Henare PeeniPEENI HENARE (Labour—Tāmaki Makaurau): Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Thank you for this opportunity. The previous speaker Chris Bishop just actually proved the point of the New Zealand First member's assertions that in fact he does live in a bubble and that there is a world outside of this place and outside of Cabinet papers and outside of the numerous reports that are given to select committees and to members across the House.There is a world outside of this place and that world exists with real people. That world exists with people who are trying to make a living—trying to make a living for their families trying to make a living for a better future for themselves to make sure that they are able to compete in a job market that allows them to compete fairly that allows them to be able to compete fairly against some of those other operators out there who actually do go out seeking to undercut and do go out to force these types of wages down.Furthermore I take the point of Mr Mitchell in saying that it is also the reality out there that there are some dodgy employers. There are some fantastic ones and I dare say for the most part many of them are operating well within the law and others and I want to commend Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust at this time who have committed to paying their staff a living wage; a living wage—not the minimum wage—a living wage. For Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust in Tāmaki-makau-rau you have got to appreciate that the cost of living in Tāmaki-makau-rau is extremely high so I congratulate Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust and all of the good employers out there that actually do right by the contractors—do right by the people. Mr Mitchell is right when he says it is about people. It is not simply about the businesses it is not simply about the market and We'll let the market sort it out."; it is fundamentally about people.With this particular bill I stand obviously to support my colleague the Hon David Parker in his attempts to bring fairness into this space and I take the point from Mr Bishop who talks about retreads. What this actually speaks to—and the Leader of the Opposition hit it on the head—is that we are committed to these things. The Labour Party is committed to fairness in the labour market. We are about good jobs we are about allowing people who work hard to get paid fairly and that is what we are here for so it is no surprise to see an attempt in the last decade to get this bill across the line and when it did not succeed to come back and do it again—because we are committed to that. We do not flip-flop. We do not make policy or decisions on the hoof off the cuff or as we run and "We'll pay people to leave Tāmaki-makau-rau" and all of the other things.Mr Bishop also spoke about intentions versus outcomes. Well I think that is pretty rich given the brightline legislation around property and capital gains tax that was recently introduced by this Government. It is as those members have mentioned in the debates on that particular bill well-intended but it actually does nothing. It does absolutely nothing and we challenge them on that.At its core this bill is about being fair. It is about making sure that as already mentioned if someone works hard they are paid fairly. It also seeks to close a loophole that sees contractors exploited. The Leader of the Opposition spoke at length about the exploitation that is out there in the current workforce today. It is everywhere—contractors young people and workers right across the entire work spectrum are suffering from exploitation from far too many employers so this seeks to close one of those loopholes that see some of those dodgy practices by employers exploiting contractors.We on this side also believe that this bill is fair—that it actually does not hold back business. We do not believe that it holds back business. In fact one of the reasonable aspects of this particular bill is that where a contractor—like a truck driver—has a contract with two separate employers they cannot take advantage of that position. You know this is a reasonable step for this particular bill and it does not disadvantage the employer in any way. In fact it puts the onus back on the contractor to operate within these particular rules so we recommend an amendment to new section 6A in clause 10 to provide for that particular issue.One of the growing concerns for this country—and we have been fighting and advocating for this particular issue to be forced on to the agenda of this particular Government—is around poverty. It is around low wages. Despite the Government's assertions that wage rises are outstripping inflation and that everybody is doing better that is actually not the case. We see it far too many times in our electorate offices across Tāmaki-makau-rau and even in the regions now where we are seeing families struggling out there. We want to see this first step in bringing equity into this particular field—to make sure that contractors are paid fairly and that employers are looking after those people who actually make their business.We also in this particular bill would recommend that the minimum rate of remuneration be reviewed annually so that we do not come back in 10 years' time trying to seek another equitable position for contractors in the market place. We need a constant review process that happens annually to make sure that the wages that are being paid to contractors will keep up with or at least track the cost of living for many of our people out in in Aotearoa New Zealand.Finally we I the Labour Party—this side of the House—stand to support this bill to congratulate the Hon David Parker on his hard work in this space. There were many challenges in the select committee process where Mr Parker along with my colleagues on this side of the House put up a good fight and we hope that this Government realises that these particular bills are actually for the betterment of all Kiwis for all New Zealanders and not just for the very few. Kia ora."