Sio Su'a William: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Sio Su'a William: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:3906] 
SU’A WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 We are on the eve of the Government’s first Budget. We are also in an environment where there is a lot of uncertainty in many homes. There will be a lot of expectation on this Government and on what it will be providing to meet those uncertainties and to provide confidence to the increasing number of people who are finding themselves out of a job. The last figures I saw showed that there are 115000 unemployed people in New Zealand. Many of those people when there are no jobs will be looking at opportunities to take up jobs. It may be that they will consider the jobs that are outlined in new schedule 2 which is inserted by the amendment in the name of Ms Fenton. 
I acknowledge my colleague Darien Fenton because this is an important issue for a large and significant sector of the community—and not just of my community but I suspect of the country. People want this bill to pass so that they have some form of protection. When there is rising unemployment most of those people are in vulnerable positions and will be forced to negotiate their terms and conditions from a very weak standpoint. If they do not accept what is on offer then somebody else who is prepared to be paid less and to work in very unsafe environments will take it up. That is what will occur if there are no protections for these workers. 
By and large our employers are good people who genuinely work their guts out to try to ensure that workers can have jobs and are protected. But I think they are looking to this Government for some leadership. They are looking to this Government to provide some confidence and to provide not just jobs but sustainable incomes that can enable a father or a mother to sustain themselves and their families in the years ahead. Without that protection they will feel let down. I suspect that that is what will happen if this Government does not provide the leadership that our nation needs and that leadership is about jobs and about providing incomes that people can live off. 
I suspect it will be very difficult for National members on the other side of the Chamber to fully understand why the minimum wage is important. I will provide some figures to help them. Labour raised the minimum wage every year that it was in Government. It was raised from $7 as it was in 1999 up to $12 in 2008. When this Government came into power 5 or 6 months ago it moved it by 50c. Was it 50c? 
Chris Hipkins 
: Yes it was 50c. 
SU’A WILLIAM SIO 
: So it is now $12.50. If somebody is working 8 hours that gives him or her $100 a day. If he or she is working 5 days a week that is $500 a week. After deducting taxes of $4580 a year the person has $21000 left which comes out to about $412 a week. If that person is renting a private home and $300 is spent on rent for a two-bedroom or three-bedroom home in an area of Manukau City that leaves that person with $112 for the week. If the average-sized family in Mangere for example comprises four people we are condemning this family with a one-income earner to live on $111 or $112 per week. If the family puts aside $50 a week for power or $50 a week for the telephone bill what is left? That is what National is doing.