and to defend our country, but this House couldn’t conscionably send them to be soldiers who were armed with a musket. This House couldn’t, in good conscience, send a brown, Māori man from Aotearoa halfway across the world to fight an enemy who was seeking to destroy them with a gun and let him shoot that Pākehā enemy. That’s the genesis point of this conversation. Our tīpuna went and were logistics runners and trench diggers in World War I. Many of them found their way to the front line of fighting in World War I, and the New Zealand Government, subsequent to World War I, came to the realisation that Māori were, indeed, a force that they could utilise in wars in the future.

The unfortunate thing about World War I was that Māori participation in World War I didn’t come for free. It wasn’t openly gifted. It wasn’t agreed to. There was fierce debate about Māori participation in World War I, primarily because many of the kaumātua alive at the time were alive during the New Zealand Land Wars—had lived through the New Zealand Land Wars—which were only 40, 50 years before. If they were children or young people during the Land Wars, they were alive in World War I, and they were part of the resistance in the debate around World War I. Unfortunately—well, fortunately, I suppose, leading up to the conclusion of World War I, there were many guarantees made by the New Zealand Government about how Māori returned servicemen would be treated. Unfortunately, none of them were upheld, and that left a very sour taste in the mouth of te iwi Māori with regards to participating in wars.

So roll on World War II and the rise of the Māori Battalion. We all know the Māori Battalion were coveted, led by foreign generals as a force that you could only wish to have. They won significant battles that led to significant gains for our country. But, again, there was significant debate around whether or not Māori should participate in World War II. Āpirana, Pōmare, Te Rangi Hīroa, they all had to put their necks on the line when it came to garnering support from te iwi Māori, because there was fierce opposition. The Waikato kuia Te Puea Hērangi led a staunch defence, and many others, that we shouldn’t participate in that war. But, once again, the New Zealand Government came with a long list of guarantees that would be made to Māori, only to have them fail again.

One of the greatest disservices the Government handed out to Māori was exclusion from the land balloting system. By the turn of 1950, nearly 800,000 acres of land had been forwarded on to returned servicemen Pākehā and zero to returned servicemen Māori. Māori were excluded from the rehabilitations post - World War II. They were excluded from the RSA. They didn’t get the returned serviceman pension. All of these things played out and all of these things are the subject of a Waitangi Tribunal case for returned veterans right at this moment.

Māori have sacrificed a lot to give to the country, but we still find ourselves at the end of every negative statistic more than 100 years later. That’s the contribution, and I’d like you to think about that as we move through all of the other things that this House has to consider. On the basis that the bill is good and it provides good opportunities for Māori and our Pacific whanaungas, we support the bill, but we hope and pray that the retention of this history and kōrero remains in our country, remains in our schools, and this is a good thing for it. We commend the bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. When the brightest minds of our future are having to make the choice between paying the rent or attending university, we know we have to do better. I am so grateful and honoured to be speaking on this omnibus bill, the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill, which will support Māori and Pacific New Zealanders to enter tertiary education. This last week, I’ve been talking to some of the worst statistics and outcomes for Māori and Pacific tamariki, but my vision for all tamariki in Aotearoa is to thrive and to use their independent thought and skills to be the best versions of themselves. I want our tamariki and rangatahi to walk like they know they have 3,000 of their ancestors walking behind them.

Kelvin Davis said these scholarships and awards are a tribute to the heroes of the 28th Māori Battalion and were established to commemorate Second Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu, the first Māori to be awarded the Victoria Cross, and remind our Māori and Pacific students that they are not just a statistic but are connected to those who went before them and that their tīpuna can have a present and real influence on the lives that they live today by the way they held themselves, the way they lived their lives, the values that they lived by, and how they fought so hard for the future generations. We see that in the application process, where applicants can show how they possess some of the same characteristics of the Māori Battalion troops. This bill provides the conditions to inspire, reward, and support Māori achievement. Ngarimu scholarships in 2024 included one doctoral, four masters, four undergraduate, and two vocational education and training awards.

The Pacific Education Foundation Act of 1972 will promote and encourage the better education of Pacific people and students and provide financial assistance for that purpose. My sister and I studied at Auckland University, and my sister studied structural engineering. She was asked to talk to Pacific high school students to inspire them to do structural engineering. Now, as a Māori, she was confused as to why she was asked to speak to these students. Well, there were no Pacific students to ask to speak to them, in structural engineering at Auckland Uni. So this bill really is so wonderful because it gives us the opportunity to encourage Pacific students to take up tertiary education.

My father, Piripi Waretini, was the first in our whānau to attend university, and I was lucky because, when I grew up, it was just expected of me that I would go to university, which is an absolute privilege that I was afforded by living in an affluent area and going to one of the best-achieving schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. I want that same vision for all of our students and our Māori and Pacific students in New Zealand, so that they can just expect that they are going to go on and have higher education to nurture and grow their strong minds and to be able to be the best versions of themselves.

