Sowry Roger: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Sowry Roger: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:618;Page:13854] 
11.  
Hon ROGER SOWRY (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Tourism 
: Does he stand by his comment that surcharges charged by hospitality operators on public holidays are “short-sighted” and send the wrong message to tourists; if so what advice has he offered to the Minister of Labour on this issue? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Leader of the House) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Tourism 
: Yes. The Minister of Labour does not need the advice of the Minister of Tourism on that matter. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: Did the Minister raise those concerns with the Minister of Labour when the Holidays Bill was being considered by Cabinet or afterwards when it was in front of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee given the fact that the hospitality industry was warning that it would be forced to raise prices by about 15 percent on public holidays as a result of this Government’s legislation? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No the Minister has clearly stated his support for incorporating any extra costs where they belong in overall charges. 
Hon Mark Gosche 
: What other reports has the Minister received on the use of surcharges in the tourism industry? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN:  
Consistent with my own advice the chief executive of the Tourism Industry Association is reported as saying: “Our advice was for people to average it out and put up prices generally—average out across the year and not make a feast out of it.” 
Peter Brown 
: Noting that answer does the Minister concur that it would be much easier and more straightforward if the industry was allowed to pay people on a composite rate whereby it could easily average the cost out and avoid the surcharge? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The Minister is not responsible for the labour laws. I do note that when penal rates were abolished the charges on public holidays did not go down. 
Deborah Coddington 
: What is the total cost to the hospitality industry of the new Holidays Act provision or has the Minister not bothered to find that out? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I do not have that information in front of me and I doubt whether it is able to be supplied in any precise form. 
Larry Baldock 
: Why does the Minister seem to be so surprised that hospitality operators are imposing surcharges on public holidays when they warned the Government that this would happen in their submissions on the Holidays Bill; and does he think it is better that those businesses charge more and stay open on a holiday rather than close and not only deny workers an opportunity to earn extra money but also give tourists the impression that the country has gone back to the days when it used to close down at the weekend? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: On the latter point that is a very long time ago now in New Zealand. I repeat that when penal rates were abolished the charges on public holidays did not go down so presumably people in the industry were actually averaging the costs out across the year. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: Has the Minister of Tourism read the submissions opposing the changes to the Employment Relations Act from the Tourism Industry Association the Hospitality Association and Shotover Jet which state that the further change to the labour laws will further increase prices; and does he intend that those operators should simply absorb the costs that are being imposed on them by the Government? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: Obviously I am not aware of whether the Minister has actually read that. But I am sure he would have; he is a very well-read Minister. The Minister’s view is that the cost should have been absorbed in terms of increases across the year as it was previously. If the hospitality industry were to vary its charges on an hourly basis according to the actual costs each hour one would never know quite what one would be paying. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: How much does the Minister think prices should go up by to absorb this cost across the whole year? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: Very little given the small number of public holidays in New Zealand.