Roche Denise: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Roche Denise: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 27 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:9011. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DENISE ROCHE (Green) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take a call on this bill the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill. I am delighted to see David Clark the person whose name it is in is the member in the chair. 
The Greens absolutely support this bill and I take exception to the comments of Chris Auchinvole the previous speaker. He sounded so aghast at the thought of workers actually taking a holiday. It reminded me very much of the Christmas story the Christmas tale and Mr Scrooge. Workers do need holidays. Workers are working longer hours than they ever have before and the reason they are doing this is that wages have been forced lower and lower and lower through this Government’s lack of action around developing proper jobs and a decent standard of living for workers. 
If you compare what New Zealanders get in terms of public holidays and statutory holidays we are falling below the OECD countries in terms of generosity for workers to have time to relax. This bill is a way of addressing that. This bill goes some way towards saying that workers actually deserve 11 days off—that it is feasible for them to take their 11 statutory holidays every year instead of having to be short-changed every 5 years or so when Waitangi Day and Anzac Day fall on a weekend. 
We reject the notion that by Mondayising both Waitangi Day and Anzac Day it somehow cheapens their commemoration. Other speakers have noted that this happens already if 25 December or the day after that day fall on a Sunday and also if New Year’s Day or the day after that day fall on a Sunday. All four of these holidays are transferred so it does not actually cheapen the event. In fact the day itself is the day that people commemorate. Both Anzac Day and Waitangi Day are sacred and they will remain sacred wherever they fall in the week as has already been noted as well by Mr Grant Robertson from the Labour Party. 
If we think about what is coming up this weekend it is Easter and Easter is falling this week at the end of March. Easter never ever stays on the same days because the timing of that holiday is attached to the moon. In fact it is a lunar holiday. 
David Bennett 
: It’s not attached to the moon. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: It is a lunar holiday. However the fact that the actual days change does not cheapen the resurrection and death of Christ. 
When this bill Mondayises both Waitangi Day and Anzac Day it may well increase participation. Certainly this has been the example in Australia for Anzac Day. At Waitangi Day we have seen many many people turn up on both the day before and the actual day. When it falls on a weekend there is a lower participation rate because people cannot attach the extra day to the weekend. Local businesses up there have said that when it falls close to the start of a weekend it actually increases the amount of business that they have in their community. 
I guess if we are to think about Anzac Day and Waitangi Day as days that we should commemorate then we should also think about the fact that we need to allow workers time to celebrate them. Whether it falls on a Sunday or whether it falls on a Friday for that matter or a Thursday the fact remains that each of these days is special and workers do participate in the celebrations and the commemorations around them. It is not onerous for businesses for this to be brought to fruition. There is a 2-year run-in for them to plan for it and other speakers have already told you about the minimal cost that it will bring for small businesses. 
This—[ 
Interruption 
] I was just having a small holiday there. This bill is supported. This bill is definitely supported—