O'Connor DamienHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture) on behalf of the Minister of Health: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to speak on the Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlements Amendment Bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Would you like to move?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I move that the bill be introduced into the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think what you're—Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I move that the Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlements Amendment Bill be tabled in the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: No be now read a second time".Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I move That the Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlements Amendment Bill be now read a second time.Hon Member: Read the bill mate.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: Sorry I'm trying to chew my Jet Plane! The Government responded to COVID-19 and it is now time that we rebuild our economy. One of the important things that we should do in introducing this bill is firstly make an important amendment to the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 by rightly including mental health and addiction support workers. The bill also corrects a formula within the existing Act and formalises the ongoing payment of care and support worker rates to vocational disability workers employed by Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development. The bill also reinforces the Government's firm commitment to pay equity and lifting wages for this valuable workforce. Improving mental health and addiction outcomes for people living in Aotearoa New Zealand is a top priority for the Government. Paying a fair wage to those who support and help New Zealanders when they are most vulnerable is an important step along the way. We believe all people deserve a fair go which is why we have committed to supporting the historically undervalued workers in this sector. I thank the Health Committee for its consideration of the bill and appreciate the hard work of the members in considering the submissions. Submitters were almost unanimously supportive of the bill. The Health Committee has examined the bill and recommended that it progress mostly unamended but with some minor changes to extend the amendments to mental health and addiction support workers employed by clients who may directly receive their own individualised funding primarily from the Ministry of Health. The committee noted that although these workers and their employers are included in the settlement agreement the definition of "employer" in the principal Act does not currently cover individually funded clients this meaning that under the bill as introduced care workers employed directly by individually funded clients may not consistently receive the pay and conditions they are entitled to under the relevant settlement agreement. To that end the bill as reported back contains two changes which I support. These are firstly the addition of clause 11A to insert new section 9A into the principal Act—this would apply to any client who receives individual funding for mental health or addiction services and who directly employs a care worker to provide these services; it would require them to pay the worker at least the minimum rates mandated in the relevant settlement agreement and the principal Act—and second to amend the Schedule to insert a new clause 2A into Schedule 1 of the principal Act. This would require individually funded clients to provide back-pay to their directly employed workers if they had been paid less than the minimum rates between 1 July 2017 and the date on which this bill is enacted. Both these changes ensure that protections are available for directly employed workers through individualised funding arrangements. I acknowledge the comments of the committee regarding the coverage of the Act for care and support workers engaged through individual funding arrangements. Those workers are not covered in the original settlement agreement. In practice as noted by the committee this is currently managed by the Ministry of Health operationally through funding contracts to ensure that those workers are treated fairly and their conditions are not less than those covered by employers under the Act. Agencies will continue to look at how this can be improved where individualised funding models are used in the delivery of care. In conclusion this bill better recognises the importance of the mental health and addiction support workforce and the value of a highly trained and capable workforce. Those people needing their care and support will benefit. Likewise employers who receive funding to offset the cost of higher wages will have a more stable and capable workforce with increased opportunities to support higher quality care. I commend this bill to the House."