Stewart Barbara: Minimum Wage (Starting-out Wage) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Stewart Barbara: Minimum Wage (Starting-out Wage) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8588. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 On behalf of New Zealand First I rise to speak to the Minimum Wage (Starting-out Wage) Amendment Bill. New Zealand First opposes this bill. We oppose it on the grounds that it is an attack against young vulnerable workers who are just starting out on their working careers. Young workers who want to be independent and self-sufficient often move away from home and they have very high ideals and hopes. But with this legislation keeping them right down there on the poverty line they just cannot afford to have this hope or any future plans. 
We at New Zealand First ask the National members where the demand is for this change. To date we have heard absolutely nothing from the other side that will help change our minds or ensure that we know why there is going to be this change. Who out there apart from National and ACT really wants to rob young workers of an extra 20 percent of their wages? The fact of the matter is that there is no real demand for this change. Youth rates were done away with in the 1990s and as we have heard employers are not entirely ecstatic over this change either. 
With this bill the Government is taking another step towards a low-wage economy—something that we want to move away from. Hard-working Kiwis have faced numerous attacks from this Government. It has sold out workers to foreign corporations it sells off the assets it changes the labour laws to suit its ideology and now it has mounted an attack on young working New Zealanders. It taxes all fringe benefits—looking for money everywhere—and now we have got young people. Is this truly a part of the Government’s plan to catch up with Australia? This bill is creating a further disincentive for young workers. Is it the way to get ahead? No. Is it the way to bridge the gap between our two countries and entice our young people to stay here and work? Definitely not. 
 Jobs are generated by economic activity and the reality is that that is not happening here in New Zealand. The National Party and ACT like to talk about bludgers and laziness and people doing nothing. Mr Banks was talking about paying $4.50 an hour to people who are on the dole for doing nothing but the bottom line is that he has created this situation of no employment and it needs to be sorted out and pretty promptly too. 
They like to talk about welfare dependence and people relying on the State. Our young workers— 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: Brendan Horan is not that bad. 
BARBARA STEWART 
: We are not talking about Brendan Horan here. Young workers are not bludgers and I would say that the Minister the Hon Simon Bridges would say that they are not bludgers. They are not out milking the system; they are industrious young Kiwis and they are trying to get ahead. They are young people trying to get a foothold in the working world which is not easy in today’s world of fewer and fewer permanent career jobs. Learning life’s lessons and learning what money is all about and what it buys is what every young person wants to do. 
What is this piece of legislation? A slap in the face for young workers. It is an affront to their dignity. Cheap labour is not the silver bullet that is desperately needed. It will not help young people to be independent and keep a job and get a job. We know in New Zealand First that this is going to do absolutely little to nothing to encourage economic growth which is what we want as well as the creation of more jobs. We are not alone with this particular viewpoint. The Salvation Army too rejected suggestions that this bill will support more young people into employment. So if it does not believe it we definitely do not either. It also rejects the viewpoint that this bill will provide more incentives for employers to take on younger workers. On this occasion we agree with it. 
It is our belief in New Zealand First and on this side of the House I would say that irrespective of age anyone who turns up and puts in the hard work deserves a decent wage. It is the Kiwi way. Here in New Zealand we were a country that was founded on egalitarian principles. From the very beginning New Zealanders recognised talent. They recognised good ideas and hard work irrespective of where it came from. In New Zealand First we believe in giving credit too where credit is due. We believe in rewarding the hard-working the industrious and the innovative and we believe totally in encouraging New Zealanders into their first jobs. Where are the jobs? This bill is not creating them. They are getting harder and harder to find. 
Throughout New Zealand the National Government has been out trying to woo mums and dads. It has been telling them that it understands how to sort out the Government’s books because after all it comes from a business background—it understands business. But although it might understand business this bill shows it does not understand people. It shows that National basically does not care about people’s kids. It shows them that it is nasty and mean. National is not providing the brighter future that everybody wanted to believe was coming. We all started off very optimistic looking for this brighter future but it is not here. 
Le’aufa’amulia 
 Asenati Lole-Taylor 
: Where is it? 
BARBARA STEWART 
: Gone—gone. 
The reality is that mums and dads do not want to be paying their kids——the 16 17 and 18-year-olds—extra money to top up their wages. They cannot afford to pay the extra money. People are poor out there. Groceries are going up power is going up petrol is on the rise all the time and they want them to be independent and able to support themselves and I know that Mr Macindoe agrees with me there totally. They want their kids to be getting after-school jobs. They want them to be having jobs in the weekend and in the holidays. It is what has always happened. We have always had weekend jobs and holiday jobs. They expect them to be learning how to pay their own way—slowly but surely. In this way this bill is merely an attack on young workers. It is also an attack on the entire family unit. The bill does nothing to instil young Kiwis with confidence for the future. What it does is denigrate them as having the status of second-class workers. What it does is play off 20 to 24-year-olds against 16 to 19-year-olds. What it does is get parents—all those infamous “mum and dad” Kiwis—questioning the brighter future that was promised by the National Government. 
New Zealand First is firmly opposed to this piece of legislation. It will not support young people entering the workforce in this way. It is an absolute affront to young industrious New Zealanders. It is discriminatory and unfair. It runs contrary to the Kiwi notion of giving everyone a fair go and a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. We need a real plan to get the economy going again and this is not that plan. On these grounds we are proud to oppose this piece of legislation.