Gosche Mark: Holidays Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Gosche Mark: Holidays Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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Hon MARK GOSCHE (Labour—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 That was an interesting speech from the man who was demoted to the position of spokesperson on industrial relations and is obviously deeply disappointed about that—so disappointed in fact that he has not bothered to read the bill or the Act or to understand anything about industrial relations. He does not even know that for 9 long years under the National Government workers actually got a day in lieu when they worked on a public holiday. I did not notice the National Government passing a law against that even though it passed a law against just about everything else that workers were entitled to. But we can live in the hope that one day Dr Wayne Mapp who has a law degree—I think he was even a professor of law at the “Weet-Bix University” where he got his degree—might understand a little bit about industrial law. 
Dr Wayne Mapp is saying that the National Party is against this: a worker getting penal rates for public holidays on top of existing penal rates. He is saying that by removing that we are taking a backward step. Employers should pay it presumably and they should pay it on Labour Day because he is opposed to the law being passed quickly. I would like that member to meet with the employers out there who have been in sensible discussion with the Minister of Labour and his officials when the question of whether this was intended was asked. No the select committee did not intend that even though we will get one lawyer saying it means one thing and another saying it means another. I have my own personal view on what the current law actually means. We are going to do a quick and proper job in the select committee to fix it up to remove doubt—and the National Party is against that. 
National members are saying to employers up and down the country that on Labour Day this year if their employees get a penal rate for working on that day that rate should have time and a half on top of it and the National Party will vote against this bill to try to force employers into paying even more. Well the Government will be interested to hear the logic behind that one when the matter comes before the select committee. But let us be fair. Dr Wayne Mapp is brand new in his job. Probably by the time the bill passes—before Labour Day—he will be in another job where he might have some little understanding. Of course Simon Power has already said in the paper that he really wanted that job. 
Hon Paul Swain 
: Really? 
Hon MARK GOSCHE 
: Yes. His big interest is in fixing up industrial relations but he was given the whip’s job instead. Wayne Mapp has the job of industrial relations spokesperson but it is obvious he is not interested in it because there are no guns or excitement in it which is what he got when he was defence spokesperson. 
This is the other thing the National Party is against: there will be no public holiday rates if an employee does not work on that day. So the National Party is saying it will oppose a law that at the moment is grey and there is confusion over—a law that states that if people do not work on a public holiday they should still get the time and a half. Dr Wayne Mapp the new wonder boy of the National Party in industrial relations does not agree with us clarifying the law and doing it quickly. He also says that employers should not have the right to request a medical certificate if there is reasonable cause. Let us remember that under the law workers get a whole 5 days’ sick leave per annum which means there are not a lot of days to play around with and abuse. Once a person has used 3 of those days that leaves only 2. I point out for the benefit of Dr Wayne Mapp that three plus two equals five. We want to make sure that if there is any evidence of abuse that situation is able to be dealt with by employers. The vast majority of employers and employees actually administer and use their sick leave provisions properly. The provision is just a small way of resolving that. 
Of course the other thing that the National Party is opposed to is the time limit for solving issues related to composite pay rates being extended to April 2007. What is that about? It is where people rolled penal rates into their contracts and got an overall payment. Some did that in 1991 and 1992 and are having difficulty accessing the paperwork to show that it was done. They have come along to the Minister who has listened—as he does—and said that that is fair enough; that the Government will extend the time in the bill so that those people will have a bit more time to go through the paperwork and finally resolve the question of whether time and a half is being paid. The National Party is opposed to that. 
The National Party is opposed to sensible Government and to sensible laws that can be understood by employers and workers. We are actually for that. That is what this bill is about and that is why we will be putting it through the House and the select committee with due process and making sure that there is no unnecessary confusion when Labour Day comes around.