Key John: Holidays Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Key John: Holidays Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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JOHN KEY (National—Helensville) 
: 
 Firstly I congratulate you Mr Chairperson on giving my colleague the Hon Roger Sowry additional time for his contribution. It was a wonderful contribution from a member who understands this legislation. I could see outrage on Government members’ faces when they finally realised what tragically they were trying to pass through the Committee tonight. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: And fear! 
JOHN KEY 
: Yes and fear. I wish to raise four elements in this debate in no particular order. The first is the contribution made by Mr Locke of the Green Party. He made a very interesting observation in his 5-minute address. He said exactly what Labour Party members on the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee said: “It doesn’t matter whether employees take a day off on a Monday because they have only 5 days so how bad can it get if they take five Mondays off?”. Following on from that statement he came out with quite an extraordinary statement actually when he said: “It doesn’t matter if they get a disease that affects them on a Monday every Monday. It will be OK because it’s not that big a deal.” 
Of course Mr Locke did not have the opportunity to sit on the select committee and to hear when that issue was raised that it was quite correctly pointed out—I think by Mr Sowry and maybe by others—that employees will bank holidays and carry them forward and that they may not use those sick days until they are in a period where they may be finally leaving the company so they will lose their holidays and sick pay and take those days as sick days every Monday instead. My first point therefore is that I think Mr Locke’s comment about the 5 days is a bit erroneous. 
The second point I wish to raise is that in some respects this bill is a bit of an Italian opera. It is a real tragedy is it not? It is a tragedy because United Future members will vote for this legislation tonight because they believe it is right and because they think the Government really supports it. What a tragedy that is. They believe the Government really supports the legislation. 
The Government does not support it at all. We sat on that select committee and employer after employer said: “You can’t possibly have 3 days before you require a medical certificate. You’ve got to have it for 1 day if it is required.” But the Government said that no employee will abuse the system: “It does not matter whether it is 5 days or 4 days but 3 days is just us being generous. It doesn’t matter.” The Government does not believe in this legislation. 
There is only one reason and one reason alone why this legislation is going through the Committee tonight and that is quite an unrelated issue. It is all to do with a speech given by the Leader of the Opposition Don Brash in Orewa in January this year. That is why this legislation is going through—and the Minister has looked up now and his eyes are looking over at me. He is very interested in this point which is a very valid point indeed. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Part 2. 
JOHN KEY 
: The reason why Part 2 of this legislation is going through the Committee is because in April this year the Government was looking down the barrel of some very poor poll results. It was entering its second winter of discontent and the polls said that it had to move. I say to Mr Chairman who is asking me to come back to Part 2 that that is a very valid point. The Government had to try to window-dress those issues. So the Government rolled in Paul Swain the business-friendly Minister— 
Simon Power 
: The “Minister of Lunches”! 
JOHN KEY 
: Yes the “Minister of Lunches”. The Government rolled him in and got rid of Margaret Wilson. She was made the “Minister of Nowhere”. The Government said that Paul Swain would provide the softer side. 
I have no doubt that Paul Swain believes in the legislation as does Phil Goff John Tamihere and probably Damien O’Connor and Clayton Cosgrove. And that is it: five of the Government’s 52 members believe in the legislation; the rest of them do not believe in it. 
However United Future members are voting for it. They think the Government agrees with it because the Prime Minister has gone over tickled their tummies and said: “Vote for this! We’re all in favour of it.” However the Government really is not. The legislation is here for one reason and for one reason alone—because of the winter of discontent.