McAnulty KieranEMPLOYMENT RELATIONS (TRIANGULAR EMPLOYMENT) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingKIERAN McANULTY (Labour): I move That the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. I'm delighted to see that this bill has made its way through the House to the third reading. It has been quite the journey. It started out under the name of Darien Fenton and I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge her in the work that she has done not only in the labour movement but in supporting me personally in seeing the passage of this bill through the House.It has changed somewhat because when it went to the Education and Workforce Committee it had two parts because the select committee was done particularly from the Government's side in a manner which respected the views of those that submitted. It took on board those views and made some amendments and now we have a very simple bill to achieve a very simple objective. The Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill amends the Employment Relations Act 2000 to strengthen the personal grievance provisions of the Act. It will allow workers employed by one employer but working under the control and direction of another business or organisation to apply to the Employment Relations Authority to have their host employer or controlling third party joined to a personal grievance.It is very simple but it is also very powerful because this Parliament has an opportunity today to send a message to all workers that the basic provision and right of a personal grievance should be applied to all workers in this country regardless of whether the circumstances under which they find themselves employed were not envisaged when the law was originally drafted. The point is that a triangular employment arrangement was not foreseen and it is essentially a loophole. There is no argument that I have seen from that side of the House despite their making the same points at every single stage of this debate. They have failed to outline to this country why workers that are employed under a triangular employment arrangement should not have provision to the basic right of a personal grievance that the rest of us take for granted. Why is it acceptable in this country where a worker who was employed by a labour hire company under the direct control of a controlling third party found out she was pregnant and was dismissed the next day with no recourse whatsoever? It is unbelievable and unacceptable and under any other circumstance in 2019 in this country that would not have been accepted. But because they were under a triangular employment arrangement that was OK under the law. That needs to change and today it will change. My challenge to the National Party is this: take the opportunity to stand up and justify to this country why they are not supporting it because they have failed to do so at every opportunity under the sun. I was a bookmaker at the TAB for a long time and I know how to read a game. I know how to read a game and that is exactly what that side of the House are doing. I can predict what they will do. The Hon Scott Simpson will stand up with utter distain in his eyes and talk of his hatred for unions which by extension means his hatred for workers because if you have a hatred for unions you have a hatred and an incapacity to understand the imbalance of the relationship between a worker and an employer.I would like to point the House's attention to this particular quote: I can fully understand the feeling of power imbalance between employers and employees that comes through quite a lot." Thank you Dr Parmjeet Parmar for pointing that one out. I would also like to show this quote: "I think there are some important things that this Parliament can do to safeguard the rights of workers and I think this is an important part of any Parliament." Thank you the Hon David Bennett. I would also like to point out this: "Employment standards are not optional and National is committed to stamping out dodgy and deliberate employment breaches."—the current leader of the National Party Simon Bridges. If it's OK for that side of the House to support basic provisions like personal grievance which this bill delivers if it's OK for them to support it when it's their idea it should be OK for them to support it now.What they have to do is stand up and explain to this country why they are failing to stand up for the most vulnerable in our society when when they come up with it they are shouting it from the rooftops. And now they're back to their traditional anti-worker anti-union pro-business rhetoric that we're all sick of and which is the reason they got voted out of Parliament last election."