Macindoe TimHon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): The only thing I can say positively about that last contribution from the Minister in the chair is it saved me from the dubious pleasure of having to follow immediately on from my good colleague the member for Hunua because I simply can't shout as loudly as he can nor do I think I can match his impeccable turn of phrase or his passion or his energy. But someone has to and I'm glad the Minister chose to do that. But that brief comment there from the Minister is absolutely extraordinary and as my good friend the member for the Bay of Plenty noted before the Minister seems to have adopted this idea that if he speaks slowly he will sound measured and softly he'll sound reasonable when in fact as the member has said he is looking to bash employers in particular over the head with a very big stick.I do want to commend the fine work of the Hon Scott Simpson. He was kind enough to make some complimentary remarks about his National Party colleagues before but I was with the Hon David Bennett at an event in Hamilton last Friday hosted by the Waikato Chamber of Commerce. I think it was meeting No. 40 or thereabouts that the Hon Scott Simpson has been holding around about the country where he has been going into small and large communities to meet with people who will be directly affected by these changes to spell out what they mean and to hear their concerns. And consistently he has been hearing that those concerns are widespread deeply felt and very very genuine. It is remarkable listening to those employers—particularly in my area—that they have not been treated to the same courtesy by members of the Government who you would think would have been out there justifying the changes that they are inflicting on the country.Let me also commend the excellent contributions—we've had so many from so many other members—just in the last few minutes from Nicola Willis and as I've mentioned from Todd Muller. The reason why I have singled those two out is because both understand the workforces so well because they are of them. They come to this House bringing practical experiences—learnt experiences—of what really makes a difference and what helps to make our economy tick. What we're hearing from the members opposite is theoretical claptrap to be quite honest; it is not born out of actual experience.One of the things that is particularly alarming that we've heard in the last few minutes—and I do ask the Minister and other members to focus on this—is the feedback that many employers particularly in outfits such as the Ports of Tauranga and the Ports of Auckland are saying that if these changes are to go ahead then the practical outcome will be increased automation; in other words exactly the opposite of what you would think a Labour-led Government would be wanting. It is going to put pressure on jobs in this country.Why would we do that at a time when we have a near record level of employment? Why would we do that when the economy has been going so well under the existing industrial relations framework? Why put it all at risk? Other than—and I have to choose my words very very carefully because the previous presiding officer said we can't attribute improper motives—clearly the Labour Party and the Green Party who I notice seem to be very very silent this afternoon campaigned at the last election with the strong backing of union members. I think I'm allowed to say that. They made certain commitments and now—Hon Scott Simpson: Their biggest financial donors.Hon TIM MACINDOE: They may well have been the biggest financial donors as Mr Simpson said but I'm not linking the two because I'm trying to stay within the Standing Orders. What of course we have now is a union regime that is saying Right we have put you there. What are you going to do for us now?" And the answer is this bill. Nothing more clearly answers that question than this bill.I waited in vain for the Minister when he began his contribution on Part 1—when he was talking about the fact that Part 1 deals with the collective bargaining framework in particular to implement a suite of changes to promote and strengthen collective bargaining and union rights in the workplace—to go on and say who had been calling for these changes.I represent the electorate of Hamilton West and in my electorate I've got light industry. We've got retail. We've got large employment opportunities in health and education and social service provision in as I said I think light engineering in manufacturing; in other words across the gamut. We've got the service sector for the dairy industry. I've got Te Rapa dairy factory in my electorate. There are a whole lot of people. And some of those workers are members of unions and that's fine; I absolutely respect their right to belong to those unions and I hope that they derive some benefit from doing so. But there are many others who do not and the Minister and his colleagues who have spoken—[Time expired]"