Fenton Darien: Employment Relations (Rest Breaks and Meal Breaks) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Fenton Darien: Employment Relations (Rest Breaks and Meal Breaks) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10523] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 That was a bit of a tirade by the previous speaker Allan Peachey. It reminded me a lot of Bill Birch. It sounded like Bill Birch was back with his speech on the Employment Contracts Act saying we should bring it back. My goodness me! When the Minister of Labour the Hon Kate Wilkinson gets to speak again some time in the future I would like to know whether she agrees with what that member just said. If so I think we all need to be quite worried. I might get Allan Peachey’s  
Hansard 
 and send it off to all the unions. I am told that that Minister meets regularly with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and I say good on her; I am not criticising her for that. I will send off the  
Hansard 
 where Allan Peachey says all of those things about trade union secretaries and interfering union officials. I thought that the National Party had moved on I really did. Even though I do not have high expectations of the National Party I thought that we had moved on from that kind of rhetoric. 
Unfortunately the Employment Relations (Rest Breaks and Meal Breaks) Amendment Bill is the second piece of legislation that this Minister of Labour has brought into the House that takes away workers’ rights. I notice that she told a recent industrial relations conference that 2010 will be the “Get Stuff Done Year” for her labour portfolio. 
Sue Moroney 
: The “Get Stuffed Year”. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: The “Get Stuffed Year for Workers”. I wonder if this is what she is talking about. Is taking away workers’ rights getting stuff done? This is a very hastily and poorly drafted bill. It was rushed into the House late last year in a panic because the Minister thought that the air traffic controllers were getting out of control. It was rushed into the House without consultation or giving notice to anyone including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. John Key went along to the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions conference the week before— 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: He smiled and waved. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: He smiled and waved yet he never said a word about this legislation which was introduced the following week. What has been interesting about the speeches from the opposite side is that National supported the Employment Relations (Breaks Infant Feeding and Other Matters) Amendment Bill when it was introduced by Labour. It made a real virtue out of it. I remember that Minister who was then an Opposition member making a real fuss and making a virtue out of doing so. I have to admit that it was a surprise to us at the time because it is the only piece of workers’ rights legislation that improves things for workers that the National Party has supported in 20 years. It was worth celebrating at the time but the speeches that we have heard from members opposite tonight make us wonder if they are in denial. They make us wonder if it was an election ploy to try to prove to workers that National was not as scary as they believed. 
The Minister was part of the select committee during the consideration of that original bill. She along with me and many others heard the submissions on Labour’s bill. 
Debate interrupted.