Hide Rodney: Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Hide Rodney: Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
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Hon RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I rise joyously to support the Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill. We have heard from all the political parties present today that they want the 
 Hobbit 
 movies to be a great success. Every political party also says they want the 
 Hobbit 
 movies to be made in New Zealand. I can assure this House that there is only one reason why these movies are to be made in New Zealand and it comes down to one man our Prime Minister John Key. It is impossible to imagine that Helen Clark would have had the ability to sit down with Warner Bros negotiate this deal and give Warner Bros confidence. As for Phil Goff he has been deafening in his silence while New Zealand has— 
Paul Quinn 
: Where is Phil Goff? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: I do not know. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The member cannot refer to a member who is not here. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Quite. I will not refer to Phil Goff again. Trevor Mallard would not have been able to sit down with Warner Bros and negotiate a deal. I do not think Russel Norman would have been able to sit down and negotiate a deal with Warner Bros. We are very fortunate. One thing we know about our Prime Minister is that he can cut a deal. He can look Warner Bros in the eye as the Prime Minister of New Zealand give it the assurance it needs and protect New Zealand’s interests. 
Let us be absolutely clear about the sequence of events. The 
 Hobbit 
 movies were to be made in New Zealand—and it is all very well for Labour Party members to talk about foreign interests—until a foreign union turned up in New Zealand. On 17 August Mr Simon Whipp of the international actors union from Australia—he is not even a Kiwi—threatened a global boycott of the 
 Hobbit 
 movies and turned it— 
Hon Members 
: Shh! 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: I know Labour members hate hearing this but it is the truth. Simon Whipp turned up here and threatened a global boycott of the movies and it turned pear-shaped. By the way I waited to hear the Labour Party’s condemnation of that attack. I waited to hear the Labour Party’s condemnation of this overseas union. What did we hear? Nothing. There was deafening silence. 
So outrageous was this union’s behaviour that we had the remarkable experience of New Zealanders spontaneously organising themselves to protest on Labour Day against the union movement and its attack on New Zealand and on the fundamental interests of workers in this country. Where was Phil Goff? We did not hear a thing. Where was Trevor Mallard? We did not hear a thing. Where was Parekura Horomia? Actually I think I know where he was but I am not allowed to say. There was nothing from the Labour Party and nothing from the Green Party yet they come to the House and say they would like the 
 Hobbit 
 movies to be made in New Zealand and to be a success. Those movies were going to go down the gurgler. 
The National Government approached the ACT Party and asked whether we would support legislative change. We asked what it would do. It said it would clarify that if a worker signs up as an individual contractor that is what that worker will be. That is not bad is it? If a worker signs a contract to be an individual contractor that is what that worker will be. We said that of course we would support it because we think that English words should mean what they say. If those words specify an individual contractor it is not an employment contract. What could be easier to understand than that? I can understand Warner Bros scratching its head thinking about our Supreme Court and the way it interprets simple contracts and saying: “Wow! You sign up an individual as a contractor and it might turn out they were an employee.” That is a big risk and of course the ACT Party was happy to support that change. 
I heard Trevor Mallard ask who wins and who loses. I think it was a genuine question from Mr Mallard so here is the answer. New Zealand is the big winner. It is a huge winner because these movies are to be made in New Zealand and they were not to be made in New Zealand. The film industry in New Zealand is clearly a big winner. It is also very very clear that tourism is a big winner particularly with the documentaries that go on the DVDs which will be huge for New Zealand. It is also very clear that the workers in New Zealand are big winners not just in the film industry but right through New Zealand. The confidence that this will put into the market place and into the economy and the tourism it will generate will mean they are the big winners. Undoubtedly the Prime Minister of New Zealand is a big winner because he single-handedly pulled it off. Where was Phil Goff? Where was the Labour Party? Where was the Green Party? 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Nowhere. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: They were nowhere. The Prime Minister went out and did it. I would like to think that some of that glory will reflect on the ACT Party and indeed on the Maori Party and United Future and the good people of Epsom will think it was not too bad. We got  
The Hobbit  
because we have a good Government not that ragtag bunch over there who would have destroyed New Zealand’s opportunities. 
Trevor Mallard asks who the losers are. Let me think. I do not think it went very well for Mr Simon Whipp. I do not think it went very well for the international actors union. I do not think they are the winners; I think they look like losers. I do not think that it went very well for Helen Kelly. I do not think the Council of Trade Unions came out of this smelling of roses. I do not think the Council of Trade Unions came out of this too good. I do not think it looked very good for the New Zealand union movement. But the big loser has to be the Labour Party. The big loser has to be Phil Goff. He thought that Labour members would come to this House and oppose this bill. Is that possible? 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Poor Rodney! 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Poor Mr Darren Hughes! Mr Darren Hughes says: “Poor Rodney!”. I did not lose my seat at the last election; that member did. I actually kept my seat and increased my majority. I did not know this but it turns out that that member was a Minister and now he is sitting on the Opposition backbenches and he says: “Poor Rodney!”. I say: “Poor Darren Hughes!” because the Labour Party is tied to the union movement. The fact that the Labour Party president is the leader of the New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union and the fact that all of Labour’s funding comes from the union movement means that Labour is boxed in on the wrong side of this argument. They are against the interests of the people of New Zealand. The Labour Party members are the losers in this. I tell Darren Hughes to be happy over there. Because of his party’s decision on this day he is going to be a long time in Opposition. I have not even got on to the Greens yet.