Mapp Wayne: Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Mapp Wayne: Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:629;Page:1859] 
Dr WAYNE MAPP (National—North Shore) 
: 
 I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the debate and I would like in particular to thank those parties that have had the confidence to refer the bill to the select committee. I deliberately use the word “confidence” because I think this is very much one of those occasions when we can look at the world and ask whether the glass is half full or half empty. Do we always look for problems that might emerge or do we look for solutions that are possible? 
I believe that the figures speak for themselves: 12 percent youth unemployment compared with 3 percent for the general population. That is a situation that needs a solution. And we are not talking about the southern states of the USA; we are talking about Britain Canada Ireland and Australia all of which have probation periods. 
Some particular concerns have been raised and I want to address them. New Zealand First’s Mr Peter Brown raised the issue of casualisation. I know that that has been an issue for him for a number of years. Without forecasting solutions I note that the Netherlands has essentially split the law. So for short-term contracts defined in the Netherlands as those contracts of less than 2 years the probation period is 1 month and for those contracts that are intended to be longer than for 2 years or indeed that are without a fixed term it is 3 months. Solutions to those issues are possible. The select committee is where we get to explore the solutions. 
Concerns were raised by the Maori Party particularly about vulnerable workers who do not have access to full rights. Those are legitimate concerns. Clearly issues around the Human Rights Commission and the effectiveness of its procedures to deal with issues of discrimination would need to be looked at. So there are issues that need to be considered there. But that is the whole point of the select committee process is it not? 
No one reasonably expects particularly for a member’s bill—or for that matter a Government bill—that it is perfect at the time of its introduction. That is precisely why we have the select committee process—to hear not from us in this Chamber but from New Zealanders whether they be employers or employees. Sometimes I think that some employers are perhaps a little bit too diffident about employing people. Nevertheless those fears exist and therefore are real so we are neglecting our responsibility to New Zealanders to those hundreds of thousands of mum and dad businesses if we do not say we hear their concerns and tell them we can address them. This bill is about bringing New Zealand into the mainstream not taking us back to some extreme position. 
I do want to assure members and indeed all New Zealanders that it is not the National Party’s intent to take us back to the Employment Contracts Act of 1990. Things do move on. That is the reality of the situation and that is something we have heard over the last few years. So in truth we learn from experience. We can have improved employment law that builds on the experience of the range of law over the last 20 years. The changes were necessary in 1990 but this is the 21st century. We are in different circumstances and our law needs to reflect this. 
When the OECD says to New Zealand and when the Treasury briefing says to the Government: “Produce more flexibility into the law.” one would think that this country—this Government—would have the wit and will to listen. I have to thank those parties in particular that did—and I stress this—have the confidence to enable New Zealanders to have their say. This is the duty of Parliament—to give New Zealanders the ability to have these discussions. What is the point of an MMP Parliament if we do not do that? So I tell Labour Party members to think again and to go to that select committee with open minds because this is an issue through which as a nation we could do a great deal for the productivity and the future of young New Zealanders who deserve a go.