Stewart Barbara: WorkSafe New Zealand Bill Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill Mines Rescue Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeStewart Barbara: WorkSafe New Zealand Bill Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill Mines Rescue Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 14 November 2013. Volume:694;Page:14740. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA STEWART (NZ First): I stand today on behalf of New Zealand First to support the third readings of the legislation arising from the Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill. I must quote from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. This sums up the situation regarding work very well we believe. It states: “New Zealanders expect work place safety conditions to be of a standard that controls the risk of accidents. In industries such as mining maintaining safety standards are especially important since the environment and operating conditions present a complex range of hazards. These range from occupational safety hazards that impact on individual workers through to catastrophic accidents that result in multiple injuries and fatalities as well as economic financial social and environmental damage.” I would like to add to that “the human loss of life which is catastrophic.”We welcome the decision to split this important piece of legislation into three separate bills. This is a move that actually acknowledges that the Pike River mine tragedy was not caused by a single transgression but by a multitude of factors all ofwhich require attention. It is a move that will allow for each of these very important sections to get the attention that is needed to implement changes with the level of detail that is required. In some ways it is an acknowledgment of the mistakes and the need to take some action. Like others in this House we would have liked to see more firm action but this is a start. Although none of these bills will make up for the Pike River tragedy we hope that the families and friends of those lost are able to take some comfort in seeing some action taken to prevent future occurrences and minimise danger in the future.This legislation is long overdue. It is essentially practical and it makes significant changes. It is very necessary legislation. The WorkSafe New Zealand Bill is setting up the centralised agency and as we have said this is long overdue. This agency needs to take a strong leadership role in order to protect our workers in New Zealand. We applaud the amendments made by the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee which ensure a sole Government agency that will have centralised responsibility. This will lead to responsible health and safety practices being undertaken. But like previous speakers we believe that the board must be a tripartite model. The board cannot afford to be party political with members changing after every election.We are pleased to hear from the Minister of Labour that WorkSafe New Zealand will have the necessary resources to carry out its functions and to ensure that these objectives are met. That is absolutely paramount. We hope too that these functions will be monitored that the objectives are met and that if this organisation is not meeting the requirements some action is taken. We cannot afford to just sit back on our hands. This is an area that does need to be followed up.The Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill is a positive step forward too towards the goal of reducing workplace injury and death by 25 percent by 2020. The Mines Rescue Bill is another very important piece of legislation. We know that underground coalmining has its unique risks but the bottom line is that all mining all tunnelling and all quarrying is hazardous if not dangerous.New Zealand’s health and safety record is very poor compared with that of other countries particularly when we read the report of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy. What makes our appalling safety record worse is that quite often we do not learn from mistakes that have occurred in the past. We want to see changes. Every worker has the right to go home at the end of their working day uninjured and able to carry on and come back to work the next day. We cannot afford to ignore advice that would safe lives. New Zealand First hopes that this legislation will change that. The Mines Rescue Bill ensures that the Mines Rescue Trust is able and ready to respond to any future mining emergencies. We cannot have a repeat of what we saw with Pike River.In closing I would like to thank the people who worked on the royal commission’s report and the members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. The final legislation that is presented here today reflects the hard work and the commitment that have gone into ensuring that we have legislation that is going to make a significant difference to our mining sector. We want and need that difference. This legislation will be good for mining in New Zealand and for workplaces in general.I would like to once again pay our respects to the families and the friends who lost loved ones in the Pike River tragedy. New Zealand First supports the passing of this legislation which we believe is a much-needed step towards recognising the health and safety needs within this industry.