Blumsky Mark: Minimum Wage (Abolition of Age Discrimination) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Blumsky Mark: Minimum Wage (Abolition of Age Discrimination) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:629;Page:1417] 
MARK BLUMSKY (National) 
: 
 I am pleased to have this chance to speak to the bill because it gives me the opportunity to tell the House to be very careful as it is sending yet another message another signal to businesses that it does not like them. I stand here as one who owns a business and employs staff and probably not too many members on the other side of the House— 
Rodney Hide 
: None. 
MARK BLUMSKY 
: —if any at all—can say that because the Government benches are full of academics and trade unionists. 
I know exactly what will be going through the mind of businesses when they hear about this bill on the radio tonight because it is going through my mind as well. I quote: “Not again—shit! I’m already suffering.” and: “Whack me especially when I am down just trying to make a living.” It is tough out there. Electricity prices are up transport costs are up accident compensation levies are up compliance costs are up rates are up and now Parliament is considering a bill that sets about hurting business owners and their livelihoods even more. How much hurt will there be? A local supermarket owner rang me just the other day and said that if he moved away from youth rates his business would incur an extra expense of $1.6 million per year. That is an extra cost to his business and it will mean one thing: he will put up his prices to recover. What is even worse is that that business owner cannot ask the Government for some money to recover the costs as he trains his staff to learn to read and write. 
It may surprise many of the members opposite that one of the main reasons to be in business is to make money. My wife and I own a lingerie store. Now look we would love to fit every woman in Wellington with a new bra and every man in Wellington with a new set of Jockey’s. We want to offer as much support as we can. But our real motive for being in business is to make a profit and if we make a profit—as we do—we can open another store which we are doing in Christchurch. And we will employ more staff and pay more wages because we can make a profit. However as Parliament is putting yet another significant cost factor against my bottom line it will be harder. 
When my business and other businesses employ youth we are making a considered compromise at the moment. We pay a little less and we trade that off by getting a slightly more immature young adult who still has a lot to learn about life who needs a little more training and who is inexperienced so will need more supervision. Hey let us not forget about the after-school workers who do those odd jobs around the edge. What of them? At present those kids have the opportunity to learn about fiscal responsibility and work ethic as well as earn a little bit of additional pocket money. Well that after-school job will be a historical job before too long. I ask the member who introduced the bill what we will have to pay the 15 or 16-year-old babysitters. Will we soon be paying them that $12.50 minimum? I tell the member now that it will make going to the movies with one’s partner—to have a night out and leave the little kid at home—one heck of a lot more expensive. 
Employing youth and paying them the adult minimum wage will entail a gamble. Maybe just maybe it will be a gamble that business might be prepared to take if there was a probation period when we initially hired those kids. But at the end of the day the National Party has all New Zealanders at heart. We want all New Zealanders to earn more money and to have a better quality of life and the best solution to ensure high productivity and high wages is to reduce our taxes.