Wong Pansy: Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Bill — In Committee 
Wong Pansy: Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:635;Page:6675] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 The Minister is not going to get away with many of the statements he has just made. Although the Commerce Committee may have listened to the public I am afraid the Minister has not. Let me list some of the very strong feelings against the bill in its original form. 
First of all let me remind the public that National did not support the first reading of the Energy Safety Review Bill. But we are now supporting the Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Bill because firstly it has been separated out and secondly a lot of changes have been made to it. Let me share this submission from the Horowhenua branch of Master Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers (NZ) Inc. First of all the reason why plumbers were against the original bill—wholesale—was that they had received a letter from the Hon Damien O’Connor on 27 May 2004. The Minister made it very clear to plumbers that the Energy Safety Review Bill—[ 
Interruption 
] If members on the Labour benches would calm down I do intend to share the detail with them. 
I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. As a member of Parliament I am completely offended tonight by the total lack of respect for the Committee process. Members on the Opposition side are debating this bill seriously because a lot of submitters felt very strongly about it. But all I am getting is a barrage of people talking on the Labour side of the Chamber. Mr Chairman I would like you to exercise your authority and bring some respect back to this process. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Thank you. I say to the member that I have already raised the issue once with the Committee this evening and I appreciate what the member is saying. But the talking is coming from both sides. I remind members that it is a matter of good conduct and of being considerate of others who are trying to address the Committee. It is a longstanding convention in this place that members should not conduct conversations in the Chamber unless it is absolutely necessary to do so and then only in a way so as not to disturb proceedings. Proceedings are being disturbed and another member on my right has also approached me with concern about the level of noise in the Chamber. I ask members to show some courtesy to the honourable member Pansy Wong. 
PANSY WONG 
: Thank you Mr Chairman. In his letter the Minister the Hon Damien O’Connor reassured the Horowhenua group that the original Energy Safety Review Bill would include only requirements relating to electrical and gas workers and include provisions similar to the ones in the Electricity Act to allow for interim suspension of electricity workers’ registration. And then according to the group’s submission the Minister went on to say that those provisions did not include plumbers and drainlayers as similar provisions were expected to be included in the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Bill. Therefore I ask the Minister to take note that first of all plumbers do not agree because they were expressly told by the previous Minister that the Energy Safety Review Bill would not include them. Secondly their concern is with regard to cost. 
The group raised that subject on Tuesday 19 October 2004. A delegation from the Society of Master Plumbers and Gasfitters met with the Hon Damien O’Connor who was responsible for the bill at that stage. The Minister asked the tradesmen what their current charge rate was for plumbers. They told him that it differed but that in the Horowhenua area it was around $45 to $50 an hour plus GST. Well the Minister’s response was to ask why the group did not simply charge the consumer $80 an hour because of the introduction of this new bill. 
I think it is appalling when a group of plumbers was taking the issue seriously and explaining that the bill would unnecessarily increase costs and that it would affect the charge-out fee to consumers and all the Minister could say was to put up the costs. That is incredible for a Labour Government that is supposed to look after ordinary New Zealanders yet all it could say was to put up the tax put up the cost as everything is going up. When National members are confronted with submissions like that we demand to know in detail about these increased costs. Of course we support competency professionalism and protection of the public but that has to be balanced and reasonable. So we are glad that we have argued that point. 
I want to register our appreciation of the Labour members on the Commerce Committee because they listened to large groups of submitters particularly from the plumbing sector. We listened to them and we believed that their submissions were made in good faith. The plumbers were outraged because of the lack of consultation and because of their concern for the unnecessary cost that might have to be passed on to consumers. More important these plumbers are very very proud of the fact that they are registered plumbers. This is a very emotional issue which they debated and argued very strongly in front of the select committee. As a member of the Commerce Committee I can say we take on their issues very seriously.