Omer IbrahimIBRAHIM OMER (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise to take this short call to speak on this very very important bill. But before I do so I just want to comment on Mr Simpson's statement that this is something that's being pushed by a trade union movement. This Government from day one made it clear that it's going to support hard-working New Zealanders and this is where it's coming from. When he talks about the union movement in a way that's so dismissive he's talking about 400000 New Zealand employees and it's a shame that he's talking about them in the way that they're some sort of—I don't know.I also want to thank Minister Wood for the good work that he has been doing not just on this bill but the good work that he's doing to support the hard-working Kiwis. Thank you Minister for everything that you're doing because this is the message that I'm getting from every hard-working cleaner security guard caregiver—they can't thank you enough. Please keep up the good work. A lot has been said about the sick leave increase. We've heard a lot of compelling testimonies and evidence from workers' unions and the stakeholders and a lot are in support. We also heard some counterarguments as well. That's something that we respect. About 400 people have submitted on this bill and we thank them for that.Our hard-working people have been undermined for the last nine years of the National Government. There was a lot of frustration and a lack of support. But thankfully this Government has stepped up and rolled out the COVID-19 wage subsidy and a lot of them managed to stay home when they were sick when they were unwell or they managed to stay home when their loved ones were vulnerable.This bill is not designed to only support the working people; it also will benefit businesses. Employees turning up to work when they're sick is going to infect others and that's a loss for the employer as well.I will share one story about myself. In 2012 I was working at Victoria University as a cleaner and I was sick with a bug. I called the supervisor to tell him that I was sick and he said You don't have enough sick leave and you have to come to work." I don't blame him because it's the rule—it's the law. I ended up coming in. The next day three people were off. They were sick and that was just from my team. There were other people from other teams as well. This is a real story. I have no reason to lie about this.All businesses are doing this already and they are happy. Things are productive for them and things are working for them. Various studies show that having healthy and happy and valued employees is good for business. In fact the Australian survey suggested that the healthiest workers who use sick leave when they need it are up to nearly three times as productive and they're less likely to take time off than the least healthy.I just want to ask people who are opposing this—I caution. I just want to ask them if they ever have a family member who is staying in a care facility who is being looked after by caregivers and then I want them to ask that worker if their loved one supports that worker having enough sick leave or 10 days' sick leave is good or bad. I will just leave it there because the answer will be quite obvious.Preparing for this I've been talking to a few people and one of the people that I have talked to was Lulu who is a proud E tū member and a cleaner. Lulu has got a sick son who needs a lot of care. She doesn't have enough sick leave. If she is sick she has to turn up to work because if she does not she's not going to get paid. That means she can't afford food and she can't afford medication for her son.Inequality levels in this country have been getting worse every day. Hard-working Kiwis have been undermined they have been forgotten: people like Shirley people like Helen people like Elizabeth—cleaners security guards—people like Rosella who's a caregiver. These people deserve better than this. This will make a difference in their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Let's tell them thank you for the good work that they have done for us last year and that they continue to do. The least we can say is thank you and allow them to stay home when they are sick or when their family members are sick—this is the least we can do for them. On that note I commend this bill to the House."