Stewart Barbara: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeStewart Barbara: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 17 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9473. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA STEWART (NZ First): On behalf of New Zealand First I rise to support the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill. New Zealand First is very pleased that this bill has now reached its final stages. We would like to extend our congratulations to Dr David Clark on having achieved a real milestone with this bill. Very few Opposition MPs ever—ever—have one of their bills pass into law from this side of the House. It is a very rare event so we are very pleased. We are pleased too that there is widespread support on this side of the House for the whole bill and we are very happy to share in Dr Clark’s success. We are sure that there is some reluctant support across the other side of the House as well from the National members and I know their speeches have not had any really valid reasons as to why this bill should not be supported.Without a doubt Dr Clark or perhaps even Labour will be on the minds of many Kiwis up and down the country on 25 April 2015 the very first year that is affected by this legislation. Many will not remember or will not even care but they will be grateful for the Mondayisation of Anzac Day. Like the majority of New Zealanders New Zealand First is really pleased to see this bill finally passing into law.As it currently stands we believe that Waitangi Day and Anzac Day have been given second-class status among our public holidays. It is simply not good enough. We have Mondayisation of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and there have been absolutely no problems whatsoever so there should be no problems forthcoming with the Mondayisation of Anzac Day or Waitangi Day. These 2 days stand out amongst our annual holidays in so far as they are applicable to all New Zealanders—each and every one of us. Irrespective of background or creed whether you grew here or flew here these are the 2 days that mark us all as New Zealanders. They are our 2 national days.We have heard right throughout the progression of this bill how much demand there is for the full recognition of these days. Research shows that over 80 percent of New Zealanders and the majority of businesses have welcomed Dr Clark’s proposal in this bill. It makes sense it provides a consistency it is a good deal for workers and for businesses alike and New Zealanders know this. The taxi driver who picked me up from the airport this week said that he cannot wait for this bill to pass into law. People are talking about it. They value the role that holidays have. We know it is realistic to say that New Zealanders do not work from 9 to 5 any more and this bill will help that work-life balance.Both Waitangi Day and Anzac Day will not have their symbolism eroded or their special character taken away by these changes. On 6 February New Zealanders right throughout the country will mark the date of the signing of New Zealand’s founding document. We will reflect on past injustices. We will further reflect on the reconciliation process and look at how we might best move forward as a united country and a united people. Waitangi Day is something that sets New Zealand apart. It is a dayof recognition of the past of hope for the future and of unity. The mere fact that thousands of New Zealanders and expats in London come together on Waitangi Day to commemorate the occasion shows that even Kiwis overseas have got a really strong affinity for this day. How could Mondayisation having an extra day off if Waitangi Day falls on the weekend really pose a problem?The other important day that is affected by this legislation is Anzac Day—another one of our national days. It is a day on which we give thanks to those who paid the ultimate price for protecting the liberties of New Zealanders and others. Next Thursday we commemorate Anzac Day and no doubt every single one of us in this House will attend an Anzac Day service. The Anzac experience brought about a really strong bond between New Zealand and Australia recognising our common heritage our geography and our way of life. An increasing number of people and young people in particular are now attending Anzac Day dawn ceremonies. I know. I always attend my local Dawn Service in my town. They are eager to learn about the history and the symbolism and to share in the sense of camaraderie on Anzac Day. Many of these young New Zealanders proudly wear their great-grandfathers’ medals on their chests pinned to their chests—very proud.It is very interesting to note that the same thing is happening in Australia. People young and old are actively engaged in commemorating their heroes. All of this is despite the fact that in Australia they have already Mondayised Anzac Day with no detrimental effect whatsoever. Kiwis up and down the country knew that they were being robbed by a quirk of the system when they did not get their 11 days of public holidays and we always accepted it as a part of life. This bill is going to remedy this anomaly and streamline how we treat public holidays. On 2 days in every 7 years there will be the extra holiday.The tourism industry supports this bill. They can see only positive outcomes from this change as people will travel to other centres around New Zealand that they previously have not travelled to or never had the time to actually travel to. This bill has the support of workers it has the support of businesses it has the support of tourism and it definitely has the support of New Zealand First. Thank you.