Key John: Minimum Wage Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Key John: Minimum Wage Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:608;Page:5154] 
JOHN KEY (NZ National—Helensville) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of the National Party to oppose this bill in particular clause 3. This bill makes a mockery of the saying “good things come in small packages.” because it contains less than 200 words yet all of them are bad. The bill is anti-business anti-growth and not good for New Zealand. Mr Swain the Minister who was in the chair earlier took a call. He was as misguided as the very bill itself. The Minister told the House that the bill would lead to an increase in employment and training. That is what he told us. He was on his feet—the only time he has been in this entire debate—and he proclaimed to the House that the bill would lead to an increase in employment and training. I have this message for the Minister. He should read the advice his Government had from his own officials because that advice does not say that the bill will lead to an increase in employment and training. It does not say that it will build on the 26500 young people in New Zealand who will be affected by this bill. It does not say that it will add to making this a more employer and employee-friendly market. It says there will be a fiscal cost to this legislation and the Government will have to pay out more on the dole. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: Rubbish! 
JOHN KEY 
: Well that is what the legislation says. The Minister should read it. It says exactly that in the explanatory note—that the fiscal position of the Government will deteriorate as a result of passing this bill. The Ministers are reading it for the first time. The explanatory note states: “The proposed change may have a small adverse impact on the Government’s fiscal position. The fiscal impact would come from increased benefit payments …”. That is not what the Minister told us when he took a call. The Minister—the former Minister of Commerce—told us— 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Junior Minister from the Hutt Valley. 
JOHN KEY 
: The “junior Minister from the Hutt Valley” told us that this bill would lead to an increase in employment and training. That is just not right. That is not what the officials have told the Minister. That is not what the officials are telling us in their own document in the Chamber tonight. The Minister told us that when they put a minimum adult rate into the provision that somehow managed to help the economy. I hate to break it to the Minister but I will tell him what has made the economy stronger over the last 3 or 4 years. It has not been the minimum adult wage and it will not be the minimum wages inflicted on employers across the country because of this bill. It is for three reasons: the lower Kiwi dollar higher global commodity prices and good weather down on the farm. If the Government has not actually noticed a number of those factors have reversed and—guess what—the Minister of Finance is going around the country telling people that the picture is bleak going forward. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: He has no idea how to fix it. 
JOHN KEY 
: He has no idea what to do about it. He did not even want to pass the Minimum Wage Amendment Bill because if members have a look at the commencement date they will see that it was 2001. The bill is 200 words and we have had to wait 2 years past the commencement date to even get it somewhere near the House. That is how good for New Zealand businesses it is! 
This is a Government that cannot define when our economy will go back into the top half of the OECD. It cannot tell us even though it told us for a while that it would be in the next decade. But it has reneged on that little promise. It cannot define when our country will be back up there at a civilised standard for all New Zealanders. The Government cannot define that but it can define a minimum wage because it is so misguided in its economic policy that it thinks this bill will somehow take it to the land of milk and honey. 
Well this is not the future for the young people of New Zealand who rely on a vibrant economy and a flexible labour market. Relying on this Government to provide a labour market that will give them opportunities are 26500 young New Zealanders—much to their peril. As a result of this bill they are losers because by this Government’s own advice from its officials some of those people will lose their jobs. If we go around and ask them what they would rather have—the job opportunity at any rate and the opportunity to grow a career and show their skills and merit or the opportunity to be guaranteed to earn $6.80 an hour—I think that they will take the opportunity to work over the opportunity to earn $6.80 any day. If we look at the legislation at clause 3 and at what it is telling the Committee—