Pillay Lynne: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Pillay Lynne: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:652;Page:1689] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to stand and take a call on the Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill. I want to give my heartfelt congratulations as my colleagues have to Darien Fenton and also to David Parker before her who originally scripted the bill. 
I have heard Opposition members saying that this bill has been languishing. That is simply not true. This bill is the work of a hard-working member who progressed the bill through the member’s bill process. In fact if the former Labour-led Government had not been so busy passing the Working for Families legislation which was opposed by the National Party passing legislation providing for paid parental leave which was opposed by the National Party introducing fairness at work which was opposed by the National Party introducing support for vulnerable workers which was opposed by the National Party improving health and safety which was opposed by the National Party— 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: Pay equity. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: —introducing pay equity which was opposed by the National Party—[ 
Interruption 
] They have scrapped it. That is supposed to be the party that cares about people. 
I find it very very offensive to hear the member opposite Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi talking about how people should not be paid a minimum wage. I think he talked about struggling businesses and high costs. We are talking about speakers who stand in this Parliament and say that to pay a worker the minimum wage is a high cost for a struggling business. I believe that we have no place for those arguments in this Chamber. 
I congratulate the Labour members on the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. To say that the bill was totally rejected is again a falsehood. It was rejected because National had the majority on the select committee and the New Zealand First member Peter Brown was a little bit confused. I think that if Peter Brown had had the time to really go through the bill he probably would have supported it because his heart was often with workers. 
But unfortunately this bill came back having been rejected by the select committee because the National members who were on the select committee do not believe in fairness; they do not believe in a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. I heard Kate Wilkinson in this House today answering questions. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Who? 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: Kate Wilkinson the Minister of Labour. I challenge the Minister to stand up and take a call. I think that it is abhorrent that the Minister of Labour has not stood and taken a call on this bill. She has not justified her Government’s position. I heard her at question time implying that if this bill came into effect and became an Act so that people who are contractors are assured of getting at least the minimum wage the minimum wage would be mandatory and nobody would be paid above it. That is just nonsense. 
We hear members opposite talk about their contribution to workers in New Zealand. I ask how those members help workers in New Zealand. Apart from their paltry increase in the minimum wage—which they felt obliged to give because of the pressure put on them by workers and unions in this country—their other glowing example is the fire-at-will bill. That is how National members have helped workers in this country. Those members say that they will make life easier for workers and will raise their aspirations and opportunities by letting them get sacked in the first 3 months of their employment with no right of redress. That is what National members do. 
It is not too late for National members to change their minds. For all we know Kate Wilkinson may be sitting there thinking: “My goodness I think those Labour people have a point.” I am very hopeful because she was the only person in that party who was honest enough to say—and I think that members can all repeat this together—“The National Party is not a party of compulsion.” Do members remember that? 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Say it again. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: “The National Party is not a party of compulsion.” The National Party believes that by paying the minimum wage to the most vulnerable workers—