Mitchell ClaytonCLAYTON MITCHELL (NZ First): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. That was the most befuddled contribution I think I've ever heard from the member Goldstein". He's been pushing his bagel franchise for some time. In fact the member should be probably more likely referred to as a member from the "Neo-liberal Free-market Trickle-down Party" as opposed to a National Party which it was once set up to be. Now I have to look around proudly at our coalition partners and our members from New Zealand First here today who can say we are actually landing in a far better position than this country has seen for a balance between the workers and the employers for some nine years—in fact 10 years. It was actually around about 50 weeks ago that I had the pleasure to sit down with the Hon Iain Lees-Galloway to initiate discussions around the Employment Relations Amendment Bill which was part of our 100-day plan for the coalition Government to come out with some meaningful changes where we can bring back the balance between the employer and the employee. Now I believe we have absolutely achieved that and we have seen some moderation and some implementation of positive changes that are going to get that balance about right. In fact I want to read out our 2014 manifesto in which we as New Zealand First clearly articulated that "New Zealand First is committed to promoting an industrial relations environment based on fairness flexibility and neutrality between parties." Now this is something that the Opposition members failed to deliver on for nine years because of their neo-liberal free-market trickle-down ideology that has given us this theory that if the wealthy are being looked after at the top somehow that wealth will be distributed by trickling down to the people at the bottom. But it is like molasses in a refrigerator—and that's exactly what Fletcher Tabuteau said in his speech and I actually want to pick up on that. It does trickle down but it is like molasses in the refrigerator. The wealth never reaches to the bottom which is why this side of the House under this coalition agreement and this coalition Government is talking about building our country from the bottom up. Introducing things—the living wage is not part of this bill but it is certainly part of some of the things we are doing. Now the 90-day work trials which "Goldstein"—I mean Goldsmith Mr Assistant Speaker—started to talk about is an area of concern. Well 97 percent of the businesses in this country are actually small and medium sized businesses. So 97 percent of the companies in New Zealand are actually going to be looked after under this provision which we have kept in there to keep those 90-day work trials continuing. Now when we look at international examples around what a small to medium sized enterprise looks like they vary quite widely and greatly from Europe to Australia Canada and the EU and we maybe need to look at what constitutes a small to medium sized business as we move forward. But today businesses are invariably happy with what we have come up with to ensure that we actually look after the small and medium sized businesses that don't have the resources of the larger businesses to actually spend time in the industrial relations area and in human resources specifically. So I'm very pleased to announce that the 90-day work trials will be remaining. It certainly won't have an impact on people being employed in Northland as that member was articulating earlier. It is a pragmatic solution to a long-term problem—that's what we want to see. Furthermore the ability for businesses to opt out of a multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) is I think a very important part. Now this is where the parliamentary process has worked exceptionally well. We at the end of the first reading sent this bill off to the Education and Workforce Committee to hear from submitters. We have had hundreds of submissions from workers from employers and employees and from unions etc. and I have to say that it was a concern raised by a number of people that those MECAs without an opt-out clause were going to be problematic. What it was going to do was actually tie up the provincial and regional parts of New Zealand with the cost structures of our larger areas and cities—something that the Hon Shane Jones mentioned early on in the piece. Now what we've got is a position where those businesses after engaging in serious negotiations have the ability to now opt out of those multi-employer collective agreements which if not done properly can be potentially problematic. So well done to this coalition Government for sitting down for listening to those submitters and for getting back around the Cabinet table to discuss this at great length. It just shows you how a genuine mixed-member proportional Government can actually work when we listen to all sides of the House all corners of the community and our sectors businesses and others to actually make sure that we get the right decision. Now when we enter into—I'm just looking at my time. The other part where I think we've found a balance is around the unions accessing workplaces. Where the union member wants to access a workplace then the existing rules and regulations still apply to them. They have to give the right amount of notice and it's the status quo—business-as-usual. Where there are some changes is where a collective employment agreement has been reached and they are actually working under a collective employment agreement then those union workers do have access and that is making sure that we look after the safety and well-being of those employees under those MECAs. Now just remember too—for those people back home listening today—it's the public sector that actually has over 50 percent of people employed under a collective employment agreement. It's the public sector that actually is going to benefit the most from this and a very very small percent—less than 10 percent—of the private sector that is going to be affected. I think again this is where Governments—successive previous and existing Governments—need to look at ourselves to say "How can we improve the workers' rights and the safety of our employees? How can we pay them better? How do we get better productivity? How can we ensure that businesses work sustainably for the long term for this Government?" and this is exactly the outcome and the solution that we are trying to get to. Business confidence we hear from the other side is waning. Well we were at question time today. We read the Westpac report and ANZ are coming out and saying the same thing. In actual fact business confidence is growing. Business confidence—the fear that was fearmongered by the National Party in the early stages of this Government has turned out to be nothing but erroneous fears driven out of your discontent at been forced to the other side by New Zealanders. Now we see business confidence growing we see the GDP per capita growing and we're seeing the lives of New Zealanders being more positively affected under this coalition Government than what we've seen for nine long years. This is a very balanced common-sense approach to ensuring that we get the balance right between the employers and the employees of this country—something that we haven't had for a long time. In fact my grandfather if he was still alive today would be very proud to see us moving in this direction. He was the head of the miners' union on the West Coast of the South Island but I'm telling you right now this is something that we should all be proud of because it's about responsible capitalism. It's about making money but not at the expense of the workers of this country and I for one as a responsible capitalist absolutely endorse that we treat our workers with the dignity and respect that we should all be putting forward—not what we've seen over nine years of neglect in the past. I'd like to finish my contribution on behalf of New Zealand First by saying that it's great to see this piece of legislation being tidied up and being fixed up collegially collectively together. It is no surprise that the Opposition—the neo-liberal free-market ideologically driven National Party—is opposing it because they want to be seen to be strong. But in actual fact if you start reading what businesses are already saying about it they are very pleased about it. I think you're on the wrong side of the argument and maybe you need to stop being so politically driven and actually get out and do the right thing for all New Zealanders. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker."