Hipkins ChrisThird ReadingHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Health): I move That the Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlements Amendment Bill be now read a third time. Thank you Mr Speaker. It's nice to be called before you've even asked for it but I move that the Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlements Amendment Bill be now read a third time. This is a significant piece of legislation that's broadly supported across the House and I do welcome the support that all parties have indicated they will be giving to this particular piece of legislation.The bill makes an important amendment to the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017. That Act was a very historic settlement and one that was very well debated in the House at the time. That was the settlement for those workers in aged care disability and home and community support sectors. It addressed the historical undervaluation of the work in those sectors simply because they were being done predominantly by women. The Act however excluded those working in the mental health and addiction sector. This bill implements the new pay equity settlements for mental health and addiction workers and vocational disability workers who are employed by Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development. It ensures that the support those workers are providing to support those experiencing mental health and/or addiction challenges receives the same pay rates as those who are working in the aged care disability and home and community support sectors. It also corrects a formula within the existing Act and formalises the ongoing payment of care and support workers' rates to vocational and disability workers who are employed by Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development. This urgency has had a little bit of a pay equity / pay parity flavour to it and I for one welcome that. I think it is appropriate that Parliament moves swiftly to ensure that people are paid a fair day's pay for a fair day's work and that they are not discriminated against based on their gender. It is simply wrong to suggest that in a like-for-like comparison some jobs are paid less than others simply because there are more women doing those jobs than in other sectors. This bill goes some way to delivering the commitment that we have all made as a Parliament for quite some period of time now—decades now—to eliminate that practice. It is taking a while for that to flow through into actual practice and so I think the fact that we've seen the changes to the equal pay legislation passed through the House yesterday—and I hope to see this bill pass through the House very very shortly—I think that's a good sign and something that the Parliament will welcome. So I want to thank the Health Committee for its consideration of the bill and the amendments that they have made to the bill that have arisen from their deliberations. I think the select committee process did demonstrate that there is wide support for this bill including across the House. The committee's amendments have ensured that it better reflects the settlement that was reached between the unions mental health and addiction service providers district health boards the Ministry of Health and of course the separate agreement for vocational disability workers. I don't intend to speak for a long time on this legislation. I think it's a good piece of legislation it is an overdue piece of legislation and I commend it to the House.