Delahunty CatherineCATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green): Kia ora Mr Chairman. Tēnā koutou e Te Whare. I am very grateful to receive a call on this bill. I have a very very strong feeling that life is not perfect but we need to acknowledge the people outside this place who make change. I would just like to say to the 55000 care workers something they already know which is:Step by step the longest march can be won can be wonMany stones can form an arch singly none singly noneAnd by union what we will can be accomplished stillDrops of water turn a mill singly none singly noneSo they who have achieved this the care workers of this country and the unions that have worked with them I want to acknowledge them. I want to acknowledge them and their human struggle for the basic dignity that they give to people who need their care and that has not been in the past accorded to them until this day.This is not perfect. I would agree with previous speakers that the Government had to be dragged screaming and kicking to the table through the court—unnecessary process unnecessary cost and unnecessary stress. However step by step the women of this country will be paid what we deserve. The workers the feminised workforce that does the vital work without which none of us can function will one day get their full due. This is part of that process. This bill is part of that process.When my mother became ill—this has taken place in the 8 years that I have been in Parliament so it is very real—when she needed family support and when that was not enough and she then needed carer support I met the carers in a way that I had not before. I met people working for minimum wage who accorded our family care dignity and respect for us and for our mother in a way that I will never forget.I cannot believe that these people are treated and have been treated in the past the way they have been treated as workers. I cannot believe it because I—someone who does not do the hardest work in the world who does not deal with the most vulnerable and fragile people at that stage of their lives who does not have to use their body their imagination and their empathy every single day to get through supporting people in their most intense need—I do not have to do that here. I have been privileged every single day—financially privileged as well as in terms of working conditions. These people mainly women have shown us what it is to be not only a care worker but a dignified human being. They deserve this settlement and they deserve more.There are others here—my colleague Jan Logie and others—who know the detail of the bill and who can honour it in the technical as well as the emotional. But I make no bones about this. I am standing here to pay tribute to the care workers of this country—and I hope one day to the school support workers of this country and to all of the other feminised workers who do not get pay equity let alone a living wage—and to just say to them: Thank you for fighting for us. Thank you for the love you have given our family members. Thank you for being what we should all be. Thank you for fighting for what is right for yourselves and others."Women deserve to be treated equally and care is the greatest value that we have in our relationships. The greatest part about being a human being is caring for others. Kia ora tātou katoa."