Ardern Shane: Holidays Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Ardern Shane: Holidays Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:614;Page:10552] 
SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki - King Country) 
: 
 I rise to speak on behalf of the National Party which is opposed to the schedules and to the whole bill and there is a very good reason for that. Why is it that the socialists cannot understand that they keep dumping on business the way they do and expect business to prosper? Why is it? That is a simple question. Why is it that they just cannot answer that question? Because they do not know the answer themselves. That is the reason—they do not know what makes business work. 
When one looks at schedule 1 of the bill and sees that the Employment Relations Act 2000 will be amended in respect of the Holidays Act 1981 and the Holidays Amendment Act 1991—so much of the schedules of that Act as relate to the Holidays Act and the Holidays Amendment Act will be repealed—one begins to understand the answer to that question. That is where the true answer will be found. The true answer is that those members have no idea at all what they are doing. They have no idea that this country unlike any other country in the world is made up of a majority of small businesses. There are a few large ones but the majority are small businesses. They are the mums dads and “Joe hard workers” out there who will take a bit of a risk and take on a lower socio-economic or unskilled person and give them a break and the Labour Party the very party they believe will protect them is going to dump on them. 
What we have in the schedules of the Holidays Bill is a wage freeze in disguise. What do members think will happen over the next few years with wages? Will they go up? Perhaps the Minister in the chair will tell me. Will they go up? Will this bill encourage wage increases for low-paid workers—yes or no? Well there is silence from the other side of the Chamber and I am sure they will not take a call on that. Now Treasury has done some work on this and it decided that there is the potential for $800 million more costs to business—or to somebody. Where will those costs fall? There is $800 million worth of costs in this legislation and it is covered in the schedules. When we look through the schedules we can see how that will happen. How is it that the Labour Government cannot understand that if $800 million worth of cost is added somebody has to pay? The Labour Government thinks that businesses have bottomless pockets. It thinks that businesses will just pay it and that will be the end of that. What this Government does not understand is that the majority of that money will probably come from that mum dad or “Joe hard worker” out there who is struggling to make ends meet. That is the bit that really has me wondering what it is that motivates the people on the other side of the Chamber. I just cannot understand it. It is beyond me. 
Let us talk about one of the larger businesses in this country the dairy industry—which I began to talk about just before the dinner break. I want to talk about the development of the largest dairy product manufacturing business in the world which is located in Hawera in the electorate of the member for Whanganui. It is the largest single dairy manufacturing business and one of the most efficient in the world. That powder plant which produces 20 tonnes an hour at peak was built on time to cost and if it had not been the industry would not have proceeded. Why was that able to happen? Because there were flexible employment laws at the time. That manufacturer the Stork plant is a Dutch company and when the Dutch Prime Minister opened the plant with the Prime Minister of New Zealand he said that was the case—that that was the reason the plant was able to be imported into New Zealand manufactured and put in place on time and to price. It now produces 20 percent of this country’s export earnings. I hear the member opposite rabbiting on. She can take a call and explain why she disagrees with me. The reality is that that was how it was achieved and that is what the Dutch Prime Minister said. When I look at the schedules and at the bill in total I have to ask how this legislation will enhance that type of development. How will this bill help those who work in that plant and are on shift work have independently negotiated contracts enjoy good standards and have more than the average leave entitlements already because they have been negotiated in their contracts? How will this bill help them—and will it help them? Will it help them or hinder them? 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: How many weeks’ holiday is that member going to have? 
SHANE ARDERN 
: The Minister is carping on about how many holidays I will have. When I go home from Parliament I go home to run the farm to help to pay the taxes that the Government squanders in this type of silly legislation. The interesting point is that this bill is designed around the notion that there is to be a work-life balance. What does that mean?