Bayly Andrew: Remuneration Authority (Members of Parliament Remuneration) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBayly Andrew: Remuneration Authority (Members of Parliament Remuneration) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading[Sitting date: 17 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2281. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua): It is a pleasure to be asked to speak on the Remuneration Authority (Members of Parliament Remuneration Amendment) Bill. We are of course living in difficult international times and although we here in New Zealand are lucky to be enjoying the success of what this Government has achieved over the last 6½ years we need to be cognisant of what is happening. This bill is about being reasonable fair and equitable. It is about providing leadership and taking a stand which affects all 121 members of this House. It is rightly so that all MPs should be concerned about the level of their remuneration at a time when we as a country are looking and trying to be fiscally prudent.I believe that the Prime Minister took an important and courageous stance on this matter on 2 March when he said that it was important that we MPs should show restraint. This is a Government living within its means. A 3.56 percent increase was inappropriate when inflation is at 0.8 percent and expected to decline to zero percent by the end of this financial year. Tying our salary increases to the public sector is the right thing to do especially as a number of significant industries within the public sector are currently about to embark on their annual pay round discussions. It would be wrong for us to accept the 3.56 percent increase and yet see these important public servants—such as our teachers nurses and police—receive increases below what we have accepted.Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting two schools in my electorate namely Clevedon School and KingsGate School. I saw firsthand what a wonderful job these teachers are doing at these schools—the dedication and the care that they show towards their students both at an academic level but also at a personal level—in trying to create great new citizens for New Zealand. They are all professional people with great skills and training and are entitled to their remuneration. The same goes for those in our nursing and other medical professions who are just as diligent at looking after our sick and infirm.On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the dedication of a new ambulance at the St John’s Centre in Pukekohe. The ambulance was a gift from Malcolm and Shirley Fletcher to the people of Franklin. These two people have already given a previous ambulance so this is their second gift. It shows what great citizens they are and the caring and generous spirit they have.When we look at our remuneration structure we were right in overturning our increase. The bill provides that the Remuneration Authority must fix the salaries of MPs so that the salaries the superannuation component and the personal benefits are in a combined sense fixed or move up in line with the average ordinary-time weekly earnings for fulltime-equivalent employees in the public sector as shown by the quarterly employment survey. In using the quarterly employment survey it means that the remuneration of members of Parliament will increase with the average earnings in the public sector. Currently the Remuneration Authority Act 1977 requires the authority to make determinations for each position within its jurisdiction at least every 3 years but the amendment will mean that this will occur annually in respect of the salary component.In summary we are here to legislate under urgency firstly to change the criterion for the Remuneration Authority Act to take away the authority’s discretion on MPs’ pay increases; secondly to make the sole new criterion the average of the public sector pay increase for the previous year as the total compensation; and thirdly to backdate the legislation to 1 July 2014. I think that bringing about this change under urgency is right especially when I think about some of the people living in my electorate who expect a hard-working MP to do their bit as a public servant. Receiving a salary rate above the quarterly employment survey does not align with these ideals. I commend this bill to the House.