Williams Arena; O'Connor Greg; van Velden BrookeThird ReadingARENA WILLIAMS (Labour—Manurewa): Point of order Mr Speaker. There's no question before the House. My suggestion to you is that you refer this bill back to the beginning of the Order Paper and that we move to the next bill forthwith.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): The Hon Brooke van Velden Hon BROOKE VAN VELDEN (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): Mr Speaker thank you—Tangi Utikere: Sorry point of order. My colleague Ms Williams has raised a point of order but there was no response to that.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): Well the response I would have thought spoke for itself since the member was here on her feet and has remained on her feet and is now in a position to actually begin. Had she done anything other than be on her feet and been sitting down it may have been a different story.Tangi Utikere: Point of order. Seeking your clarification Mr Speaker is it that a member can be on their feet but making their way to a Chamber desk which is in order or is there a strict requirement that a member has to be on their feet but in place in order—[Interruption]ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): You should finish; go ahead.Tangi Utikere: Yes I just thought there were some comments from other members of the House and last time I checked points of order were heard in silence.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): That's all right. I'll just take some advice on that and yes you are right about having it heard in silence. As I have said the Minister was making her way to her seat. I was watching her and the mere fact that she could actually have turned around where she was and actually answered or begun her speech and continued on the way to the seat—so Brooke van Velden.Hon BROOKE VAN VELDEN: Thank you Mr Speaker. I move That the Fair Pay Agreements Act Repeal Bill be now read a third time. This bill repeals the Fair Pay Agreements Act and the associated amendments to other Acts and revokes associated regulations. Once the Fair Pay Agreements Act is repealed bargaining for initiated fair pay agreements will cease as there will be no legislative mechanism to bring any agreements into force. My clear intention with this repeal bill is for the fair pay agreement system to stop and that the bargaining stops as the law ceases.Fair pay agreements were never about fairness. They forced a minority of union workers' views on all affected workers and businesses and this Government opposes the views that were put forward by the previous Government and that law. The previous Government introduced legislation in 2022 for the fair pay agreement system. Under that system unions and employer associations could bargain for employment terms and conditions that covered all employees in an industry or occupation. The Fair Pay Agreements Act and associated regulations came into force on 1 December 2022. Both the National Party and the ACT Party opposed the development and introduction of the fair pay agreements legislation at that time. This repeal has been well signalled for a very very long time. We have a clear mandate from the voters from the 2023 general election and this Government is delivering on that promise. This Government has committed to repealing the fair pay agreement legislation by Christmas 2023 as part of our coalition agreement between the National Party and the ACT Party and I am committed to acting as quickly as possible to remove this legislation before any fair pay agreements are finalised and the transition arrangements become more expensive and complex. To reiterate my clear intention with this bill is that the fair pay agreement system stops and for all bargaining processes to cease. We are doing this to send a clear signal to businesses that this Government understands the pressures that businesses have faced in an environment of increasing inflation and a Labour-led Government that has piled on regulations. Today this Government is providing certainty to businesses so they can get back to focusing on what they do.The fair pay agreements diminished the fundamental right to freedom of association which includes the freedom to not associate. The fair pay agreements risk harming New Zealand's already dismal productivity growth. The best and most sustainable way to increase the wages of workers and to lower prices for consumers is to improve productivity and reduce the regulations holding businesses back.We are a Government that wants to see higher wages for workers and a thriving economy a thriving competitive business sector. We want more and better jobs here in New Zealand and we want to ease the pain of the cost of living crisis. But the fair pay agreement system would not have helped. It would have done so much damage to our economy and to our labour market. Far from being fair the fair pay agreements risked harming the very workers it was aiming to help. I commend this bill to the House.