Blumsky Mark: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Paid Parental Leave for Self-Employed Persons) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Blumsky Mark: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Paid Parental Leave for Self-Employed Persons) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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MARK BLUMSKY (National) 
: 
 The Hon Mark Gosche asked why the National Party was taking the opportunity to delay the bill—which actually does not come into force until 1 July anyway as he would know if he read his papers. I tell him that we want to take this opportunity to speak tonight because it is a chance to remind that member in particular of some comments made by the Hon Dr Michael Cullen in his first reading speech on the bill. To quote directly from  
Hansard 
: “let me simply say that of course it has been the intention since paid parental leave was first introduced to extend it to self-employed people. It was recognised from the beginning that actually the most difficult part of paid parental leave is not so much how to define who is self-employed but how to define relevant earnings … But clearly in terms of the original provision within the legislation there was a recognised inequity—that not to include self-employed people was a hole. An undertaking was given right from the beginning that that hole would be filled at a reasonably early opportunity.” I suggest to Dr Cullen— 
Lindsay Tisch 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chairperson. I am sorry to interrupt my colleague but a dialogue is going on between two gentlemen who are yelling across the Chamber which is completely unacceptable. My colleague is articulating a very important part of the debate which National is supporting and the interruptions and noise in the background are not helpful. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: The members will desist from calling across the Chamber. It is very distracting. 
MARK BLUMSKY 
: I find it quite ironic that the members were having that debate while I was quoting the Hon Dr Michael Cullen’s words back to them. I thought they would have given his words more respect. 
Darren Hughes 
: We heard it the first time. 
MARK BLUMSKY 
: Well I wanted to take the opportunity to quote the Hon Dr Michael Cullen because it was missed in the process that an undertaking was given right from the beginning that the hole would be filled at a “reasonably early opportunity”. That early opportunity has taken 4 years to come. It is a tragedy that Dr Michael Cullen believes that a reasonably early opportunity has a time frame of 4 years. I say to Business New Zealand that if Dr Cullen believes an early opportunity takes 4 years to come it might imagine how long it will be before it gets any tax relief which Ministers Dunne and Cullen are working on. I was not on the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee as my honourable colleagues were. But I have found it fascinating while sitting here and listening to the debate that the Minister has taken the opportunity on numerous occasions to suggest that National did not support the intent of the bill. I have to suggest to the Minister that that is incredibly mischievous. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: That’s not what I said. 
MARK BLUMSKY 
: Madam Chairperson the Minister has already had a warning. I ask you— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: The Minister must not talk into the microphone. 
MARK BLUMSKY 
: That was the second time. I was taking the line that the Minister has been incredibly mischievous and such behaviour is not becoming of a Minister in the New Zealand Government. We support the idea of supporting those who are new parents. We had a difference with the Government that related to how parents will be supported. Labour’s choice was to apply the benefit; ours was to use the taxation system. We lost that one so we have moved on; we understand the game and we very much support the intent of the bill. The only issue that I feel is sad in respect of this process is that there are very entrepreneurial self-employed people who have pride—who have set up a business and developed it and have won a lot of kudos for doing that—whom to some extent we are putting on a benefit. That is sad because if Labour had used the taxation system there might have been a process that it could have bought into a lot easier. 
To finish I again take the opportunity to say that it is fantastic that the Labour-led Government—with New Zealand First and United Future—is supporting those who are self-employed. It is not a position I have seen those parties take very often during my time and it is wonderful that they have understood the importance of those people.