Belich CamillaCAMILLA BELICH (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker and happy International Workers' Day to you. I stand here wanting to recognise the fact that it is International Workers' Day and May Day today.Hon David Seymour: Workers united—come on sister!CAMILLA BELICH: Thank you for the encouragement from the other side of the House. It's a day that's been celebrated around the world and acknowledged around the world since 1889—Hon David Seymour: How many died from communism?CAMILLA BELICH: —so significantly longer than that member can berate from that side of the House.Anyway it's a very important day for working people around the world and unfortunately in New Zealand we're not having particularly good times for working people at the moment. We have a Government that has cut more than they promised during the election—Mark Cameron: Oh waste. That's right. Cut the waste.CAMILLA BELICH: —and we've actually had the Minister of Finance get up and say in the House during this general debate that there is not a single person in her Government that celebrates when people lose a job.The member who was previously contributing to my speech the Hon David Seymour actually has previously said about the cuts in the Ministry for Primary Industries that it's good. David Seymour a member of the Cabinet has said it's good.Hon Member: Celebrated it.CAMILLA BELICH: One of his colleagues when I just mentioned the cuts celebrated it over there. So what this Government is telling New Zealanders is not correct; their actions do not match what they're doing. They cannot say that they are concerned about the 4.3 percent unemployment that was announced today and then say that it has got nothing to do with the 3000 positions that have been disestablished in the public sector.There's a word for that and it's gaslighting". It's doing one thing and actually telling people that you're doing another. Let me tell you: it is a terribly serious thing to lose a job. On this side of the House I can hand on heart say that we understand what it is like for people when they don't have work. When people don't have work they cannot benefit from tax cuts. It may sound obvious but if you don't have a job you're not going to benefit from tax cuts.There's lots of other things that this Government is doing that coincidentally come in today which are going to make things harder for New Zealanders on this International Workers' Day. One of those things is getting rid of free and half-price public transport. This affects 1.6 million New Zealanders—a huge number of New Zealanders will be paying more because of this Government's decision.So we have high unemployment we have cuts to public transport and what do we see? No plan from this Government to address it. There is no plan. The cuts that this Government has made to working people—and I just think it's really important to note this—have mainly affected women kaimahi Māori and Pacific people. The most vulnerable people in our society are being affected by the actions that this Government has taken. It is deadly serious and it's not something that we want to see on International Workers' Day but it is unfortunately the reality of what we are seeing.We've also seen attacks in other areas as well. Not only are people losing their jobs but those who have jobs are losing rights too. So we saw the Government repeal fair pay agreements; we saw Government effectively institute a wage decrease with the cuts to the minimum wage which was less than inflation; and we've seen them introduce 90-day trials again for the whole of the country meaning that people at work are more likely to get sacked.It's not a particularly great time for working New Zealanders this International Workers' Day and I have to say that I think it is reflecting very badly on this Government. The Government needs to come up with a plan for unemployment. It is not acceptable just to say that "These people will lose their jobs and we'll do nothing about it." We need to see a plan and I would encourage those on the other side of the House to actively come up with something.To close I just want to reflect on the purpose of International Workers' Day. I think it's important to recommit as the Council of Trade Unions have said today in their media release to the idea that everyone deserves good work; that that work is secure that it pays well it provides lifelong opportunities fosters health and wellbeing and enables people to have a voice in the workplace and contribute to a meaningful and fulfilling life.This is the type of country and the type of work that we on this side of the House want to see for working New Zealanders this Labour Day and every International Workers' Day."