Kedgley Sue: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Kedgley Sue: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 I was heartened to hear from David Bennett that the National Party had thought long and hard about this legislation and that it had been a difficult process for National. I note that people like Katherine Rich are not here today— 
Kate Wilkinson 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chair. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: Would the member just withdraw and apologise. 
SUE KEDGLEY 
: I withdraw and apologise. I am sorry to say that Katherine Rich is not able to contribute here in this particular debate because I am sure that someone like Katherine Rich would strongly support the right of people who are parents—such as herself or others—to request to work flexible hours. We have heard a lot about how this bill will force flexibility. It is about the simple right to request to work flexibly. It is about the right to request. We have heard over many years how utterly dedicated the National Party is to the family and to supporting the family. Here we have simple practical legislation that is aimed at making it slightly easier for people with caring responsibilities and people with families to try to balance their paid work with their family life. The point is that in New Zealand at the moment the norm is long and inflexible working hours. Yes there are some employers—and we have heard about them; employers like EziBuy—that genuinely offer flexible hours. We applaud that. But what about all the others that do not? The UK has said that it needs a safety net and needs to make sure that all employees—not just those who work for a progressive employer—have this right to request. 
I think it is a particular concern in New Zealand because we have not only an inflexible working hours culture but a very very long working hours culture. Forty percent of us work more than 45 hours a week and 21 percent of us work more than 50 hours a week. On average we work something like 500 more hours than the average German French or Danish worker for example. Yet oddly enough we are less productive than they are. 
The problem is that as we have worked ever-longer hours over the last few decades we are spending less and less time with our children. Surveys such as that undertaken by Paul Callister have demonstrated that more and more families are working for a variety of reasons so they are spending less time with their children. As a result there is a huge social cost that all of us have to pay when parents are not able to parent well because they are so stressed and exhausted. We have had some research here showing the effect on children and families of parents not being able to have enough time to spend with their children. All this bill is doing is saying that we should try to arrange our working hours in a way that enables us to take into account our caring responsibilities. 
It is extremely interesting that one of the most ardent advocates of the legislation in the UK is none other than the leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron. It is interesting is it not that the National Party here would oppose something like this legislation. Over in the UK the Conservative Party is such an ardent advocate for flexible working hours that David Cameron is wanting to extend its legislation. He says that flexible working hours are the key to modernising workplaces. He says they are the key to increasing productivity. He points out that when workers have more control over their lives they will be more satisfied and productive. There is ample research to point that out. It is interesting—it speaks volumes—that we have someone like the leader of the Conservative Party in England who sees flexible working hours as being the key to modernising workplaces increasing productivity and assisting families when our so-called family-friendly National Party is opposed to something as simple as the right to request.