O'Rourke Denis: Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
O'Rourke Denis: Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 21 March 2012. Volume:678;Page:1200. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DENIS O’ROURKE (NZ First) 
: 
 I am sure that the member’s motives with the Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill are honourable and that his objectives which I perceive as to ensure democracy in unions voting to strike or not to strike are genuine. But if so I am not convinced that the bill will assist that and indeed the reverse may well be the case. 
New Zealand First would wish to be even-handed in these matters not necessarily wishing to promote the interests of either the unions or the employers and their organisations. However New Zealand First will oppose the bill in its entirety simply because we are not quite sure notwithstanding what the member has said— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: It doesn’t surprise me. In the pocket of the Labour Party. 
DENIS O’ROURKE 
: —and what he is saying now what the problem is to fix and indeed how this bill would fix it. Our conclusion is that the bill is deeply flawed in concept and in purpose. 
When you think about the bill and the way it goes about whatever its objective is you need to consider what the interests of democracy require first of all when voting needs to be in secret such as in parliamentary elections and second when voting should not be secret such as in Parliament itself. In this case union members are voting as a group on a decision to strike—something that affects them all and that they do as a group in a collegial sort of way. Because it is not a private decision unlike a vote in a parliamentary election and because it is a group decision this requires collegiality. It requires group discussion in which it is proper and constructive for members to know why and whether another member is voting one way or the other. I think that is actually a very constructive thing to happen. There is no need for secrecy in that kind of situation. In fact the reverse is the case; it is better if it is not secret. That is better for democracy; that is better for group action. 
No reason is given by the member or by any member opposite why a secret ballot is necessary for a democratic decision to strike. The Transport and Industrial Relations Committee report simply refers to the consistency with the principal Act. That is hardly a reason and certainly not one that New Zealand First would recognise as such. 
It is not necessarily always in the interests of democracy for voting to be secret especially in private and voluntary organisations where secret ballots can lead to vote fixing and auditing is impracticable. Moreover it is not the business of the Government to dictate the manner in which private and voluntary organisations should conduct their internal affairs. This is not yet a police State notwithstanding National’s steps towards it. Otherwise would this Government not require secret ballots for boards of directors and shareholder meetings in private companies? What another member said is quite correct: what is good for the goose is good for the gander. But here we see not an even-handed approach; here we see a prejudicial one. A democratic society requires that unions be free like all other private and voluntary organisations to run their own affairs to allow their members to make their own rules of governance not Big Brother and not some tyrannical Government. 
In summary first there is no need for secret ballots for a democratically run organisation where group or collegial decision-making is needed. Secondly a decision whether or not to make ballots secret belongs to the members of the organisation and not to those members opposite and not to any Government in this country. That is a private matter. It is not a Government matter. If the National Party thinks it should be making decisions on behalf of private organisations in this country it had better look back to its principles because as far as I can see it is not following them. Thirdly the principles that are applicable in the case of union members’ voting methods are these: freedom of members to make their own rules; voluntary membership which we certainly agree with; collegiality in decision making and voting; collective responsibility; and openness and transparency as between the members voting. None of those principles are reflected in this bill. The bill will achieve next to nothing except another step in excessive government and excessive regulation—something that I thought this Government was opposed to but sadly it is not. New Zealand First will certainly oppose this bill and every part of it. 
The question was put that the following amendment in the name of Darien Fenton be agreed to: 
to insert the following new clause after clause 4: 
5AWhen society entitled to be registered as union 
Section 14(1) is amended by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (d): 
“(e)the society’s rules include a requirement that a secret ballot of its members who are employed by the same or different employers (as the case may be) and who would become a party to the strike be held before any strike is undertaken.”