Brown Peter: Holidays Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Brown Peter: Holidays Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:614;Page:10522] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 I think it is fair to say that when New Zealand First discussed this bill it had as tense and as a difficult a time coming to its conclusion as it has had on anything. Basically we see parts of this bill as being business unfriendly. We recognise some of the points made by the Hon Roger Sowry. I think that Paul Adams made a few points although I have to correct him on a few others. 
At the end of the day the holidays legislation in this country needs clarification and it needs to be made fairer both from the employees’ point of view and probably from the employers’ point of view. Paul Adams referred to Australia. I think he inferred that the conditions there are inferior to those in New Zealand. Let me say to the honourable member that the gross wages are higher the tax rates are fractionally higher and the net wages are higher. I have done the research. In Australia people get 4 weeks’ leave a year as against 3 weeks here. The people who do not get currently get 4 weeks’ leave are generally the low-paid lesser skilled people and young people. All of those folk would like to leave this country permanently in significant numbers—not every one of them but people from every one of those categories. I know some personally. They say that the wages in this country are low compared to Australia the UK Asia and many other places in the world and that is an attraction to go elsewhere for higher wages. They also say that the holiday entitlement and what one might call the general conditions of employment are inferior in this country to those in many of those places. A few years ago young people in particular would go to Britain Australia or wherever for an OE but now many of them do not want to come back and they know that from the time they leave. We cannot hold on to our young folk on lifestyle alone. We cannot depend on lifestyle as being the sole factor for young people to make their career here. 
Simon Power 
: Is the member voting for or against the bill? 
PETER BROWN 
: We have made an assessment that we need this bill in this country right now. 
Simon Power 
: What about the minority report? 
PETER BROWN 
: Our minority report? I will come to that. 
Brian Connell 
: The member said it was business unfriendly. 
PETER BROWN 
: Will the member get back to his own seat? We said the bill is business unfriendly and we still believe it is business unfriendly. We still believe that this will give an incentive to some employers—[ 
Interruption 
] Madam Chair if these guys do not get back to their own seats— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: Please give the speaker a fair go. 
Opposition Member 
: What’s the member going to do? 
PETER BROWN 
: The member wants to know what we are going to do. I will tell the member what we are not going to do. We will not repeal the 4 weeks’ leave provision when it comes in like those members will and we will not have the unemployed queuing outside post offices—like those members. That is what we are not going to do. Those members are like clowns in a circus. We will not sell all our assets like National’s new leader wants to. We will support this bill not because we believe it is perfect but because we believe that New Zealanders particularly young New Zealanders and low-paid New Zealanders have a right to better holiday conditions than they currently enjoy. We believe that in the fullness of time the flaws in this bill will emerge. We worked on a Supplementary Order Paper to produce tax concessions and we would like to couple that with this bill. However we realised that that would put us in the invidious position of having those concessions vetoed by the Minister and we would then have to face the truth—whether we wanted the bill or the bill depending on tax concessions. We came to the conclusion that there is a need for better holiday entitlements in this country. I say to Mr Adams that the sun will come up in the morning even when this bill comes through. It will come up and it will be a bright day not only for that member over there but for the low-paid as well.