Watts SimonSIMON WATTS (National—North Shore): It's very much a pleasure to stand and rise on the bill referred to as the Fair Pay Agreements Bill on its second reading. As the member of Parliament for North Shore and a member of the National Party we are obviously strongly opposed to this bill. It should really be called the so-called fair pay agreement" because in reality the only thing fair about this is the spelling of the word on the first part of this legislation.I want to use my time this afternoon to provide a little bit of an overview in terms of why we think this is a piece of legislation that is absolutely ripping the heart out of the business community a hard-working community across this country. I think sometimes some members of this House—particularly those opposite me—forget who pays the bills those that are actually funding this Government's addiction to spending and that is our business community. Obviously about 98 percent if not higher of our businesses are small businesses—those that are employing less than 20 individuals.But this type of legislation—which is coming at a time where Kiwis across this country are suffering from not only a cost-of-living crisis but I think as I refer to as a "social crisis" that's developing—is going to only make it harder for businesses workers and employers to do what they should be doing and what they want to be doing I'm sure which is contributing to make this country better.But at the heart of this bill this is a bill that is unfair for workers and employers. It is completely unfair because it is going to increase the amount of bureaucracy and regulation on our business community in regards to imposition of what are these mandatory conditions on New Zealanders. That is actually going to reduce the flexibility of the workforce when actually we are at a time when we need significantly more flexibility and we need legislation by this Government which is completely out of touch with what our business communities across this country are faring at the moment—completely out of touch. We need legislation that doesn't undermine what they're doing but actually supports our businesses and employers in regards to the way in which they are supporting their workers.So at its heart these so-called fair pay agreements (FPAs) is just another action by this Labour Government to pour more fuel on the fire of the challenges that we have in the midst of this cost of living crisis through adding additional regulation and compliance which is going to lead to an increase in costs.We know from the feedback across the sector that this legislation has gone down like a cup of cold sick. The only ones that seem to be strongly supporting this are those on the other side of the House. But in effect this bill should be called "mandatory union deals"—or "MUD" is what it could be referred to in terms of the acronym because this is a piece of legislation that is mud and that is being probably a little bit generous in terms of that.I want to just talk about some of the components of this bill because we are at the second reading and it's important to go through some of that element which really at its heart is reducing the amount of choice that our businesses and our business communities and employers have as a result of this legislation being rammed down their throat which is going to bring in effect agreements which are compulsory for workers and businesses regardless of whether they choose to join a union or not. That is obviously at its heart. You know I don't know—we are a party of limited Government. This legislation in its heart is going to mean that there is no choice involved in terms of opting in either for workers or for business operators. These mandatory employment conditions are just going to be passed on to those and that's why at the heart as I said this legislation is actually unfair that is because they're going to be passed on to people without any choice. As we know when you don't have a choice that's generally not considered fair in life and that is very much what is going to be the case here.The other aspect here is that Kiwi workers are obviously going to be subject to these mandatory deals which in our view and other commentators in the market have said will actually harm the employment and reduce productivity and I think as a result of that reducing productivity actually make it harder in order to actually increase and lift wages which as we know the inflation numbers came out today at 7.2 wage inflation at 3.4 every single Kiwi is going backwards every single day and this type of legislation is just going to add to that dynamo of Kiwis going backwards at the moment.The other aspect I wanted to refer to was the officials' comments in regards to this legislation. We've grown to become quite accustomed to this Government who seem to ram through legislation irrespective of all stakeholders saying it's a bit of a dumb idea. Their ability to listen to hard-working Kiwis across this country is very much tokenistic. They undertake consultation which is not consultation and I quote here Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) have said "There is a risk that the FPAs may weaken the wage-productivity link and/or lock in inefficient business models or increase barriers to entry into the market. This would ultimately lead to poorer dynamic efficiency of the economy and reduced ability to adapt shift resources to more productive uses over time."Well I tell you what you would have thought that was quote from a member of the National Party. But no that is a quote from MBIE the Government's own Government department who is providing advice to these guys in terms of how to try and put in place legislation and even they are saying in words that I have simply quoted. They're saying that this is an absolutely ridiculous and dumb idea but what would you expect a good Government to do around a bit of feedback like that? I'm looking at my colleague and you'd think well maybe they might take that on board and say that maybe we should listen to them because they might know a little bit more than what we do—but "No no. What we'll do is we'll ram it through and we won't make any changes." So another reinforcement of a Government who are not listening to Kiwis out there on the ground.I'll tell you what I've got a few more quotes like that coming up so—geez if only we had another 10 or 15 more minutes but anyway we've got two minutes so we'll try and cut it to the chase.But I wanted to get back as well before I cover off a few more of these quotes around the impact of this legislation on the small-business community: 630000 people is how many people small businesses employ in this country—630000 people are employed by small businesses across this country. These are the people and the employers who are going to pay and feel the brunt of this legislation. It is getting harder and harder and harder for not only our business community but also those workers with all that cost-pressure that's driven by this Government to try and navigate in all this thing and these FPAs are going to come in and they're going to introduce another layer of bureaucracy. I tell you what have we heard that before? Have we heard that word before? I'll tell you what we seem to hear that word every single day because these guys are absolutely pro! I'll tell you want I don't often compliment them but I'm going to compliment them today! If you want to find a Government who are absolutely A-class experts at implementing bureaucracy there they are. They are the guns at that but this legislation is going to cost Kiwis and cost Kiwi employers and that is because it is completely unnecessary.The other aspect around this is that actually these FPAs are going to create a scenario where in effect New Zealanders will have these terms and conditions imposed on them which is actually going to suit someone else's circumstances needs or preferences—i.e. this Government's ideological position around what they believe is right and what they believe is fair.So I come back to my point right at the start: this legislation is unfair for workers and employers. It is completely unfair and it goes right to the heart of a Government that is not willing to listen to the real challenges that Kiwis across this country are facing right now dealing with a cost of living crisis dealing with a social crisis and from that basis we oppose this legislation."