Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koe. Otirā ngā mema katoa o te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. Here's my prediction. To that member Scott Simpson who's just resumed his seat: in about maybe 10 15 20 years' time this side of the House is going to enable a platform in which he is going to get up like the Rt Hon Jim Bolger and say I got it utterly wrong—I got it utterly wrong!" That's my prediction. That's what's going to happen.He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata he tāngata he tāngata.[What is the most important thing in the world? It is people it is people it is people.]I say that whakataukī because it talks to this bill the Fair Pay Agreements Bill and I am really proud that we have come to this day to see the introduction of this third and final reading. I come from a long line of freezing workers and I'm going to stand up in this House and talk about the freezing worker sector and how they were prior to the introduction of the deregulating Employment Contracts Act (ECA). I come from a long proud line of freezing workers. I live in Whakatū which was the home of the largest freezing works in this nation before it closed which is now Silver Fern Farms but was once upon a time Richmond Pacific just down the road from where I live.Can I tell those in this House what the conditions were in our little community of Whakatū prior to the removal of the rights of our workers and the rights of our unions to negotiate on behalf of our workers. I'll tell you this: every member that worked at those freezing works owned their own homes. They owned their own homes they owned their own vehicles and children were in school. We didn't need mental wellbeing support because people had employment to look after their families. We didn't have the crime rate. And I'll challenge anyone on that side of this House to go and look at the stats. Back in the 1980s before this Act was introduced families took care of families and communities took care of communities. And believe it or not we actually knew who owned our freezing works because their kids went to the same school. So there was a commitment to community investment and wellbeing that we saw. Wages were high; productivity was high. There was not this foolishness that we're hearing from that side that's all doom and gloom. This is the picture that I am painting of the 1970s of the 1980s and the early 1990s before the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act. In my little community of Whakatū it was thriving. Kids were going to school parents had double incomes coming in. They had their own homes. They were self-reliant—the very thing that this side of the House represents is our people our community. And I want to come to this House to talk about the community of Whakatū and all the other little communities that operated around this country prior to the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act. But what happened when the Employment Contracts Act—because I also want to turn to the devastation from the introduction that the ECA had in 1991. And I want to tell you: families were against families on picket lines. My grandmother had to pull in our family because it was sister on sister cousins on cousins. Before as I just painted we all lived really really well in my part of the world. Everyone was independent financially. Kids were engaged in learning. Homes were owned. And then the ECA came in and it pitted families against families. We had families and communities devastated through the introduction of the ECA. But does that side acknowledge it? No they don't. They think it's all about the employer. What about the communities in which these businesses were in and the contribution those communities had to those businesses? Where are their rights—where are their rights? That's why I'm in this House saying it is a good day—it is a good day. It's 30 years late but it's still a good day. Recognition of those communities that stood up that were on school boards that helped coach the schools and sports clubs—all dissipated. They were all dissipated with the introduction of the ECA. So I'm proud and before I came to this House I rang my mother—I rang my mother who's 84. She worked for Silver Fern Farms with her sister and her other sister—a combined total of 126 years between three sisters. And I said "Mum you came down here in the early 1990s and you stood up for our freezing workers and you went to the Employment Court and you talked about the removal of seniority. You talked about protection of seniority. You talked about the union's right to represent workers. And it is your day." It is just like we're saying to all the others who have made this possible. I want to talk about the little people. I want to talk about the people I come from the freezing workers and I want to acknowledge their contribution on this day. I want to talk about their contribution and their acceptance of something that's so long overdue which is the rights of our workers—the rights of our workers—and not just the bottom line. It's about wellbeing for our communities. It's about wellbeing for our schools and sports clubs. This is what the ECA decimated which is why I'm so proud to stand. This is a beautiful day in recognition of all the pain and the suffering that the ECA 30 years ago had on communities. Let's not forget that. And so I'm proud to stand here to say it is timely that we rectify a wrong. Of course things have moved on; it's 30 years on but we have lost lots of people from communities. I want to say how proud I am to stand in support with Minister Wood and to acknowledge everybody who has helped get this to where we are today. There has been mention of names. I want to endorse the work of the select committee. I want to endorse Helen Kelly for the work that she did. But I also want to talk about two uncles that are no longer here. I need to acknowledge them because they were national presidents of the freezing workers Bill Bennett and Rangi Paenga who were stalwarts in looking after the rights of our freezing workers up and down this country. I know I only talk about one industry but I am so passionate about this because it devastated the very community I lived in and come from which is Whakatū. So it's important that I come and stand in support of this bill rectifying something that incredibly undid and decimated our community of Whakatū. Good people come from there; many left. We had suicides for goodness' sake and families uprooted and moved to Australia. Those are real clear examples of the human cost when we take away the rights of workers to get a fair deal. A fair deal—that is what we're talking about here. We're not taking away the control of the business owner. We're just asking for a fair deal. And we're also looking for recognition that we don't just come to work but we actually invest in the community in which we reside. Where's the passion in that? That is why my opening statement "He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata he tāngata he tāngata." is so critically important when we are talking and debating about this important bill the Fair Pay Agreements Bill.It's been 30 years in the making. I'm so proud of Minister Wood and what his work has done—and all my colleagues on this side who always put our workers first and in no better way than this bill that acknowledges the workers up and down the country who do the hard yards who put themselves up on the line who all just want a fair deal. That's all they want. I'm proud to stand with this side of the House to acknowledge that they deserve a fair deal; they do. And I can now take a breath and know that the people that I represent of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti of the community I reside in at Whakatū will celebrate this day along with many who have come to witness the third and final reading of the Fair Pay Agreements Bill. I commend this bill to the House."