Fenton Darien: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
Fenton Darien: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:670;Page:17154] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 I do not want to change the tone of the debate at all because I think the contributions on the Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill have been very genuine and heartfelt. It has been very moving to hear the contributions from all sides of the House and particularly the stories that have been told by people such as my colleague Maryan Street who was there when the earthquake happened. 
I am absolutely petrified of earthquakes. I am like Lianne Dalziel who said after the September earthquake that she had always thought the place to be frightened was Wellington. Of course that is now not the case. I come from a place in the country Auckland where we do not think we have earthquakes but apparently we do. Chris Hipkins showed me yesterday a little gadget he has on his iPhone that records every earthquake in the country and there are masses of them all over the country. It was amazing to see. I live in Auckland as I said and I think I am safe—apart from the volcanoes of course but that is another matter. 
As I said I commend all of the speakers for their very moving contributions and I repeat my sympathy for all of those in Christchurch who are suffering because of loss of life loss of home loss of jobs and so on. 
Just in case we do not get to have a very long debate in the Committee stage I will turn to the bill in this second reading speech if I may. It is a pretty straightforward bill and I think the Minister of Labour and the department have done a good job. It is a pretty simple approach. The bill provides for a one-off public holiday on 18 March—that is next Friday—in the Canterbury region to commemorate the Christchurch earthquake when there will be a commemoration service at Hagley Park. 
I am just seeking information because I am not sure of my information. I have already had quite a few texts calls and emails—and I know that my colleagues in Christchurch are getting these too—about what the day actually means. What does it mean for workers? What does it mean for business? It is a day that will be treated like any other public holiday except that it will apply only to Canterbury which means that employees can be required to work if their agreement says they can be required to work. If employees work on all or part of the day then they must be paid time and a half and they are entitled to an alternative day off. At the moment that alternative day off has to be agreed; after 1 April if it cannot be agreed the employer can decide when that day will be. Of course there is a reference to the Education Act which means that schools will be closed for the day as well. 
I will mention some of the issues that are coming up; I know that the Minister mentioned them in her first reading speech. For example businesses are expressing some concern about this bill. I was just talking to my colleague Lianne Dalziel who is in Bexley and she expressed concern—as indeed have other members in Christchurch. Some shops in Bexley where she works have opened today for the first time. It is the first time people have been able to get into their premises and they are really concerned about having to provide for time and a half or a day off next Friday. I know that other employers are complaining about having to fund a public holiday. It is not that they are against it; it is just that some of them are so much on the margins that they say it could tip them over. 
There are a whole lot of other issues as well. Somebody earlier in the discussion referred to the workers who had been transferred into Christchurch to help out and who have now been transferred out—people who are living and working in Timaru for example or people who have been transferred to other parts of the country by their employers who have other places in New Zealand where they can work. Will they be entitled to a public holiday? You know there are issues and there will be questions about those people that will need to be addressed. 
Of course there are some real difficulties concerning other questions that are coming up. Businesses are asking whether they are supposed to close and I think the Minister needs to make that clear. Because it is a commemoration day some businesses do not understand that they do not have to close. They have to let their staff off on pay or pay them time and a half. Because it is a commemoration day it feels something like Anzac Day when there is no trading. But there is trading under this bill. I think that needs to be made clear. 
Another question that has come up is about the situation if staff want to only go to the commemoration service and do not want to take the day off. What are they entitled to? How does that work? A very practical question came once again from Lianne Dalziel who is dealing in Bexley with constituents who still do not have access to Portaloos or chemical toilets. She asks where the Portaloos will come from if thousands of people pour into Hagley Park. I am not being facetious here; that is a very practical question that I think needs to be given some consideration. That is why many members on our side of the House are saying that it is just too soon and we are not sure whether these practical considerations have been thought through. 
Then we have all the workers who of course do not have jobs. I mentioned in my previous speech that millions of dollars have been paid out to employers to cover staff and individual employees. But another category of employees cannot even get to their jobs because of their personal situations—for example they have no toilets or showers no transport or their children are off school. Their employers are saying that their jobs are available and because their jobs are available they are not entitled to any subsidies. Those people are at home without any income. 
Then there is a whole other category of workers who are in no man’s land: their workplaces are still up and running but orders have reduced by 80 percent. So the laying off of staff has begun but they are not entitled to a subsidy situation. There are other stories as well that I think will need some answers. 
The other thing I will raise for the Minister—it may not be the time; it is not related so much to this bill—is that there are workers who are employed by multinational companies international companies which I understand are not eligible for earthquake cover. Hundreds of cleaners in the central business district for example are getting no support at all at the moment. 
There are issues but as we have said all along Labour will support this bill. We support the people of Christchurch and we will join in coming together to grieve next Friday.