Fox Marama: Remuneration Authority (Members of Parliament Remuneration) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFox Marama: Remuneration Authority (Members of Parliament Remuneration) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading[Sitting date: 17 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2288. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. You know what? We are standing to support this bill as we do with most first readings. We like to do that because we want to hear what the people at the select committee stage think about it. Unfortunately we have some scepticism around the measures that are going to be in place and whether they will do what the bill outlines. We are going to support the bill through at this stage in the absence of something else and I am interested to see what the Greens are going to put forward. In saying that why are we supporting it? Because quite frankly the proposed changes that the Remuneration Authority put forward a couple of weeks ago were embarrassing. They were embarrassing but not because I do not think MPs deserve it and not because I do not think MPs are hard working.In fact I have seen just how hard MPs work. I sat in a meeting with a Minister at 10 o’clock at night—opposite a blood-shot weary and tired-looking Minister—who had not eaten all day so I ordered dinner to his office so we could have the meeting. I know how hard they work. So it is not embarrassing because I do not think we deserve it; it is embarrassing because actually so does the rest of New Zealand. The rest of New Zealand deserves to have a pay packet that adequately pays them for the job that they do. No matter how hard I work—and I work very hard as do other Ministers and others MPs because I am not a Minister not yet. I have got a husband who is a shearer who still leaves home before I do and still works twice as hard and then has to look after all the kids on top of that because I am not there.Jacqui Dean: Sounds like a good man.MARAMA FOX: He is a good man. I have trained him well. I think that we need to be addressing the remuneration of our country. In fact our poverty standards in this country are an embarrassment to us. Two hundred thousand - plus people are living in poverty. The greatest number of people who are affected by abject poverty in this country are the children and families of those on a benefit actually. That group of people deserve to have a rise in the level of their benefit. The hardship on those families is remarkable. We do not understand the hardship that they come into contact with. In fact our minimum wage is set at the rate of poverty. It is 65 percent of the median wage and there is some discussion about what that is. But if we are employing people on a minimum wage in this country to be impoverished then we need to ask ourselves—yes I support this bill because it means we will not get a pay rise that is just frankly embarrassing while our people languish in poverty. Then if we look further at the levels of poverty and if we add hardship to that it increases the impact on those people.This wonderful book here Child Poverty in New Zealand written by Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple outlines exactly what that hardship means. Hardship is enforced lack of essentials; meals with meat or fish are missed or happen only every second day; you do not have two pairs of shoes in good repair; you do not have suitable clothing for special occasions or a winter change of clothing; and arrears more than once a year for rates electricity water vehicle registration insurance or warrant of fitness. There is a hardship index for people living in poverty in this country and you may or may not be surprised to find out that 100000 of those people meet more than eight to 16 of the 20 indicators for hardship according to this book. So quite rightly we are embarrassed by the proposed changes to remuneration not because we do not think that we deserve them but because we because we think the rest of New Zealand deserves them as well. We need to be addressing the minimum wage in this country and making it a living wage. Do not pay people to be impoverished. Then the people who are receiving a benefit or welfare because of their circumstances need to be supported out of poverty not supported into poverty and extreme hardship.That is why today we are supporting this bill but we are sceptical that the changes are actually going to make the difference that they intend when you think that some chief executive officers of ministries and Governments actually get paid way more than their Ministers. So at this point and at this time we support it. Thank you.