Robertson Grant: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Robertson Grant: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 27 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:9009. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take a call in the Committee stage of the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill. David Bennett the member who has just resumed his seat has delusions of grandeur. I think he might think he is Simon Crean or someone like that. I am not sure whether there is a comparison for Mr Bennett in either the Australian Labor Party caucus or indeed any other caucus whatsoever. He is a unique contributor to our House. 
I wanted to pick up just one of the points that was made by Mr Bennett around when this bill is going to actually make a practical difference and it is quite confusing listening to National Party members on this bill. It is either a bill that will destroy the fabric of our society as we know it or a bill that is going to have no impact whatsoever so why are we bothering and both arguments are being run at the moment by the National Party. In fact I think David Bennett may even have run both arguments during that speech—actually possibly even in the same sentence. So I think we just need to clarify a few matters for the National Party on that point. 
It is true that the next time this bill will have an effect is 2015 so that gives us plenty of time to get ourselves prepared for that to occur. The Labour Party in Government in 2015 assisted by others perhaps in the House will celebrate the fact that when we come to 2015 this bill will come into force. Then it will have an effect in 2016 and then in 2021. So Mr Bennett can rest easy in his bed in Hamilton knowing that this bill will have an effect in those periods. 
The couple of points I just wanted to raise in this call are firstly a specific point which is around the issue that has been raised from time to time about the cost of this legislation and the cost of this legislation to businesses. The reason I want to raise it is that early on in this debate the Prime Minister got himself very exercised and excited about the potential cost of this bill to businesses and in the end the figures he was using sort of fell apart on him and were largely discredited. But I know that the Government is particularly attracted to the numbers that it gets provided by David Farrar. The numbers that David Farrar provides to the National Party are things that they take seriously so I think we should note that he has done the calculation. 
Hon Member 
: They pay for them. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: They do pay for those numbers—that is right. But the calculation he has done on this bill is that it would if passed add 0.12 percent to the wage bill of a company—0.12 percent. It is not a massive task. 
It is interesting to note in the National Party’s polls that David Farrar actually supports this bill along with I suspect a large number of other National Party MPs. That is the really sad thing today. This House will I hope at the end of this Committee stage pass this bill through and it will go then to the third reading. That will happen because a coalition of parties in this Chamber has come together around a sensible idea an idea that is not actually— 
Louise Upston 
: It’s called a motley crew. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: A motley crew says Louise Upston channelling her 1980s hair metal band. But you know we will not go into the history of hair metal bands. I would not want to offend the Chair in that regard either. What we do know is that the coalition of parties other than the National Party and the ACT Party in this House is supporting this bill because it is a sensible bill. It is a bill that says we recognise the importance of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day to New Zealanders. We say that those days deserve full recognition. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Oh! 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Mr Auchinvole is concerned about that but when we look at Australia the evidence is that attendance at Anzac Day ceremonies increased when this law was put in place in the states that have it and that is because it provides people with a focus around the period where it is a weekend where they can ensure that they have their time off. 
The other point to note is of course that Anzac Day is in fact a holiday during the week and people do not suddenly disavow themselves of commemorating people because it is a holiday during the week. All this bill does is say that if Anzac Day falls on a weekend New Zealanders will get the holidays that they deserve in the Holidays Act. It is by no means in any way an assault on Anzac Day. It is in fact a way of ensuring that New Zealanders can fully commemorate two very important days and have time with their families. It is an excellent bill.