Stewart Barbara: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Stewart Barbara: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8514. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 First I rise to congratulate Dr David Clark on getting his bill the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill to this stage. It does not happen often. On behalf of New Zealand First I rise to support the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill. This bill is about recognising days that are unique to us as New Zealanders. We recognise other public holidays and Mondayise them so really we should be doing this for days that are important and unique to us. 
Many of the reasons that members ought to support this bill have been outlined in the previous weeks by many speakers. This bill is a good deal for workers and businesses alike. The reality is that people no longer work a 9 till 5 day or a Monday to Friday job. It has been that way for quite some time so it is reassuring to us to see that proposed legislation that reflects this reality is being progressed through the House. The majority of businesses according to the Mind Your Own Business survey indicate that they are either unfazed by or quite receptive to the intent of this bill. The bottom line is that long weekends usually bring about far more domestic tourists than there are on other days. We know that urban dwellers will often head on short journeys into provincial New Zealand and of course inject some much-needed funds into those struggling communities. Likewise rural dwellers will often head into the cities or go to some tourist spot that they previously have not visited. We must applaud that and in this way the bill is very good for businesses and particularly for those in the tourism sector. I know that I have actually been down to the Chateau at odd times on a long weekend and it is not often that I go down into the snow. 
In New Zealand First we firmly believe that public holidays are very important to us as New Zealanders and as a country. They help define who we are where we are from and all of the traditions that we value collectively. They are very important dates on which we commemorate the numerous aspects that bind us all together and make us New Zealanders. Our public holidays are times to be sociable. They are times to spend with family and friends and quite often we have not got that sort of time. Whether we are hearing about old war stories and looking at old war medals of elderly relatives or we are learning of the iwi and the dignitaries at the signing of the Treaty Anzac Day and Waitangi Day are now times of reflection. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
BARBARA STEWART 
: As I was saying prior to the dinner break New Zealand First supports the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill. It seeks to Mondayise both Waitangi Day and Anzac Day which basically means that if Waitangi Day or Anzac Day fall on a Saturday or Sunday the holiday is actually held on the Monday. We know that twice in every 7 years Kiwis do not get 11 statutory holidays but 9 due to the way that both Waitangi Day and Anzac Day fall at the weekend. The report from the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee as I was saying prior to the dinner break found that small to medium sized businesses actually support or are neutral to the planned Mondayisation. We are aware that businesses in the tourism sector are actually embracing this proposal because they know that many people will be travelling to other destinations when there is a holiday on the Monday. So they are definitely in support of Mondayisation. That is a great flow-on effect for those small communities often in rural New Zealand that are focused on tourism. 
As it currently stands New Zealand First believes that Waitangi Day and Anzac Day are given a second-class status among our list of public holidays particularly when they fall on the Saturday or the Sunday. This inconsistency across public holidays can be problematic and it is quite confusing for families employers and employees alike. We need to ensure that all public holidays are treated in the same way. They need to be consistent. We want our special days to be the same as Christmas Day Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. It is important. 
This member’s bill is a very very good one and we are pleased to see it come to the House. It is timely that this issue is actually addressed. It is not something that will put undue financial pressure on the Government or taxpayers. I was quite interested to read that the Government officials actually admit that their cost statistics are likely to be overestimated. Fancy overestimating the cost to businesses—quite interesting! But this small change—quite a large one in actual fact I believe Mr Clark—will inevitably benefit families communities and many businesses. It is for this reason that New Zealand First is very pleased to support this bill.