Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): Today I announced that qualified and registered teachers on the lowest pay in early learning education and care services will take another leap towards pay parity with their equivalents in kindergartens. Pay parity for education and care teachers is a manifesto commitment for this Government. It's also reflected in the early learning action plan. It will address the obvious gap that has emerged between teachers in early education childcare centres and their equivalents in kindergartens. We started progress last year by lifting the minimum levels of pay, and we'll be continuing to work towards that over this term of Government.