SpeechVANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour): Thank you Madam Speaker. Can I begin like my colleagues in congratulating Ibrahim Omer on having his bill drawn from the ballot. I must admit I have mixed feelings about the ballot—as a previous member mentioned I am one of those who has not had any ballot success—but I do think in this instance it has produced some magic. This is the right bill this is the right time and it is most certainly the right person to bring this issue to the House. Camilla Belich referred to my colleague Ibrahim Omer as the future member for Wellington Central—which he absolutely is. He is also the co-chair of Labour's ethnic caucus and this is an issue that he's bringing which affects many people in our multicultural communities which is very very important. I do just want to respond to the previous speaker Scott Simpson and his comments about this being a ballot-stuffer" and that it's not needed—but then maybe it will be problematic. I agree with him that most employers do the right thing and they're great employers but there are some who aren't. I've spoken a number of times in this House about working at Youth Law for almost a decade where about 40 percent of our work was employment-related. People would call us with issues like this. They would say "My paycheque is repeatedly incorrect even after I've asked about it." They say "I don't get to take a meal break or I have to do work tasks even though I'm clocked out." They say "I'm an hourly worker who completes overtime hours but I don't get paid for my overtime." They've said to us "The workplace has misclassified my work status." They say "I'm a contractor which means that I don't get minimum wage or overtime." They say "My boss makes me pay upfront for a uniform and they make me pay other costs as well; I'm never reimbursed." They say "The employer asks me to purchase things on behalf of the company; they never reimburse me." They have often said "I have left my job but never never received my final paycheque." This is happening. It is happening frequently and unfortunately it is happening to the people who are often in the shadows already who can't afford legal advice; who won't pursue this through the courts. The previous speaker also said we were putting this into the criminal justice system—we are not removing rights under the civil system. This really is in my view for those really serious cases. We have a definition of criminal theft already in the Crimes Act. Not all instances of theft are prosecuted; that's where you move in to prosecutor's discretion in terms of what they prosecute and what they don't. And no doubt the select committee will be investigating this and asking questions about this as it goes to select committee. A large part of this bill is about one key question which is: what separates the things that accrue civil liability from those that legitimately accrue criminal liability? A number of members have pointed out that when an employee steals from their employers they can dismiss you bring a civil claim and they can call the police where they may be subject to criminal liability. That is not the case if you are an employee who hasn't been paid what's owed to you. There is a moral gravity; there is a public interest in criminal conduct. It's not about resolving a dispute simply between two individuals; it's about society having skin in the game because there's moral gravity around the issue. Theft is deemed criminal when an employee commits it but not when an employer commits it—and that says that there is something askew about our moral gravity.Lisa Mariott wrote that "Justice is challenged when people [engage] in the same activity [but] receive different sanctions". That is entirely what this bill is trying to protect. Richard Posner who wrote An Economic Theory of the Criminal Law said that the criminal law exists to impose punishments such as imprisonment in situations where tort remedies are an insufficient deterrent. Deterrent in this case is the taint of conviction and often in my view that is going to be a fine—but no doubt the select committee will investigate this further. Thank you Madam Speaker. I commend this bill to the House."