Stanford EricaERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays): Thank you Madam Chair. I want to return to where we left off last week and specifically in relation to clause 115 Topics that bargaining sides must discuss". I asked a question last week and didn't get an answer at all. We were cut off as the Rt Hon Trevor Mallard was about to give his valedictory so we didn't get an answer to this question. But I want to expand on it and talk about it in relation to clause 115 about topics that must be discussed.The issue that I raised that hasn't been answered is around migrant workers. Migrant workers currently are required for the most part—there are some exceptions—to be paid the median rate which in February next year will be $29.66. So my overall question last week to the Minister was: how does this affect the bargaining? We've asked this question at the select committee and we didn't get an answer. I asked it again last week and we didn't get an answer. It would be good to hear from the Minister how he expects that when bargaining is under way for a base minimum rate for a particular job in a particular sector the migrant rate of $29.66 will be taken into account and whether it will affect the bargaining. As you can imagine if you've got a Kiwi worker standing next to a migrant worker the Kiwi worker may be earning $23 or $24 and the migrant worker's earning almost $30 an hour how will that affect bargaining? Because you can imagine if you're sitting around a bargaining table and there are a whole bunch of migrant workers being paid the median rate and Kiwi workers are being paid significantly less you can imagine that that would have a significant impact on the bargaining because the unions and people who are party to the negotiating on the employee side would want that taken into account. Nowhere in this bill and nowhere in any of the discussions at select committee have we talked about this or worked out how it's going to be accounted for. It's not included in clause 115 about topics that must be discussed so we're not required to talk about people on higher rates doing the same job. So I presume that it will just be something that comes up in conversation. And I guess that following on from that the next question is—and this is not impossible—that a fair pay agreement takes all these things into account under clause 115 and it comes up with a base minimum rate that is higher than the migrant rate of $29.66. It's possible. The Minister might say that it's unlikely but it's certainly possible that that minimum rate may be negotiated at a higher rate. So my question to the Minister then is: what happens to the migrant rate? Are they bound by Immigration instructions which require them to be paid the median wage at least and it is that going to be fine or will they then be pushed up to the new minimum rate? That's a second question. So the first question is around how migrant wages the minimum rate—in effect it is a minimum base rate for migrants—will be compared to Kiwis in these negotiations. And the second part is: what if a fair pay agreement is negotiated at a higher rate than what the migrant is required to be paid?My next question is around a clause we haven't discussed yet clause 119 similarly in relation to migrant workers because this could possibly come up. So clause 119(3) states "If a fair pay agreement provides a minimum base wage rate that is higher than the minimum wage payable under the Minimum Wage Act 1983 the Acts listed in subsection (1)"—which are the Holidays Act 2003 the Minimum Wage Act 1983 and the Wages Protection Act 1983—"apply as if the minimum base wage rate provided under the fair pay agreement were the minimum wage provided under the Minimum Wage Act 1983." That's a mouthful but the Minister knows what that means. My question is: what happens to the migrant worker who is on a different rate than what is negotiated in the FPA? So the FPA negotiates a rate that is say $24 an hour. The migrant worker is required to be paid $29.66. So does the FPA kick in and does clause 119(3) apply to the migrant worker and do those Acts listed reflect that median rate for that migrant worker or does it revert to the FPA so all of those Acts would assume that the FPA rate is the rate that the migrant worker is working under.So it's quite complicated. I know the Minister will understand it and hopefully he can give me an answer on each of those three individual parts."