Baillie ChrisCHRIS BAILLIE (ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. I think that's a great example of where this debate has got to. It's become emotive—Marja Lubeck: Factual.CHRIS BAILLIE: —versus fact and I think that's a great example.We come to this place with different experiences. I've been in the workforce for 43 years and I've been an employee for that length of time. I've belonged to unions I've had employment contracts and I've owned a business for the last 12 years. This legislation is a silly piece of legislation. It's a silly name for the bill. It's not fair it's not about pay; it's about everything else—well not only about pay. And it's not an agreement if one party can make a decision.We don't oppose fair pay we actually think the opposite: employees who work hard should be paid really well if they are productive for the business. Good hard-working loyal employees are the ones that are going to suffer from this legislation.And Michael Wood has said that compression—compression—of wages is a good thing. And I think workers need to really understand what that means: if you work hard you're not going to get the reward that you deserve.Jo Luxton: That's rubbish.CHRIS BAILLIE: Absolutely true. Such a backward idea it shows a complete ignorance of what actually happens in businesses around the country. We've heard this rhetoric of a race to the bottom. Here's Retail New Zealand: supermarket grocery workers' average wage $24.82; food beverage cafe workers' average wage $25.92; hardware building garden and pet supplies average wage $28.23. The minimum wage is $21.20. That doesn't include in-store discounts the flexible working hours that the employees want and other stuff that just doesn't make consideration.The bill takes the rights of the worker to plan their own destiny. And even if they don't want any involvement in a fair pay agreement (FPA) they have no choice. And in the retail sector as was mentioned before half a percent of the employees can start an FPA—that 99.5 percent; if they don't want it tough luck.We will see a return to the industrial chaos of the 1970s and 1980s industrial awards an era where the Minister wasn't around I'm sure and lots of his colleagues. I grew up in a very pro-union household where my father was a marine engineer and I remember well the strikes of the rail ferries generally around Christmas time—Christmas time. One particular one—Hon Kieran McAnulty: Have you read the bill?CHRIS BAILLIE: Oh absolutely. I could see the dangers of unions as a 12-year-old. And just watch this space when the beds are going to be want to be made and included in FPAs.The current employment contracts legislation has provided for the necessary safeguards and flexibility for employees and they've proven to be very successful over the last 30 years. The fact is that after declining through the 1980s employees' pay and conditions have improved substantially since the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act in 1991. There's a chart that Mr Wood will ignore but it actually shows that since 1991 things have been improving.Employment contracts—it's as if the previous speakers I've been listening to have never seen or heard an employment contract. They cover everything—everything—that this bill purports to cover and even more. This is just an absolute waste of time. I was asked the other day how is a 16-year-old meant to negotiate with a 50-year-old employer. And the employment agreement specifically says you take it away you get advice and after a week you come back—it's all covered. And I had to ask whether that person in particular thought that 16-year-olds should get the vote as well. And you can imagine what they said.Once again the most divisive Government in this country in New Zealand's history has excelled in pitting one section of society against another whether its landlords against tenants farmers against townies and employers against employees. The philosophy of divide and conquer is obvious and it's no more evident than in the bill. Clause 92D: Each employee bargaining side for a proposed FPA must use its best endeavours to ensure that Māori employees are represented effectively in the bargaining process … seeking and considering feedback from representatives of Māori employees;" etc. No mention of Chinese Pasifika women or disabilities—I have a lot of faith that New Zealanders will treat this division with the contempt it deserves.Business owners those New Zealanders with a work ethic and a vision were once employees. They know what it's like to work hard and get ahead or at least try. Anyone who owned or bought a business before 2017 must be wondering why they bothered. Before taking the step to buy a business due diligence has to be done to make sure the business is viable—you can pay your bills you can pay your rates your insurance your everything else but most importantly wages. Make sure you can pay the wages. Business owners pay their staff before they pay themselves. They have had to take out loans in order to pay their staff. Business owners aren't the evil evil enemy that Labour likes to portray them as.But all businesses have gotten are constant attacks from this Government with the minimum wage the extra sick leave and extra statutory holidays to name a few. They even tried to push through a bill which would make employers liable for their employees attending parent-teacher interviews. They don't even think—they don't even think—that annual leave is worthy of their kids. I heard Jan Tinetti say today in the House that you can't expect to write about or understand something if you haven't experienced it. And I think it really does explain Labour's ignorance when it comes to business.This insidious bill amounts to unionism by stealth. New Zealanders can join a union if they want to they shouldn't be forced into joining one just because of Labour's blind ideology. It's bullying to the extreme—forcing people to participate in a process they don't want to and threatening the already overburdened business owners with bureaucratic nonsense and ridiculous conditions. That's bullying. And the scary thing is Labour and the Greens just can't see it.This bill is unnecessary complicated and it will cause more problems than it seeks to fix. I'll end with a quote from a submitter who has 40 years' experience in collective bargaining both for employees and employers. "We anticipate workplace divisions inflation vulnerable-business closures unemployment lowering of the New Zealand productivity rating increase in disputes and lots of emotional disruptions and litigation. A marked increase in mental health issues will likely result due to individuals sensing they have lost another control over their lives." For the sake of the hard-working employees of this country ACT opposes this bill and we'll get rid of it as soon as we can next year. Thank you."