Wood Michael; Dean JacquiSecond Reading Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): I move That the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day Bill be now read a second time. If I can thank members from across the House for sharing some of their personal and shared reflections on the death and the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and what this period of time means for them. We heard some quite varied reflections which I think is entirely appropriate and reflects the fact that this is an important time and that there's something here to be considered about this event in the context of our national story. The Government believes that a focused day—a national memorial day—enables us to come together as whānau as communities to be able to share these reflections. I hope that in this debate we can mainly avoid niggle and rancour. But I do have to put on record that I do somewhat resent in the first reading of this debate for the ACT Party speaker to have presumed to have spoken on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by claiming that she knew what the Queen would have thought about this particular piece of legislation. I'm quite certain that I do not know what the Queen would have thought. I'm very certain that Brooke van Velden does not know what the Queen would have thought. She was a famously independent woman who would have made her own mind up about these matters and had she been asked about it she would most certainly have said as the ever-appropriate constitutional monarch that the matter is in fact up to the New Zealand Parliament. Rather than attempting to divine the mind of the late Queen I can however directly quote from her in response to some of the comments from the ACT Party speaker. The late Queen once said Perhaps we make too much of what is wrong and too little of what is right. The trouble with gloom is that it feeds upon itself and depression causes more depression." Well I'm quite certain that while the creation of a new public holiday on Monday 26 September will mean that there is a degree of disruption and that some arrangements do need to be rearranged that New Zealanders as resilient people will deal with that that we are capable of doing more than one thing at once that we are capable of making choices and that we are capable of balancing things up. And sometimes as a country as we do on other public holidays we recognise that in balancing things up it is appropriate to come together as families and communities for a particular national purpose.Ultimately certainly on this side of the House we don't believe that we just live in a market. We live in a society and sometimes moments like this are important. I do also need to put on record that the quoted figure for the economic cost of this public holiday is not correct and is not what is advised by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment who advise that in fact the possible economic impact of this public holiday ranges from a positive economic impact of $28 million through to a possible negative economic impact of $137 million—less than a third of what was quoted.In rounding off my comments in this reading of the bill can I reiterate the special and unique nature of this day. It is about commemorating our head of State who was the only head of State known by most of us certainly all of us in this Chamber who was our head of State for over 70 years. It is one day to memorialise our Sovereign for New Zealanders across the country to be able to attend memorials and to gather together and reflect in whatever way helps us to move forward. Here I acknowledge the contribution of the Māori Party speaker Debbie Ngarewa-Packer; this day should be a day in which people and communities across the country can reflect in whatever way is appropriate for them. I believe that people will do that when this bill passes the House. I commend it to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to."