Wagner Nicky; Williams PotoHon NICKY WAGNER (National): Thank you very much Madam Assistant Speaker. Talofa lava and greetings to all our special guests in the House today. National supports this bill and we support this bill because actually it's an extension and a continuation of the work that National did back in 2017. It was the work that was done following the pay equity claim and the settlement agreement known as the Terranova settlement. Of course that was the settlement that gave rise to the principal Act that we are amending today—the principal Act being the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act which was passed in June 2017.As we've discussed today the Terranova settlement was all about recognising the care and support workers and recognising that they were being systematically underpaid—systematically underpaid—because the work was predominantly performed by women. Now that's something that we women workers we female employees are only too aware of. We find that—and I'd like to choose my adjectives carefully—disappointing we find it discouraging and we find it absolutely obnoxious and I don't think I can make that point strongly enough.But what this bill does is include vocational and disability support workers in that legislation and that was actually agreed not long after the original bill came through the House by National in July 2017 and it also includes mental health and addiction support workers and that was signed by the following Government a year later. But just going back to that original Terranova agreement it was historic and it was widely celebrated—widely celebrated by women of course but I actually think by the vast majority of New Zealanders. I will remember when that bill was passed there was a real feeling of excitement and joy and as at the time I was the Minister for Disability Issues there was a real understanding of what those care and disability support workers were doing and that they absolutely deserved to have that pay. So it's quite right that this bill extends that recognition to the vocational and disability support workers and to the mental health and addiction support workers. These people are just as hard-working just as dedicated and just as deserving as the original care and support workers. I'd just like to make one point: because it's taken such a long time for this bill to get into the House for this Government to finalise this bill there are some very necessary and important transitional provisions in the bill. It's extremely important that employers must back-pay these support workers who haven't been covered by the principal Act and that back-pay goes all the way back to July 2017—the commencement of the bill. So that only seems fair I think and I hope that the pleasure of receiving a significant lump sum payment will overcome the pain of not being paid fairly for those past months while this bill has taken a very lengthy journey to get here and to go through the House in the future.So National supports this bill and notes it has been a long time coming but we finally have a vehicle to recognise vocational and disability support workers mental health and addiction support workers and the valuable work that they do in our community. At long last these people will have the same payment and the same conditions as agreed by the care and support workers way back in 2017 by the national Government—hallelujah.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I understand this is a split call. Liz Craig you have five minutes.