Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / David Seymour: Regulation Minister on the opposition to the Early Childhood regulatory review

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David Seymour: Regulation Minister on the opposition to the Early Childhood regulatory review · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Labor to Patsy Maudi and the Greens have united against
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the Early Childhood Education sector Review. The Ministry of Regulation
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: started it last month to look into the health and safety,
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  Speaker 1: child protection buildings, playgrounds, affordability, all of that stuff to
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  Speaker 1: do with early childhood education. The opposition parties and the
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  Speaker 1: Educational Institute and the NCDI say the review could lead
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  Speaker 1: to quote dangerous changes that would harm Tamadiki, the Minister
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  Speaker 1: for Regulation and the Associate Education Minister's David Seymour. He's
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  Speaker 1: with us this morning. David, good to have you on
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  Speaker 1: the program. Can you give us an example, because you
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  Speaker 1: know the opposition is saying that this is all going
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  Speaker 1: to be a hell and a handbasket, an example of
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  Speaker 1: an unnecessary regulation that's strangling the sector at the moment.
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  Speaker 2: Oh. Sure. We've had early childhood centers get in touch
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  Speaker 2: saying that they required to have a health and safety
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  Speaker 2: plan around an apple tree because an apple could fall
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  Speaker 2: on a child and that's of danger. Well, you couldn't
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  Speaker 2: have Isaac Newton go to that particular center. We've had
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  Speaker 2: early childhood centers get in touch and say we have
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  Speaker 2: to have nineteen different documents prepared and ready for inspection.
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  Speaker 2: That is just massive, massive overkill. We've had early childhood
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  Speaker 2: education censors say that they have been harassed by inspectors
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  Speaker 2: because their first AID certificate was to the side of
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  Speaker 2: a door rather than above a door as it's apparently
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  Speaker 2: meant to be. I could go on, but the entire
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  Speaker 2: sector of people who work in early childhood education tell
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  Speaker 2: us that they have had it up to here with
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  Speaker 2: the amounts of red tape and regulation they face. Even
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  Speaker 2: the MZI, the Primary and Early Childhood Teachers Union, has
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  Speaker 2: surveyed its own members and if I recall from their
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  Speaker 2: own booklet, fifty six percent of their members say that
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  Speaker 2: red tape and regulation is a problem one of the
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  Speaker 2: largest concerns that their members have.
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  Speaker 1: Are there any plans to change regulations around teacher ratios
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  Speaker 1: or the training of teachers of that Sorry, of the
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  Speaker 1: early childhooed education specialists.
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  Speaker 2: Not under this review, because this is not about funding. Fundamentally,
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  Speaker 2: the ratios come down to how much money there is
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  Speaker 2: per child. There is separately a funding review, and I
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  Speaker 2: think that we should actually look into what is our
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  Speaker 2: drive for the level of qualification of teachers versus the
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  Speaker 2: number of people that are available per child. Because right
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  Speaker 2: now you can have, at least for a period of time,
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  Speaker 2: one person looking after fifteen very small children that have
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  Speaker 2: just turned two years old. I think that's something that
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  Speaker 2: we should look into whether that's desirable. But the regulation
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  Speaker 2: review is not about funding and ratio.
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  Speaker 1: Right, so the banging on the wrong drum that the
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  Speaker 1: opposition could is it possible, David, looking at both of
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  Speaker 1: these reviews, is it possible that we could see higher
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  Speaker 1: ratios with fewer qualifications or are you saying, actually, if anything,
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  Speaker 1: it'll be the opposite.
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  Speaker 2: Well, let me put it this way. At the moment,
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  Speaker 2: once our child turns two, you have a dramatic increase
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  Speaker 2: in the number of students per teacher, and I think
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  Speaker 2: that there's a possibility that you would look at that
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  Speaker 2: and say, look, does it make sense to have a
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  Speaker 2: reasonably low ratio for undertoos but a much higher ratio
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  Speaker 2: that day that you turn two? And it might be
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  Speaker 2: that what we do is we average it out and
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  Speaker 2: make it a bit smoother. But again we haven't even
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  Speaker 2: got close to that. What I find extraordinary about the
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  Speaker 2: smooth as I've never seen the three parties in opposition
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  Speaker 2: unite around something like this. In this term of government.
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  Speaker 2: This is the first thing they've united against. They say
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  Speaker 2: that they want to stop dangerous changes, but we haven't
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  Speaker 2: even announced a single change yet. We're still just listening
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  Speaker 2: to people. Seven hundred people from the early childhood sector
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  Speaker 2: plus have been in touch already. So they unite it
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: against something, but they don't know what it is. That's
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  Speaker 2: opposition for opposition's sake, or the other way you could
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  Speaker 2: look about at it is that they are united to
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  Speaker 2: promote and protect all the red tape that there is,
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  Speaker 2: because they don't actually know what red tape we're posting
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  Speaker 2: to get rid of. You very quickly.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Dated On a separate issue, the forcer on seabed the
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: government's overturning that Court of Appeal decision on Malori customer
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  Speaker 1: rights very quickly. What's your view on this? And you know,
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  Speaker 1: why do we want Why do you think it's important
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  Speaker 1: to reduce to say that Mary would have on their
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  Speaker 1: customer rights.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: We have not reduced to say that Mary would have
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  Speaker 2: on their customary rights. We are restoring the test for
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  Speaker 2: customary marine title that Parliament clearly intended when it passed
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  Speaker 2: the Fort Marine and Coastal Area Acts back in twenty ten.
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  Speaker 2: The re Edward's decision by the courts has lowered the
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: test for getting customary marine title. That means that people
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: who apply for it may get a huge say over
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  Speaker 2: whether or not you can have resource consents in the
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: coastal area, for example, for aquaculture. In our view, yes,
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  Speaker 2: there are important customary rights that MARDI should be able
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  Speaker 2: to test in court, But the idea that the courts
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  Speaker 2: get to make the law, no no, no, no no no. Actually,
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  Speaker 2: Parliament makes the law and if people don't like the
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  Speaker 2: way things are, they can elect a new parliament and
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  Speaker 2: make new laws. And that's exactly what is now going
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  Speaker 2: to happen.
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  Speaker 1: Minister, thanks for your time. David Seymour the Associate Education
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  Speaker 1: Minister and Minister sar Regulation Zar. We should call him.
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  Speaker 2: For more from News Talks B listen live on air
• 6:11
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• 6:12
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• 6:14
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