We only have 1 month left to get submissions in for this Bill. Submissions close 1 November.

I am working on coming up with a link that we can all use to help with putting in our submissions due 1 November: https://hef.org.nz/beneficiaries/14227-2/. I have three Lawyers helping me come up with the Key points – any suggestions from others welcomed as well – please include in comments below or email me barbara@hef.org.nz.

I have also started to write up a brochure that can be handed out at support group meetings etc. It would be really good to have a short slogan to go in the link and on the brochure — any ideas please put them below in the comments. Thanks

I asked one of the lawyers working on this for me about asking for exemptions if this Bill goes through.

This is what the lawyer wrote to me:

I think it would not be productive at this point to ask for an exemption option. It’s not the best-case scenario and should be regarded as a last resort if any. You certainly are not at the point of any last resort yet! Encourage your people to look at the positives:1. Bills rarely pass into law without amendment–sometimes substantial amendment.
2. This is not a rush job. I’ve known bills to be rushed through Parliaments here in Australia before a resistance can be organised. That’s not happening here. If you mobilise enough protest, you can have this bill stopped dead in its tracks.
3. This is a very new, very provocative bill that seems to have sincerely annoyed most of the population of New Zealand, from the socialist progressives who don’t believe it goes far enough or don’t want benefit cuts, to people who see it as the tyrannical imposition it is. It’s unpopular with everyone, including the conservative voter base.It is not too late to ask for an exemption option after the bill passes into law, but if your parliamentary system is anything like ours it would require a new bill to amend the Act. Nevertheless extending exemptions for ECE to home educating families on the same terms as exemptions for schooling is a minor change that should not attract too much resistance, especially if the Bill comes to be seen as a blunder.The moment home educators say the word “exemptions” we’ve surrendered the battle. What happens when you sell your car and a prospective buyer asks what’s the lowest you’ll go? If you tell him, he’ll immediately offer you $100 below that price and you will definitely never get him above that price.

To me this bill sounds outrageous and many people sound outraged about it. There is no need to compromise. At a later stage it may be politic to point out how ridiculous it is to be able to get an exemption from schooling, but not from ECE–without arguing that we should be given exemptions for ECE. Just mention that it’s ridiculous. They’ll probably come back with, “Well, we can give you exemptions from ECE; no problem.” And then you can try to beat them down, because you haven’t compromised your position by backflipping on what you’re prepared to accept.

Sorry this email is so long–like Mark Twain said, I didn’t have time to make it shorter. I’d encourage your Kiwi home educators not to give in, but to speak up boldly for ALL the liberties they already have.