Fenton Darien: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Fenton Darien: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 02 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4246. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
11. 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister of Labour 
: Does she stand by her statement regarding foreign chartered fishing vessels “If breaches of labour law occur—such as underpayment of wages or illegal deductions or breaches of the Code of Practice the Department of Labour will be able to investigate them and take action”? 
Hon KATE WILKINSON (Minister of Labour) 
: 
 Yes. I said that as part of our announcement that we will be moving to require reflagging of foreign fishing vessels. This bold step was much needed because the current system which Labour put in place in 2006 was simply not working. That system has created many difficulties around pay conditions and enforcement on foreign boats and we are trying to deal with these current issues as we transition to the new regime. 
Darien Fenton 
: Why after more than a year have the crews of  
Oyang 
 75 
 and  
Shin Ji 
 still not received the wages they are owed under the Minimum Wage Act when she said the Department of Labour would help? 
Hon KATE WILKINSON 
: There are various vessels going through various stages of the auditing process which is an increased auditing process under the improvements that we have made. We did inherit a system that was in disarray we did move boldly and we are doing what we can to make sure that minimum wages are actually maintained and that conditions are actually enhanced. 
Darien Fenton 
: How much funding are the crew members owed and is the amount greater or lesser than the cost of the three investigations her department has so far ordered into this issue without achieving any result? 
Hon KATE WILKINSON 
: I do not have the amount in order to answer that question but if you put it in writing I am happy to give it a go. 
Barbara Stewart 
: Has she read the US Department of State’s  
Trafficking in Persons 
Report 
 for 2012; if so what is her response to claims that foreign charter fishing vessels are employing slave labour in New Zealand waters? 
Hon KATE WILKINSON 
: We are always very concerned about any suggestions of slave labour in the seas whether they are our seas or not. That is why we took the very bold step of having a ministerial inquiry into foreign fishing vessels and that is why the decisions following on from that went further than the recommendations of the inquiry itself. 
Darien Fenton 
: Is it true that the widows of the six crew who drowned when the  
Oyang 
 70  
sank in the Southern Ocean in 2010 have also not received the wages owed to their lost relatives; if so what is her department doing about it? 
Hon KATE WILKINSON 
: As I answered in response to a previous question albeit generically the department is going through various audits of all fishing vessels. We have got the services of KPMG as an independent auditor because some of the tracking of the money through the sources is actually forensic accounting takes some specialist work and is not an easy job. That is why we tried to fix a code that was put in place under Labour and was not working. 
Darien Fenton 
: Can she assure the House that the new rule she is introducing around the flagging of foreign fishing vessels will stop this 21st century slave labour conduct; if so why is she allowing these practices to continue for 4 whole years before implementing the new rules? 
Hon KATE WILKINSON 
: I can assure the House that the new code that is being proposed is vastly superior to the old code which was in place under the Labour Government and which it did nothing for.