Beaumont Carol: Employment Relations (Statutory Minimum Redundancy Entitlements) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Beaumont Carol: Employment Relations (Statutory Minimum Redundancy Entitlements) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10778] 
CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour) 
: 
 Let me start by acknowledging my colleague and friend Darien Fenton. As Mr Chauvel has said Darien Fenton has done a lot of work on the Employment Relations (Statutory Minimum Redundancy Entitlements) Amendment Bill and for many years she has promoted the rights of workers in this country. I think that is worth putting on the record of the House. 
I have been appalled at the contributions from members on the other side of the House. Mr Bennett went on about mandatory rules—mandatory this mandatory that. He said the bill would undermine workers’ rights. I do not think there is an understanding of the importance of having in place strong minimum rights that provide guidance and the base on which we build. New Zealand has international obligations to provide a strong mandatory framework. 
It has been fascinating to hear some members opposite trying to rewrite history. Mr Henare gave a very good analysis except he forgot to mention what happened as a result of the Employment Contracts Act. He did not say that it ripped out the award system which had provided quite significant redundancy coverage for workers in this country and left us in a situation where there was no statutory right and rights were limited to what people negotiated in individual or collective agreements. They negotiated their own rights. None of that was mentioned. Then we heard all that commentary about do-gooders but frankly if promoting workers’ rights and ensuring protections for workers in hard times is being a do-gooder I am proud to be one; so are my colleagues. 
This bill amends the Employment Relations Act to provide minimum statutory entitlements for employees in the event of dismissal for redundancy. I reiterate the point already made that this bill was a unanimous recommendation of the public advisory group on restructuring and redundancy. Employer representatives and union representatives understood the importance of having these protections and at times of record job losses 80 percent of New Zealanders having no protection against redundancy is just plain wrong. 
Members opposite still have the opportunity to do the right thing tonight for the 80 percent of workers in our country who do not have a right to redundancy protection. Redundancy entitlements will not replace a lost job but will certainly help workers and their families in the period until they have a new job. 
I was interested today to hear the Minister of Finance say we are through the recession but he should tell that to the 170000 New Zealanders who are unemployed—7.3 percent compared with Australia’s 5 percent. Many more people are underemployed and are struggling to make ends meet. In the area of Auckland I work in Maungakiekie I talk to people who are struggling because they have lost their jobs lost hours of work or had little or no pay increases over recent times and are facing rising prices. We need to do something to send a message that this Parliament recognises that we are in hard times and that there should be minimum protections against redundancy. 
This bill is particularly important at this time but this Government has failed New Zealanders through hard economic times. It has failed in this recession to respond appropriately. Let us look at the rate of unemployment. It is not about just numbers; it is about people who are without jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. 
There is a lack of empathy on the other side of the House and there is certainly a lack of action. I compare that to just about every other country in the OECD where active attention has been paid to job creation and the protection of workers’ rights—but not by this Government. This bill is about rebuilding a minimum code. This bill is about rebuilding after 9 years of a Labour Government where much was done. 
Melissa Lee 
: We had 9 years of mismanagement. 
CAROL BEAUMONT 
: I tell Ms Lee that in those 9 years Labour made regular increases to the minimum wage and put in place a number of employment protections. So members opposite should not try to rewrite history. 
Many New Zealanders think there is a right to redundancy. New Zealand workers are in fact the cheapest and easiest in the world to sack. Is that something that members opposite are proud of? Are they proud that New Zealand workers are among the cheapest and easiest to sack in the OECD? That is not something they should be proud of. 
This bill is about people. As others have said it is about people who lose their jobs who struggle and who have to deal with the emotional consequences as well as the financial consequences. I urge members opposite to take this bill seriously and do the right thing.