Webb DuncanHon Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Thank you Madam Speaker. Well that was one of the stranger speeches I've heard; because whilst David Seymour strikes a knife into the heart of the Productivity Commission he sings its praises. He tells us about the great reports that it's done and names numerous people who have served with praise as he twists that knife. It's absolutely bizarre. And here we are. This has got a certain déjà vu but worse. It feels like I've been here before as the National-ACT coalition dismantles another thing.But the truly bizarre thing about this is that he is dismantling Rodney Hide's legacy. So here we have a great ACT initiative which David Seymour is standing up and saying Well that was pretty rubbish so we're getting rid of it." And I just wonder who the next leader of the ACT Party will be to stand up and say "I move that the 'Regulation Ministry Disestablishment Bill' be read for the first time." It won't be long—it won't be long. And I'm sure it'll be another ACT Party member because the fact of the matter is that this is absolute chaos—the absolutely Kafkaesque attributes of disestablishing a Productivity Commission to set up a commission for red tape a commission which is to overlay the work of the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee the Parliamentary Counsel Office select committees ministries and departments and the Attorney-General's office because we need another look.Now if you wanted to put yet another barrier in the place of good and effective legislation you're doing a good job David Seymour. The fact of the matter is that that is a vanity project and it will have absolutely no effect. Just like his Treaty principles bill it's going to be a dead letter. It will be of no effect. And what's worse is here is a party which talks about the importance of private property the rule of law and sanctity of contract. Have a look at clause 11 of the bill. What does it do? All employment contracts are terminated. "We don't care that you've entered into an employment relationship bound by the rules of New Zealand we are Parliament we are Government we decide otherwise you're all fired. That's the end of that." That is absolutely reprehensible. You have an entire body of people employed by the commission and that party—the ACT Party—doesn't care. It doesn't care that there's a whole lot of people in there who have jobs who have families who have mortgages who are actually the very same hard-working New Zealanders who their coalition partners want to protect and they're gutting them with absolutely no remorse whatsoever.Because that's not a party for all New Zealanders. This is a party who's out to look after themselves and their mates and they're trying to get rid of the Productivity Commission. They say that it's done good work and yet they're absolutely getting rid of it overnight. It makes no sense.And of course how much is the ministry of regulation going to cost us? We don't know. Hon Grant Robertson: Way more than this.Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: And I can tell you that because I've asked. And you're right Mr Grant Robertson way more because it's going to be a much more large and lumbering organisation. It's going to be a ministry of its own and it's going to have a whole lot of machinery around it. But the only really important thing is David Seymour's going to be top of it. It's going to be his show it's going to be the little David Seymour show and he's going to be able to pontificate about how effective rules and regulations are. Well bad luck it's not going to last long—another vanity project.But the real tragedy of this is that this commission has done good work. Productivity is one of the things that we need to work on in this country. This is an entity whose mission is to improve productivity. And this bill shows what the ACT Party really thinks about it and what this coalition Government thinks about it. It doesn't care. It's just more interested in making its own way in making its own mark. Ideology and dogma—that's what this bill is. So I'm looking forward to debating it further in the night. There's a lot more to say about it. Thank you Madam Speaker."