Cunliffe David: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Cunliffe David: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:3688] 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) 
: 
 Gerry Brownlee needs to understand Newton’s first law of holes: when in a hole stop digging. Gerry Brownlee said the Government has no intention of threatening the principle of paid parental leave and that the matter should go to a select committee. I say “Bravo!” to “Mr Mander”—he is known as “Gerry Mander” because of the overall intent of the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill—because he has hit the nail on the head. It is rather a large hammer but he has hit the nail on the head. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I have worked very hard to get an extraordinary range of nicknames in this Parliament but I really do not like that one. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I am sure the member will be able to rectify that and have his say in future speeches. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: I withdraw the epithet. The Opposition and the Government are actually in direct agreement on this point of paid parental leave. The Labour Opposition and the National Government led by the esteemed Leader of the House agree on two things: firstly that the principle of paid parental leave is too important to be left in doubt and that there is no harm in having a provision for the avoidance of doubt; and secondly that the matter should be sent to a select committee if there is any doubt on it at all. 
I say to Gerry Brownlee that if the Government agrees to those two things then he can go home; otherwise it will be a long day and a long night. I will tell members why. Paid parental leave is really important because when people need it they have no choice but to need it. It is not possible to be half-pregnant. If a woman is pregnant and expecting a child she is well down the track. It is therefore essential that women can rely on the terms and conditions of their employment when they most need to rely on them. 
There is a delicious irony here. The women and men of Labour are standing up for the rights of women and families but the men of National are prepared to ignore those rights. Are the women of National leaping to their feet in defence of family rights? I ask why the Minister of Corrections does not rise to say “Harden up ladies!”. Where is the Minister of Corrections and Minister of Police at this time? What about the Associate Minister of Immigration? What about any one of the innumerable blonde members from the South Island? What are they doing at this time? Amy Adams is a wise and capable member—she is even a lawyer I believe—so why does she not rise to her feet in defence of the women of Auckland’s regional government and tell them that their paid parental leave will be guaranteed because this good great new caring conservative and centrist John Key Government will protect them? No I guess she will not. 
Why is the Government rushing this bill through the House when it does not come into force until November? Why does the bill have more holes in it than a Swiss cheese? Why does the bill have more air between its ears than the Leader of the House? Why does the bill need the Labour Opposition to comb through it to find all the little things that a select committee would find? The answer is that there is a hidden agenda. That is why we are here unusually—in fact historically—on a Saturday. We are here because we are the last line of defence for the democratic rights of Aucklanders. The Minister the Hon Rodney Hide who is giggling knows he has the sole authority under this bill to appoint a coterie of three henchmen to gut Auckland.