Clark David: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Clark David: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 25 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:3919. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora koutou and kia ora to that member Te Ururoa Flavell. I want to take members’ memories back to earlier this year when we enjoyed fine weather across the country on both Waitangi Day and Anzac Day. We had record crowds around the country commemorating those events and people spending time with their families friends and loved ones. But the year before last and last year people missed out on their full complement of holidays. This year by contrast we had increased commemorations and increased celebrations. I am looking forward to this bill the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill passing through the House so that hard-working Kiwis can get the holidays they deserve every year not just in 5 years out of 7. 
I want to acknowledge again at this point the contribution of Grant Robertson who originally drafted this bill. His astuteness needs to be put on the record. I have been proud to sponsor this bill because it is a good bill. It is a bill that is about a fair deal for Kiwi families. There are 11 public holidays in the Holidays Act and we deserve all 11. This bill makes sure we get them all. The growing significance of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day to our sense of history and identity as New Zealanders means that they deserve full recognition—full recognition in the same way that other holidays get full recognition. 
I want to take a minute just to contemplate what we have heard from the other side of the House in this debate. The strongest argument perhaps if we could call it that has been put forward by David Bennett who announced that we should not fix this problem because it does not happen again for a while. I want to suggest that that is akin to not fixing the roof because it is not raining. The problem is here in front of us. We have the opportunity to fix it and we should get on with it. The only other argument I have heard put forward by the members opposite outside this Chamber is that it somehow demeans the day. That is rubbish. We know that they Mondayise Anzac Day and their national day in Australia and attendances at both events have gone up. In 2010 when Christmas was celebrated on a weekend no one thought the celebration should be put off. They celebrated it on 25 December and the celebration was no less sincere because the day fell on a weekend and because they got an extra holiday and some time with their families on the day after Boxing Day. 
It is interesting that today Mind Your Own Business released the results of a survey it conducted last year when it asked its members—businesses—what they thought of the proposal to Mondayise and 50 percent of small to medium-sized enterprise business owners said they supported the idea of Mondayising public holidays that fall on a weekend. Just 13 percent opposed the policy. So 87 percent of small-business owners felt that it was either neutral or a beneficial thing and that is because good business owners tend to take a positive view of policies that support their employees. 
Hon Member 
: That’s right; they do. 
Dr DAVID CLARK 
: That is right and I am quoting from the press release here: “the majority of business owners believe that the benefits to their employees—in having time off to spend with friends and family—and the productivity gains that come from a positive work life balance are worth investing in.” The Labour Party agrees with that view. 
There are benefits we have heard as well for domestic tourism. As chief executive Martin Snedden highlighted yesterday $36 million accrues to the economy with each of these holidays and the Minister of Tourism John Key has to stand up to that industry and explain why he does not think they should get that benefit. It seems more and more that the National Government is getting offside not only with workers by stealing their holidays from them but also with employer groups. 
The most important thing though that this legislation does is give hard-working Kiwis a little more time with their families. Kiwis work amongst the longest hours in the OECD. They work 1 or 2 hours extra every week more than their Australian counterparts and they get paid less. We know that there is a correlation between productivity and countries that value their workforces. There are benefits to the economy of having well-educated well-rested and productive workers. 
I want to thank the parties around the Parliament for their support for this bill: my Labour colleagues of course the Greens New Zealand First the Maori Party United Future and Mana. These parties have heard the voice of New Zealanders unlike the party of Grinches opposite us. My bill corrects an anomaly. It offers the full recognition to Waitangi Day and Anzac Day that they deserve and it ensures hard-working Kiwis get the holidays they deserve every year.