Blue Jackie: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Blue Jackie: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:2989] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 Well what a lot of waffle and testosterone is going on tonight; that is for sure. I am delighted to stand and speak to Part 1 of Darien Fenton’s Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill. The purpose of the bill as introduced was to amend the Minimum Wage Act 1983 by extending its provisions to apply to payments under a contract for services that are currently remunerated at below the minimum wage. I was not on the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee when this bill was before the last Parliament and when I read the report it was quite chilling. Since the bill was presented there have been many Supplementary Order Papers. There clearly was not consensus on the select committee at the time. That unfortunately says that the bill needed a complete and utter rewrite because it was completely and utterly flawed. 
The select committee received a number of oral submissions and the make-up of the committee was across all parties—all parties were represented on that committee. So there were a number of different views. When we read the select committee report it is quite surprising to find that there was no consensus. There was absolutely no common ground and that means the bill was flawed it had holes in it and it really was not workable. Quite frankly that says volumes. The fact that four Supplementary Order Papers were lodged also says volumes. This bill is a rewrite and it is flawed. 
Even New Zealand First’s view in the select committee was telling. It said “the bill creates too many administrative grey areas which would have the potential to lead to confusion.”—end of story. Despite all the Supplementary Order Papers it ain’t worth saving and this party will not be trying to support it at all. The last thing this Parliament should be doing is passing unnecessary and confusing legislation just for the sake of passing legislation. That is not what we are about and members on all sides of the Chamber will agree with that. 
National is concerned about this bill on a number of different levels and we will talk further about that as we go through the Committee stage. Essentially it takes away choice and flexibility. As my colleague David Bennett said choice gives innovation it brings entrepreneurship and this bill cuts across that completely. We are concerned about a number of different avenues and quite frankly the bill is not workable. A very good point was raised by one of my colleagues: if this bill was so crucial and so important why did the previous Government not take it on as a Government bill? Again that speaks volumes. It languished as a member’s bill and it has languished from the previous Parliament to the current Parliament. Labour had the numbers 3 years ago to pass this bill into law and it failed to do so. Labour did not support this member’s bill yet it has carried on to this Parliament and again it will languish and fail. It will not get the support of the majority of members. 
Members have talked about the minimum wage. Well this National Government raised the minimum wage to $12.50 in this parliamentary session. In the first 100 days of office the Government has been very quick to act in view of the global recession. We have done many things in our first 100 days. We have kept all the promises we said we would make. We have brought in the ReStart package to help those people who have been made redundant and there are many companies looking at the 9-day working fortnight. I think that will be a way forward for many struggling companies that have 50 or more employees and it is a good thing to do. We will reform the Resource Management Act. Quite frankly New Zealand has been stifling and stagnating and the whole economy has slowed down under the weight of that particular Act. It is too onerous. We need to change it and that will be happening. We have given tax cuts and they will help restart the economy. We will be going forward and we will keep going. 
This bill is deeply flawed. There was no consensus or common ground at the select committee and it cuts away choice. With all the rewrites it is unworkable.