If we treated these bright minds like competitive athletes, focusing on the best conditions for their peak performance, New Zealand wins—all of us in New Zealand win. So I am so grateful to be speaking in support of this bill so that more students can live their best lives, use their amazing minds, and just contribute to a legacy for our future generations. Mauri ora.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Look, it’s great to be here on the third reading of this bill. We have discussed it at great length—the intricate details, the not so intricate details. I have said many times that I had the great pleasure of being up in Gisborne for the most recent Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion awards, and it was a great experience for me to see that firsthand and to see the importance of making sure that we set this up in such a sustainable way that it doesn’t require our constant intervention.

That’s really the premise of all of this, and the moral of the story here is that we’ve got three items in an omnibus bill, regulatory amendments that really are important for us to set up for the future so we don’t have to keep coming back, changing the law, and making adjustments when things change.

As we, hopefully, all know, in 2012, the Māori Battalion Association was wound up for various reasons, but as a result the memorial scholarships have been in an uncertain place, so this bill enables us to make sure that that’s safe, doing its best for the future generations that come through that—and, really, they are impressive—so that that’s set up in a really sustainable way. Likewise, the same thing with the childcare police vetting: I have worked in an environment where I’ve seen how important that is, and so it’s important that we address all of the intricacies of the changing industries and environment. Then, of course, with the Pacific Education Foundation, changing the wording so, again, when something changes, we don’t have to keep going and amending the Act.

These things are really important for us, and it’s great to see that we have almost unanimous support across the House. So, with that, no further words required—I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is a pleasure to take a call on the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill, which I have supported since it was first introduced to the House under the previous Government, and how could anyone not support this bill in terms of the stuff that it implements?

It is a relatively simple bill and an omnibus bill. It includes changes to the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund—some scholarships for some Māori students there. It establishes a new regime and a new board there. It establishes and continues the Pacific Education Foundation trust and redefines “Aotearoa Pacific person” to make that clearer. It also re-emphasises the unique relationship that New Zealand has with some other Pacific Island countries—which is, I think, something that we’d all welcome in this House—and further scholarships. Then, finally, it also provides for police vetting for those creches that many of us parents probably think that we’ll use more than we actually do. But at gyms and malls and those types of short-term childcare centres, of course we need to have a police vet for those people who are taking care of our children.

It was with dismay that when this bill was first introduced, those opposite who now have swapped benches with us were opposed to it. In fact, the Minister who introduced the bill to the House was very concerned—she said at the time—about regulatory creep, and she was talking about how there are other more important issues in the education sector.

Now, I don’t want to take away from the mana of these organisations that are involved in this piece of legislation. I think that there was some objection to that in the first reading of this, and I want to acknowledge, as my colleague Kahurangi Carter has, the words of Kelvin Davis, who was very strong at maintaining the mana of, especially, the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund at the time of the first reading—which I think is really important—and the Pacific Education Foundation trust is also important. I don’t think we need a hierarchy of things that are important, but maybe this is a prescient lesson for those who sit around this House to not undermine the importance of some of these smaller pieces of legislation just because they happened to be introduced by a party of which you are not a part. I think that’s an important lesson.

I mean, there are things that I could talk about in education which I would like this Government to address—for example, the terrible charter school legislation that it’s brought in, while, at the same time, creating a whole, entire other bureaucracy of new charter schools. I could talk about the fact that the school builds have all stalled, except perhaps I won’t be the same as those colleagues on the other side and not support what is, I think, universally seen around the House as a good piece of legislation that takes forward a few small but very significant changes.

Also—I think I noted it in the first reading, and I’ll note it here again—it is very unusual to have a part of a bill which actually has a schedule including a picture of a flag or an emblem, which is a very beautiful emblem of the 28th Māori Battalion. So I want to acknowledge the organisations which have participated in this. I want to acknowledge the select committee, which worked hard on this. I want to acknowledge my colleagues from the other side of the House, who have changed their minds and now are supporting this great piece of legislation, introduced by a Labour Government, that makes important changes to people within our society. So I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to members opposite who were involved in bringing this piece of legislation to the House. I want to acknowledge the Minister of Education who is shepherding this through the House, and the significant work and workload that she’s doing—that she’s finding time for this piece of legislation.

I think one particular point I would like to make in relation to this bill is the interesting context that we have with this bill coming through the House today: tomorrow we are seeing a tax relief after 14 long years, and in this bill we’re seeing the inflation adjustment of the expenditure amounts from 1972 to today of $500 to $10,000—important context if you think about the timing when we are shepherding that tax relief through the House tomorrow. I think that that’s a wonderful note to end the evening on this evening, so I commend this bill to the House.

Members, the time has come for me to leave the Chair. The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 9.57 p.m.