Horan Brendan: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Horan Brendan: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8519. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
BRENDAN HORAN (Independent) 
: 
 It appears my microphone was not turned on but it is now. How lovely it is to hear National speakers— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I am sorry Mr Horan. My apologies. I just wish to advise the House that this is a split call. The member will have 5 minutes and he will get the bell with 1 minute to go. 
BRENDAN HORAN 
: I will comment on the honourable member Chris Auchinvole’s words which were spoken with a tonality sweeter than honey but were words more bitter than a poorly corked wine. Fancy giving holidays on one hand and trying to take them away from workers on the other. 
I would like to acknowledge the honourable member David Clark. It is thanks to that honourable member that I am able to have this call on the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill. We have a situation in this Parliament where MPs in four parties are allocated speaking rights but seven other MPs are not and we seven MPs have to rely on calls being negotiable between parties. That is a matter that I will take up on another day through the proper channels. The honourable member David Clark did not take my support for granted after I became an independent MP. He took the time to follow up when the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee reported and to meet with me and that is what you would expect from a hard-working diligent MP in charge of a bill. 
My initial thought was rather like that of the National members—rather mean-spirited at first—and I thought: “No I am not going to support this.” Before I entered Parliament I part-owned and operated three retail outlets and I hired 15 employees and I was doing the mental sums in my head of the wages that I would have to meet. But then I investigated more fully and upon reflection saw that in the next 6 years public holidays would be Mondayised just twice—Anzac Day in 2015 and Waitangi Day in February 2016. 
We have had a golden summer in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui and yes it has not been good for farmers but with a late monsoon season in the upper reaches of the Pacific I am confident that we will have some rain soon. But with the golden weather that Tauranga and Mount Maunganui have experienced our area has benefited with record numbers of visitors and for areas of great tourist potential such as Mount Maunganui the prospect of an extra-long weekend reaps huge financial rewards for many businesses. In the case of Tauranga recovering from the disastrous effects of the  
Rena 
 and facing the ongoing financial shortfalls to the region caused by Psa—yes another National Government biosecurity blunder—then that opportunity of extra commerce because of the long weekend will benefit so many in the area including hoteliers restaurateurs tourist guides and tourist operators. Additional to this is that Anzac Day 2015 will be the 100th anniversary of the fateful landings at Gallipoli and it is fitting and proper that the sacrifice of our Anzacs will be remembered in a way that includes a full public holiday so that we can fully respect and celebrate the sacrifice that our ancestors made. 
Ensuring that in every year these two important commemorations are marked with a full public holiday for all people is a good step for this House to take. People who do not normally work on the days on which Waitangi Day and Anzac Day fall will get the holiday on the Monday and those who work on the Saturday or Sunday will get that day as a public holiday. Most important the commemorations at Waitangi and at dawn parades all around our beautiful country will still be observed on 6 February and 25 April. It is with great pleasure that I support this bill.