Connell Brian: Public Finance (State Sector Management) Bill — In Committee 
Connell Brian: Public Finance (State Sector Management) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:622;Page:17934] 
BRIAN CONNELL (National—Rakaia) 
: 
 Throughout the course of the debate I have been railing about the repetition and the absolute drivel we have been asked to support by way of this bill. I made the point and I think it bears repeating that the public complains day in and day out about the size and cost of bureaucracy in this country and the sheer amount of red tape. I say to members that this bill is just another example of how out of touch the Government is when it seeks to pass this type of legislation. By my estimation the bill could have been about a third of its size. The fact it is not is an indictment on the Government which intends to legislate for every conceivable consequence whether or not it is relevant and whether or not an existing law is already in place. 
So members will probably wonder why I do not support Part 8 given that it has only four clauses and that out of 500 pages it takes up only one and a half. The reason I do not support it is that it concerns amendments to the State-Owned Enterprises Act. I caution members that “small” does not mean “not significant”. A couple of speakers have taken calls and dealt with the issue. The reality is that we all have to deal with the issue because it is the only pertinent clause in the part. It has huge implications for the productive sector and for the rest of New Zealand’s citizens because we are now playing around with the economic powerhouse of our economy. 
This section deals with huge businesses which in lots of cases run our infrastructure. What will be the situation if we come to an impasse whereby the entity concerned is recommending to or has negotiated with its employers certain terms and conditions and the Government’s lackey says that he or she has been told that the Government is not happy with that? This is the worst type of Government interference one could imagine. The Government is now legislating for huge levels of interference. Members of the Committee should think about that very carefully. That Part 8 has been truncated into one and a half pages does not make it insignificant. Why is this happening? The short answer is that this Government wants control. It craves control. It can do nothing without having control. It is trying to control and manipulate its own PC agenda. 
Craig McNair 
: It’s disgraceful. 
BRIAN CONNELL 
: It is disgraceful. If it were not for the fact that we are here at 11.50 on what is technically Tuesday morning but what the rest of New Zealand knows is Thursday morning after being in this Chamber until midnight last night and starting here again at 9 o’clock this morning under urgency I might have more energy to argue this point more powerfully. The fact is that this part has significant implications for New Zealand. New Zealanders are being snowed by it. I have asked what will happen if we get an impasse. Who will tell the people of New Zealand they will be cold this winter—if we are talking about an entity that deals with some of our power generation—because the Government wants to interfere?