Woodhouse MichaelHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): If there is anything that I've seen that is emblematic of a promise big do nothing" Government it's this piece of legislation. Never actually have I been as disappointed as I am today at the fact that we were passing this legislation under urgency completely unnecessarily to protect what was significant gains for 55000 care and support workers in 2017 that have been nearly entirely snuffed out for reasons that I will explain.For all the crowing actually that Labour and the unions did in 2017 when the TerraNova settlement was finally reached it was a National Government that got there. Indeed the court case that precipitated this settlement—an eye-watering settlement at the time—the Government wasn't even involved in. It was Kristine Bartlett and TerraNova—a private aged-care provider. The Government of the day could have sat on the sidelines with its popcorn out watching with interest what was going to happen to what at the start of that process was a pretty novel claim under the Equal Pay Act 1972 but the Cabinet that I was in decided to act. It decided to do the right thing and it came up with a more than $2 billion settlement of a court case. Credit does have to be given to the unions and to Kristine Bartlett but I was incredibly proud to be part of a Government—in fact one of the Ministers—that was closely involved in the settlement. Obviously as a health issue it was led by the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman with a weather eye on it from the Minister of Finance at the time the Hon Steven Joyce but I was the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety and this had a significant effect on employment relations in this country and in employment law going forward.So I was very very keen to make sure that this was done in a manner that gave effect to the spirit of the pay equity settlement that we were looking for and indeed shortly after that I introduced the pay equity bill that for reasons that still elude me—although I have a suspicion that it simply was because it was a National Government that was doing it—Labour and the Greens went to war with that piece of legislation and threw it out in 2017.Hon Andrew Little: It wasn't pay equity. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Well the Minister can talk big but we're here five years later fixing up his mess. In fact we're not even fixing it up; we're kicking the can down the road for another 18 months because that settlement led to a 21 percent average increase in income for the 55000-odd care and support workers that were eligible for it. A National Government did that. The National Government did the in-between travel payment legislation that the Minister has referenced and thrown crumbs at and it was designed to buy time for the normal bargaining processes between care and support workers their unions and their employers to be resumed. Five years was given; four years and eight months of that time under this Government. As Dr Reti has pointed out and as this skinny departmental disclosure statement discloses they didn't get on to this until a couple of months ago. They were completely asleep at the wheel and detailed discussions with the unions weren't held until 3 May this year—between 3 May and 26 May. It quite glibly says "The unions and employers do not agree with the quantum of the increase to the minimum wage rates to apply from 1 July 2022." Well no wonder—they had five minutes to consider it. They had nearly no time to consider it.The Minister admits in his first reading speech that once we have done this these workers are going to have to start again with a new pay equity claim because the benefits of the TerraNova settlement have completely unravelled. Hon Andrew Little: The member is wrong—could not be more wrong. Totally wrong. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: And I'll explain why. When "Angry Andrew" calms down a bit I'll let him know why I say that. The Prime Minister in question time today was crowing about the fact that this Government in five years has increased wage rates for health workers by 25 percent. What that means is despite the 21 percent increase that care and support workers got in 2017 they're effectively going backwards in real terms relative to other workers in the sector and what does this give them? In an inflationary environment that is approaching and that will soon exceed 7 percent these guys are being offered—not even offered; told they are going to get effectively an annualised increase of 3 percent. It's 4.6 percent until the end of 2023—Andrew Bayly: That's half.Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Less than half inflation Mr Bayly—what a cracking good mathematician he is. So they're going to go back even further and it's no wonder the Minister is saying "Well we're going to have to start pay equity negotiations again because all of the benefits of that very large settlement have now unravelled."It's even more insulting: I have been given information that went to aged-care providers as recently as 9 June that said that the offer made by Health New Zealand to the aged residential care sector for the annual price increase obviously that's going to be not just staffing was 1.2 percent—1.2 percent. So this Government crows about all the money they throw at the health sector this year but the aged residential care sector is being offered 1.2 percent. My colleagues Penny Simmonds Joseph Mooney and I had a Zoom call with aged-care providers in the southern region three or four weeks ago and I must say—I mean I've spent quite a bit of time in the health sector and I've seen a lot of clinical staff get very emotional under pressure in tears. I have never seen managers and owners of facilities in that state but they certainly were in that meeting. They don't know how they're going to survive. They are losing staff they're losing registered nurses—they can't kidnap registered nurses right now. Healthcare assistants are holding the place together and they're being insulted with this offer and told that they can't negotiate. Well that is Muldoonism that is socialism that is "Shut up and be quiet." and that is not what good employment law and employment relations is about. These so-called bastions of the working class are throwing crumbs at this vital workforce and telling them to be quiet for another 18 months. That is a disgrace and it absolutely sticks in the craw for my party to support this bill although we will and we'll do it despite that disappointment anger and frustration and despite another terrible process. Dr Reti was on the select committee that spent 10 days working through the issues that were raised in the Budget night legislation that had its first reading and there were a number of things around the funding provisions leave liability a mediation mechanism whether the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act vet was going to pass. There were some sensible changes to that legislation and we got a meaningful settlement. We're not getting a meaningful anything out of this. This is just a terrible—terrible—process. It's a disgraceful process and as Dr Reti said it's by no means the first time that we've had health bills rushed through—firstly introduced under urgency and then by agreement with the Business Committee through remaining stages—and I absolutely am convinced that it won't be the last. In my second reading contribution I'm going to go through why it's so important to have that process and why I predict that we will be back here before too long either fixing this because of an unforeseen consequence or having to do it again. But here's my prediction: by then we'll have a National-led Government and a Government that actually cares for these workers and doesn't just talk big and do nothing. We will deliver for these workers again."