Fenton Darien: General Debate 
Fenton Darien: General Debate 
[Volume:640;Page:10485] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 One of the funniest cartoons I have seen recently is this cartoon in a Hawke’s Bay newspaper today which shows the National Party leader John Key bouncing from cloud to cloud—except this time he has wings and a wand—saying: “A wave of my magic wand and the underclass will become the upper class the gangs will become the social workers and all Kiwis will come together to hold hands and rejoice together on Waitangi Day.” 
Hon members 
: Ah! 
DARIEN FENTON 
: That is what it is about: having a bob each way. I have been keeping an eye on the rest of his caucus and I see Bill English grinding away; that is what he does. He contradicts his leader and that reminds the public that National has not moved from its agenda—its boring hard-line right-wing agenda of the past. 
Judith Collins continues to pick on sickness and welfare beneficiaries. That is nothing new; it is pretty boring really. Paula Bennett and Katherine Rich are so jealous and bitter about Labour’s 20 free hours early childhood education policy because they really wish that National had thought of it. Parents are telling them that that is a great policy. Indeed it is good for parents and it is good for children. So National has really messed that up as many of their caucus members are doing. 
Then there are the very confused messages about KiwiSaver that the National Party is putting about. This bold move from the Labour-led Government has left National bereft. It just did not see it coming. KiwiSaver is receiving wide support from business and from the community and that has left National in another pickle. Mr Key says National will keep KiwiSaver. Mr English says that maybe it will not. I say to “Mr and Mr In-between” they should make up their minds. New Zealanders of all ages think the enhanced KiwiSaver is great and they are signing up in droves. For thousands of workers it is the first time they have ever been able to consider workplace superannuation and they are delighted. 
I have been keeping a deft eye on National’s employment relations area and that will not surprise anyone. National is trying to pretend it has gone all soft and that it quite likes workers and thinks unions are OK but it is not doing a very good job. I have to say that Murray McCully’s opportunistic attack on Ross Wilson’s appointment to the board of the Accident Compensation Corporation is a disgrace. Ross Wilson has served the working people of this country for decades and his credentials in and knowledge of accident compensation are impeccable. He is the right person for the job but it just goes to show that anybody with “union” attached to his or her name has to be opposed by the National Party. It has not changed. 
I have been listening carefully to Kate Wilkinson’s pronouncements about employment relations and they have been very interesting. I know she is a rookie but to be honest I cannot see any difference between the things she says and National’s 2005 policy—on which it lost the election. The workers did not support it. National says it will refine the Employment Relations Act to create the right balance between the rights of employees and the rights of employers. It says it will ensure equal bargaining powers for employers and employees. That is the same old National Party line. What would “the right balance” mean to the workers who are locked out by Spotless Services right now? Would National give that employer even more power that it has now? What would it mean to the thousands of workers who rely on the minimum wage increases that this Government has provided? Those workers have no power at all. 
Kate Wilkinson says that unions have a role in representing the views of employees should they choose to be represented. That is nice of her—if somewhat patronising given that freedom of association and the rights to collective bargaining are fundamental human rights. The National Party needs to learn that. Wayne Mapp’s probation periods are still alive in terms of National’s approach to employment relations. Ms Wilkinson says that is a useful thing for hiring older workers young people or immigrants. In other words let us have fewer rights for people whom the National Party consider are completely hopeless. That is the same old National Party line. 
National is sticking to its dogmatic determination to change our world-leading easy-to-access and affordable accident compensation system. It wants to put the money into the hands of big business have workplace accidents dominated by profit incentives and make ordinary New Zealanders pay for that. That is the same old National Party line. Kate Wilkinson has repeated National’s opposition to anything interfering in commercial relationships. I remember the National Party’s rhetoric in the 1990s—that an employment relationship is no different from a commercial relationship and as such workers should not have any special rights. So we are hearing the same thing over again from the same old National Party. Workers who fought hard for the 2006 amendments for vulnerable workers will have heard National say that it is not persuaded that those amendments should stay in place. Working people will not be fooled by Mr Key floating on soft fluffy clouds or by his caucus. Those people know that the only way to keep making gains for themselves and their families is through a Labour-led Government.