Moroney Sue: Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Moroney Sue: Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:672;Page:18266] 
SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to rise and speak to the second reading of the Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill with its new sunset provisions. But as much as I am pleased to speak to this bill is it not disappointing? For the last 2 weeks this place has been in what we euphemistically call a recess. During that period of time I have been speaking with people out in the streets and ordinary New Zealanders about what their issues are at the moment. They want to see from members of this Government some sort of plan—any kind of plan—that would show that they have been thinking about what is happening with the economy because it is flatlining. 
Here we are and this is the best the Government can come up with. This is the best it can come up with that represents anything like a plan. It actually extends some provisions the previous Labour Government put in place to ensure that there was competition in the dairy industry. That was a wise move at the time but we were in completely different economic times from those we are in currently. New Zealanders want a plan from that lot over there to actually deliver economic growth but we are debating this legislation instead. I think it is very very disappointing. Although it just allows a situation that was already happening to continue for a small period longer it does not do anything to fundamentally shift or grow the economy. That is what this country needs to do so it is very disappointing. 
I think there is another missed opportunity in this legislation. It is the missed opportunity to think about what else we should be thinking about in this Parliament with regard to the dairy industry and the aspect of competition. I am interested in the fact that the competitors that this bill forces Fonterra to subsidise—their competitors as I think the Green Party quite rightly pointed out—do not have to live by the same rules and regulations with regard to labour standards that Fonterra does. I think that is a very great shame. It is something really positive that this Parliament could be debating. I would look forward to debating a bill that said it does not matter whether a company is Fonterra Open Country Cheese Synlait or whatever if it employs people to process dairy products then decent wages and conditions should go with that employment. We do not have that legislation in this country. 
That issue was the subject of a very lengthy and bitter dispute in the Waikato in the small village community of Waharoa in fact just last year. The Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson is sitting over there and she knows that that dispute was caused by industrial legislation that means it is OK for Fonterra’s competitors to have substantially lower wage costs than Fonterra agrees to. 
From Government members’ perspectives they do not have a problem at all with low wages being paid in the dairy industry or any other industry for that matter—any other industry. They do not care that there are no good laws in place to make sure that decent wages are paid. They are quite happy. As Bill English said they see it as a competitive advantage in fact that we have wages that are 30 percent lower than Australia’s. If the Government has an economic plan that appears to be about the amount of it. Bill English’s plan is backed up by John Key and I guess the rest of the Cabinet as well. It is a great thing says the National Government to have low wages in this country because that is apparently our point of competition. 
My guess is that on this issue the Government would think it is a great thing that there is competition—that Synlait and Open Country Cheese can significantly undercut Fonterra by paying lower wages to the workforce even though those workers are doing exactly the same jobs they would be doing for Fonterra. But no we have silence from the Government on that issue because those members do not really care about low wages even though they should know if they are doing their jobs that ordinary New Zealanders face a week-to-week and day-to-day struggle to make ends meet because wages are standing still—if they are not going backwards. The cost of living is primarily driven as John Key said quite rightly in question time today by that Government’s desire to increase GST on every single food item or any other item people buy. Those are the issues confronting ordinary New Zealanders. There is a lost opportunity on those grounds. 
There is a further lost opportunity to do with milk prices. We know that that is a significant issue— 
Sandra Goudie 
: Oh here we go. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story! 
SUE MORONEY 
: Let me share some facts with that member because she may not have heard them from the people she claims to represent. She should be listening. Ordinary New Zealanders will tell her that the price of milk and other dairy products has skyrocketed under National. This bill will do very little to change that. It will do nothing to change it in fact. New Zealanders have been feeling the squeeze at the checkout as the price of food has increased by 5.5 percent in the last year. Since April 2008 the cost of a litre of Home Brand milk at Foodtown has increased by 20 percent or 37c. With minimal wage increases Kiwis are finding it harder and harder to afford the basics. Families are cutting back on dairy goods and the health of New Zealanders particularly young children will suffer because of high prices for dairy goods. 
Is the Government interested in that issue? It would seem not. Sandra Goudie wants to deny there is even an issue out there with the price of milk or with the price of anything. We are debating a bill about restructuring the dairy industry. Does it go near that issue at all? No way. 
Sandra Goudie 
: Done your homework? 
SUE MORONEY 
: I ask Sandra Goudie whether she has done her homework. I think she should look at the cost of living statistics that came out recently which show how high the cost of food has gone in this country. That member should think about what is happening to people’s wages. 
Sandra Goudie 
: Why didn’t she think about that when she had the opportunity to make a difference when in Government? She did and it failed. 
SUE MORONEY 
: Here we go. Sandra Goudie has forgotten about the minimum wage increasing every single year under the Labour Government. She has conveniently forgotten that wage increases happened regularly for workers across all industries under the Labour Government. She has forgotten that the lowest unemployment in the OECD was achieved by Labour when it was in Government. I tell that member to contrast that to what is happening under National. It does not even rate a comparison. 
I challenge that member and all of the members opposite to go out talk to ordinary people and ask them one question. It is a simple question that does not take long: “Do you feel better off?”. I challenge every single member of National to go out and ask people on the street that question. I can tell those members that the answer to that question is no they do not. They feel worse off under this Government. They feel worse off because they are actually worse off under this Government. This Government put up GST and it put up prices on every single thing that people buy. It has done nothing to create growth which would lift people’s wages. It has done nothing to reduce unemployment which would create jobs and incomes for families as well. 
We are debating the Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill. It is an interesting little bill but it will do nothing to improve economic performance. Is that not the hallmark of this Government? The bill will do nothing to reduce unemployment. Is that not the hallmark of this Government? It will do nothing to resolve price increases for ordinary families. Is that not also the hallmark of that Government?