Harawira Hone: Employment Relations Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading 
Harawira Hone: Employment Relations Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading 
[Volume:651;Page:334] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Eight years ago Professor Jane Kelsey wrote a book called  
Reclaiming the Future: New Zealand and the Global Economy 
 in which she talked about what happened to Maori during the last recession of the late 1980s. It is a book that should be required reading for all members of Parliament as Aotearoa stares down the barrel of another recession. In that book Jane Kelsey reminds us that until 1987 per head of population there were more Maori than non-Maori working in Aotearoa. That was just 21 years ago. Yet the way the media paint it Maori have been basically unemployed lazy dole-bludgers ever since Pakeha came to these shores. It is strange how much we are influenced by the media. The fact remains that just 21 years ago more Maori than Pakeha were working our families were stable our kids were healthy and crime was down.  
Then of course the crash hit. The world came crashing in on us and in just 6 years Maori unemployment went from 1 percent to 15 percent. Nearly half of all 16 to 19-year-old Maori ended up on the dole and our whole world fell apart. Now it seems we are heading right down that same track but that this time we are starting from a place far worse than 21 years ago because for Maori Maori unemployment is already more than twice that of non-Maori there are four times more Maori beneficiaries than non-Maori and Maori society has still not fully overcome the devastating effects of the crash of 1987.  
Even after 9 years of great prosperity the gaps between the rich and the poor were never closed because Labour chose to close the programme rather than close the gap. Let all those from Labour who ponce on in pious and sanctimonious rage about mana enhancement and the perceived failings of the Maori Party hear this clearly for the first of many times over the next few years: the Maori Party was born out of the treachery of the Labour Party. The Maori Party was born out of the betrayal of 50 years of blind loyalty to a regime that took the Maori vote and spat on the Maori hand that offered it willingly. The Maori Party was born out of the theft of the foreshore and seabed. In 2005 the Maori Party took four seats from Labour. It held and increased its majorities in every one of those seats and took another seat in 2008. The Maori Party will take the other two seats in 2011. The Maori Party will remain forever a party in this House and a player in the governance of this country. Thanks to the treachery the duplicity— 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The rules of relevance still apply in this House even after events of more recent years. The Maori Party has a habit of coming to this House with speeches written by either Harry Walker or Helen Leahy which they then read word for word. They are speeches that— 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: Point of order— 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I am speaking on a point of order. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: I will listen to this point of order first thanks. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: These speeches bear no relation to the bill. This bill the Employment Relations Amendment Bill is actually quite a narrow bill in its scope. It covers the issue of 90-day probationary clauses the removal of personal grievances and it also covers the removal of certain matters relating to KiwiSaver. One could cover within that the broad scope of employment relations. It does not cover the formation of the Maori Party the Foreshore and Seabed Act the Treaty of Waitangi the service of various people in various battles and various things around the world or what will happen in the 2011 election campaign. This is about employment relations. If members are going to come to the House with prepared speeches written for them at least they should be written relevant to the bill in front of the House. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: The member has made his point. It is a fair point and the member with the call should focus his comments on the bill before the House. Thank you. 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: I am happy to speak on the bill. Within 90 days of the next election in 2011 the Maori Party will have taken the other two Maori seats and will remain forever a party in this House and a player in the governance of this country thanks to the treachery the duplicity and the seditious betrayal by the Labour Party of the Maori people. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Not only is that irrelevant it is marginally offensive at the very least. If we are going to talk about seditious betrayal then I would have thought the Maori Party was exposed to that in its behaviour during the whole of yesterday and this morning. The fact that Mr Harawira wanted to vote the other way is no excuse for his now venting his rage on the House. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: I just remind the member that the debate is on the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. The member assured me that he would talk on the bill and I accept that assurance for what it is. I ask the member to now please turn his comments to the— 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: Point of order— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: Excuse me Mr Hide I am on my feet. I now ask the member to focus his comments on the bill as required by the Standing Orders. 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I notice that Dr Michael Cullen’s first point of order was correct in form. Certainly the second point of order was not. I know that Dr Cullen knows and I think you also know that one cannot enter into debating points on a point of order and one certainly cannot take the opportunity to abuse someone across the House while on a point of order. I ask you to rule accordingly. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: I call the honourable Hone Harawira. 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Is it your ruling that Dr Michael Cullen’s last point of order was acceptable to you as Assistant Speaker? 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: Mr Hide I made no such ruling. If you reflect on it I was not ruling for or against. I want the House to get on with its business. The points have been made everyone understands what it is Mr Harawira has said he is going to address the bill and I look forward to hearing his comments on the bill.  
Hon Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I ask you to rule consistently so that if I take a point of order explaining how the Labour Party betrayed Maori voters and indeed all of New Zealand while they were in Government you would have to find that acceptable. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: It is very clear to any experienced member—and that member has been here for some time—that there is no obligation for you to rule on points of order even when they are frivolous. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: The member is correct. The House is here to consider business; the business is the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. The honourable Hone Harawira is going to address the bill. Let us move on and hear his speech on the bill. 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: Getting back to this bill I say that my previous reference was to the employment prospects of members of this Parliament after the election of 2011 and the first 90 days after that. It is most relevant to this bill. We are now considering another bill to amend the Employment Relations Act 2000 by introducing probationary periods for workers in their first 90 days on the job. This will directly affect employment for everyone in Aotearoa particularly Maori. The bill proposes 90 days within which a person can be dismissed without reason and without recourse to personal grievance or other legal proceedings.  
This bill is only four pages—10 clauses and a couple of new items. Apparently workers can still take legal proceedings if they are sacked but bosses do not have to give them their jobs back so that is a pointless exercise. Mediation is also still available but there is no incentive for employers to take people back under mediation. So that is a bit of a waste of time as well. Then of course this bill is being put through the House under urgency without any notice that it was even in the 100-day plan or with any public debate. Yet we know only too well from the national outcry over the Mapp bill that this new 90-day bill will have massive and immediate negative implications for Maori Pasifika Pakeha and tauiwi workers. 
Darien Fenton 
: And young people. 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: And young people thank you very much. We come to this debate acutely aware of the impending fallout that will hit workers in manufacturing retail and construction. These are industries that employ high numbers of Maori and Pasifika people. We are also acutely aware that Maori already earn way less than non-Maori across all industry groups. We come to this debate already aware of bad employment practices like people being hired on fixed-term trials and then sacked for no valid reason—particularly Maori young people and Pasifika women in the hospitality and retail sectors.  
This bill talks of those doing it tough in the labour market like first-time workers the long-term unemployed the poorly skilled and the low-waged. These are categories with high Maori numbers. Just last night we got a note from Te Runanga o nga Kaimahi Maori o Aotearoa supporting the Maori Party’s decision to oppose the bill. It said: “With rising unemployment the first peoples to become unemployed will be the unskilled and low waged. Maori will be the majority peoples in this group.” Furthermore we note that although this bill talks about improving employment prospects there are no provisions in it for induction or training at all.  
In case people need to hear it again let me be very clear: the Maori Party is as concerned as anyone else about the need to help small and medium sized businesses to survive grow and flourish. We support any initiatives that will reduce compliance costs and encourage employers to be positive in their outlook but not at the cost of those who will do the work. The Maori Party supports the right for all workers to be treated with fairness and dignity. We simply cannot see that this bill will encourage employers to do that; in fact we believe that this bill will discourage the very things that are needed such as clear contracts and decent employment practices. For all these reasons the Maori Party will be opposing this bill.