Auchinvole Chris: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Auchinvole Chris: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8515. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 I rise to speak in opposition to this Holidays— 
Hon Members 
: Oh! 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: —but wait there is more; there is more—(Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill. I do so because I believe that this bill has received a fair hearing from the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee and I would like to say that it has been particularly well articulated by Dr David Clark who has articulated his argument singularly well. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Who? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Dr David Clark. In spite of that though—he gave it his very best shot and I will be the last to criticise a member for giving his best to his own bill that was drawn out of the ballot. He has done it extraordinarily well but in spite of that—in spite of his prowess—I still find he has not argued a reason to support the bill nor does the select committee support the bill. 
It is a pleasure always to follow Barbara Stewart as a speaker. She speaks fulsomely and fervently. But having just experienced my own attempt to accompany a bill through the House and having been unnecessarily savaged by Denis O’Rourke from New Zealand First I am going to be only nice to Dr David Clark. 
But the bill in fact will have very little substantive effect on days that matter a great deal—and these days really do matter a great deal to New Zealanders. The substantive effect other than in quite rare situations really does nothing to address the real issues facing employees and employers but it is a good sort of wallpaper job. National is focused on ensuring our employment relations framework is fair and flexible. We need to provide businesses with the confidence to take on staff while ensuring the rights of employees are well protected. This bill although very nice sounding—very nice sounding—does not address an actual substantive issue in the economy or the employment market. I kept looking for those bits in it—I kept looking for those bits in it—but no they were not there. 
Dr David Clark 
: Productive rested workers. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well yes but—you know. Anzac Day and Waitangi Day have special significance for every New Zealander. For most New Zealanders Anzac Day is an occasion to formally pay tribute to remember all New Zealanders killed in war and also to honour returned servicemen and servicewomen. It is a day of commemoration and memories and a time to give honour to those who gave so much. I really treasure the Anzac Day commemorations that as an MP one is fortunate enough to get invited to. They are really wonderful occasions. What is great is that the new generation is coming in ever greater numbers—ever greater numbers. That is wonderful to see. It is a tribute to the modern generation but also of course it is a tribute to the historical role played by our soldiers in New Zealand. 
So too is Waitangi Day an occasion to remember our nation’s history including its formation its great advances and the things we have done together in a bicultural sense and now in a multicultural sense as a nation. It is a time of fresh considerations. I have seen it in so many moods. I used to live in the far north in Hokianga and going across to Waitangi— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Didn’t quite fit in there either. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: —was always a pleasure. Say it again. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Didn’t quite fit in there either. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Ha ha! Oh I do not know about that. I really gloried in my Hokianga days. But we would go across to Waitangi and we had seen so many different styles. They used to have picnic days and they were always good fun. Then there was Norm Kirk’s pageant. That was a remarkable event for those of us who are old enough to remember it. Then we entered the difficult times of dissent and sometimes despair. It is an ever-changing socio-political day. 
This bill with all due respect to Dr Clark will not increase the importance of these days at all nor does this bill seem to understand why public holidays exist. It will create an extra day or two where businesses are forced to close or work under reduced hours. But it will not do anything to grow the weight of history that makes these days worthy of being so important that they require people to stop their routines to reflect which is after all the reason we have public holidays so that we can remember pay tribute and teach the next generation why we as a nation are where we are and what was sacrificed to get us here. 
This bill also will not culminate in a dramatic increase in days off for workers even though it might be painted that colour. That is not going to be the effect. The next time both holidays fall on a weekend is 2021. Waitangi Day alone falls on a weekend in 2016. Anzac Day falls on a weekend in 2015. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Why aren’t New Zealand First calling for a referendum? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well it might be calling for a referendum Mr Henare. It may well call for a referendum. A referendum is something you call for when you cannot make up your own mind. That is what I was always taught. That is maybe the style that New Zealand First likes to work to. 
 But this bill will not culminate in a dramatic increase in days off for workers. Despite David Clark saying that this will mean that all workers now get 11 paid holidays David that is not quite true. If you actually do not work on a Monday anyway—let us say on a shift basis—well you will not get Queen’s Birthday or Labour Day on the next working day. So— 
Dr David Clark 
: You can negotiate it in your employment agreement. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: No I think that little one slipped past you. It is for these straightforward reasons that the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee chaired responsibly and reasonably by my colleague David Bennett— 
Scott Simpson 
: Hear hear! 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Yes he is worthy of a “Hear hear!”. He chairs the meetings well. We really did Dr Clark treat your bill seriously. You gave a very articulate presentation and we responded to it responsibly. We took it seriously but we did recommend that it not be passed. To do so would achieve so little—so little. 
However if the House decides that the bill should proceed then the committee recommends that it adopt the following amendments just to help it a little bit. We would like to amend clause 2 or suggest that clause 2 should be amended to specify 1 January 2014 as the commencement date. Public access to legislation is improved by the inclusion of a specific commencement date. The first day that would be affected by this legislation is Anzac Day in 2015. This recommended commencement date would allow a full year for the public to prepare for the legislation—for example revising contracts and other legal instruments that include “working day” or “business days”. These are important aspects of suddenly introducing—well you cannot suddenly introduce things; you have to allow the public to prepare. We would amend clause 5 which inserts a new section 45A—section 44B in the bill as introduced—by amending new subsection 45A(2) to make it clear that an employee would not be entitled to more than one public holiday for Waitangi Day or Anzac Day. There are a few other new clauses we would introduce. Consequential amendments to various court rules would also be required. By convention these are made by Order in Council after consultation with the Rules Committee. 
Although these amendments do not resolve the overarching issues of the bill—it being wholly unnecessary accomplishing very little and arguably not improving the economy or the job market—they would make the bill more workable. We are elected to legislate. This is how the Opposition has chosen to put forward this bill and it is free to do so. We encourage the Opposition and we endorse the efforts that Dr Clark has made. The National Government in this case chooses differently. Thank you.