all on where she stands on any of this because again, instead of
fronting up, it is
all just a bit mealy mouthed. The Hon Jenny Salesa.
This, our
mealy mouthed. The Hon Jenny Salesa.
policy, Mr Speaker, is a wonderful policy, Mr Speaker, is a wonderful
policy. It is one where every
one in Aotearoa New Zealand can have access
January of next year, one of our January of next year, one of our
when we came into Government we would make fees free from
1 January of next year. I am happy to say we
have delivered on that. Mr Speaker,
right now we have so
many of our young people and so
many of those who are already in work, but are
requiring to train for
more skill, they now have the opportunity to
go through and train
they now have the opportunity to go
education. One of the best things about this policy is the fact that
it is universal. You heard from our
Minister of Education earlier on,
for those what are wanting to go into industry training, instead
of having access to just
one year free tertiary education,
tertiary education, they will be able to have access to two
years
is really important because when we look at our skills right now, we
know that we have such
a huge shortage of skills, Mr Speaker, and
when we know that there are so many
who are currently
in the workforce that can go through to industry
training, they can
learn as they earn and they can get more skills to
assist us with
building a whole lot of the houses that we need
to build because we know, Mr Speaker, that
we have a huge, huge challenge to
build houses to house so many
have a huge, huge challenge to build
house to beyond of our people right across Aotearoa. So we welcome
this new policy, the fees Free policy
for so many reasons and for our young
people as well as
those who are older, who are wondering whether or
not they can access
fees Free tertiary education, they can
not they can access fees Free tertiary education, they can go
to www.
tertiary education, they can go to www. Feesfree.gov got. Nz. They
will be able to find out whether they
qualify there themselves. I
have spoken to so many people
that are excited about this
opportunity that we give them whether they can
go through, whether they go
through to Polytechnic or private training
establishment or whether they go
establishment or whether they go
through to university knowing
that they can actually go
through and train about having to
worry about taking a student loan, without
having to worry about
asking their panes to assist or
having to worry about whether they would
have to work two or
about whether they would have to
just to afford an education. That has taken that worry off of their
minds. I have also spoken
to many parents who are really
excited about this as well. Many parents who are
saying now that this opportunity
that their students
saying now that this opportunity
children can actually go through and train without them having to pay
for their education, is a chance
of a lifetime. Mr Speaker,
just to go back a few decades, we know that
here in Aotearoa New Zealand
there was a time when public education
was absolutely free. As the
legislation actually tells us, Mr
Speaker, public education should be
free, but we know that
is not actually the case. We know that when we
look across the
case. We know that when we look
are some members of Parliament that when they
education just two or three decades ago, they did not have to pay. So
why is it that we're saying now
that education should not be
why is it that we're saying now that
But that, Mr Bishop, that is one of the reasons why we
should ensure that it is more accessible for
more people. We should make sure that we
allow everyone, regardless of where
they live, regardless of
what part of New Zealand they come
from, regardless of what ethnicity they
have and regardless of
what earnings their parents have, they should at
least have the opportunity to
go through and train. Why should
someone who attends a decile 10
school versus someone who attends a
decile 1 school not have the same
this legislation, is that this will allow free education
for everyone. This is universal education,
Mr Bishop, and we are a Government that
is absolutely
is absolutely committed to ensuring that opportunity and access
to tertiary education is fair for all.
tertiary education is fair for all.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
tertiary education is fair for all. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The
Rt Hon David Carter. I want to start my
contribution to the general
debate by congratulating you, sir, on your
appointment as speaker of the House.
I extend my congratulations also
to your fellow presiding officers. You
will realise that as
Speaker it is a very critical role
in this very critical role in this
parliament. It is a very
critical role in the democratic system of New