Stewart Barbara: Employment Relations Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeStewart Barbara: Employment Relations Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 05 June 2013. Volume:690;Page:10782. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA STEWART (NZ First): I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak to the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. This bill is creating challenges evenbefore it has got through its first reading stage and we in New Zealand First have no doubt that as it goes further through the process the outcry will be louder.Mike Sabin: That member doesn’t believe what she’s reading.BARBARA STEWART: I do not believe this bill. New Zealand First is not going to support this bill. We believe that it is an affront to the rights of workers and we are continually seeing under this Government the slow erosion of workers’ rights as anti-worker legislation is pursued.New Zealand First believes that if the economy is going to actually prosper and grow sustainably then the relationship between employers and employees needs to be appropriate. Employers need flexible dedicated staff and employees need appropriate conditions and remuneration. There is a really fine balance between assuring and affirming the rights of workers on one hand and allowing enough worker flexibility so as not to hinder any business’s production or productivity. In New Zealand First we understand that and we believe that the New Zealand public also understand this.There is always a trade-off a balancing act between the two extremes. Kiwi workers and Kiwi business owners know this. The biggest percentage is more or less in the centre. They are very aware that to go to either end of the spectrum is to invite the prospect of workers’ strikes or their own businesses failing and we do not want to see this. There are too many businesses going under. They are already downsizing closing and we do not want to see the job numbers fall even further than they have. An increasing number of jobs are required. We want our young people to come back from overseas to work here in New Zealand.In New Zealand First we do not believe that there is actually any demand for these changes that the Government is proposing. Just what is behind all of these changes? Radical changes are being made and there is no need for them. In this regard it is like the other piece of employment legislation we had a couple of weeks ago where workers are going to be paid less—young workers—than the minimum wage. In New Zealand First we are going to be very interested to monitor this and check whether or not businesses have actually increased the number of young people they have employed.David Bennett: New Zealand First monitors the public?BARBARA STEWART: No. We actually do not believe this. We have already seen numerous businesses come out against this particular legislation. They want to protect their workers and they want to protect their brands against all of the unnecessary nastiness that this Government is actually creating.For a party that is really cosy with the public relations firm Crosby/Textor National has poorly assessed the political risk that businesses are facing when they implement this legislation. This bill today is another kick in the head for New Zealand workers but it is also more than that. It is seeking to apply a set of rules when there is already a great deal of flexibility for employers and employees and in this way it just goes to show how out of touch this National Government is with the small and medium sized businesses throughout New Zealand.Small businesses have always had understandings with their employees and will continue to do so. Cafe owners retailers electricians petrol stations—they all expect their staff to go the extra mile when it is busy or when they are faced with a deadline and the staff are by and large obliging. That is expected and it is appreciated.This Government is discussing employee strikes and union action and is trying to create a level playing field. The employment relationship is not a level playing field and it never can be. It is about collaboration and it is about working together. If we look at strikes they are usually with large corporations. They are corporations that employ numerous people—corporations that have the resources the ability and the nous to be able to cover the rostered tea breaks.This bill is not about improving business; it is about the National Party actually pandering to its extreme-right minority at the expense of the more moderate majority. As parliamentarians we are expected to represent the views and the interests of people yet how many of us here could truthfully say that we do not expect a dinner break at 6 p.m.? We expect it we want it and we need it—we definitely plan around it.Once again this Government is showing how out of touch it is. It is attempting to pass legislation for which there is no need and it does not exist in reality. Once again it has misunderstood the working relationships in small businesses. Once again it is pursuing an anti-worker agenda when most businesses are content with the status quo. For these reasons we are very pleased to be voting against this bill and all of the challenges that it is going to create in the workplace. Thank you.Chris Auchinvole: Mr Speaker—[Interruption]