SpeechHon STUART NASH (Minister for Economic and Regional Development): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I stand in support of this Fair Pay Agreements Bill and I think the former Minister Goldsmith and I have one thing in common: we should be using this point in time on building on our strengths and our competitive advantages in creating the sort of economy that is going to last us into the short medium and long term.Before I came into Parliament I was involved in business: large New Zealand corporates—Fletcher Challenge and Carter Holt Harvey—a small private but highly successful company involved in international trade and the director of strategic developments in a large State sector organisation. I have Master's degrees in law and management and forestry science. In fact my forestry science thesis was in commerce and as Minister for Small Business and Minister for Economic and Regional Development it is my clear focus and driving challenge to lift productivity in this wonderful country because we have so much to offer in this beautiful country that we go to the world both for those who live here and those who seek to visit.But there is one thing we don't have one thing that we have not managed to crack over the years and that is a high level of both labour and capital productivity or multi-factor productivity that other small advanced economies have. We have over the years overvalued capital and undervalued labour. Instead of investing in plant and machinery to drive productivity to proactively increase investment in innovation that will drive and create world-leading companies we have based our growth on labour. In fact former finance Minister Bill English stated that our global competitive advantage was our cheap labour. No more. Our global competitive advantage will not and cannot be built on the back of working New Zealanders earning low wages under poor conditions. Bill English's vision was almost 19th century in its ambition and is the reason why economic growth under the previous Government was based on immigration not innovation.Every single management case study of innovative successful companies from around the world let alone this country highlights the culture created by owners/employers. It highlights that success isn't built on the back of workers but achieved by management and employees standing side by side working together to drive the type of growth innovation and productivity required to help deliver a strong sustainable economy that will help deliver success in the short and medium and long term. Good employers—and I freely acknowledge that the majority of New Zealand employers are good bosses—have nothing to fear from fair pay agreements. Most I think we will find will be able to use the provisions to benchmark what they are doing and how they are treating their staff and implement in a way that actually adds value both as an employer and as a company. The former speaker Minister Michael Wood highlighted some case studies themselves of people who come into the place that we call almost home that we call our house" and work incredibly hard and yet do not earn enough to be able to live with dignity. That is not fair. As a businessman I completely understand and absolutely buy into the value created by fair pay agreements and cannot understand why the National Party would be so against would be so opposed certainly at this point in our economic history. But then again I was actually on duty in this House when the Hon Paul Goldsmith National's workplace relations spokesman spoke on the Matariki bill. During his contributions he spoke against increases in sick leave for workers—in the middle of a pandemic! He spoke against increases in the minimum wage. He wanted to get rid of the labour weekend holiday and he spoke in favour of tax cuts that would give someone on the median wage $2 however someone on over $180000 a significant windfall. I genuinely believe that Chris Luxon the Leader of the Opposition misspoke when he called people "bottom feeders". I genuinely believe that he is a better person than that and he misspoke and he probably regrets that. But this is not the way nor is it the rhetoric to increase productivity or profitability. It is the tired words and out-of-date ideas from a previous time and we need to do better. I refuse to buy into the National philosophy that workers are just numbers on a spreadsheet to be manipulated and characterised as mere factors in production to be minimised and traded in a way that is unacceptable to most. Former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jim Bolger actually bought into the need for us to make change. And when I hear Paul Goldsmith talk about unions in the way he does it makes me wonder what he actually truly believes about workers and their rights. The thing I love about unions is that they are the voice for those who have not got a voice. We all know in the vast majority of companies whether they be large corporates or small businesses that there is an imbalance in power between those who own or run the company and those who work in the company. And the thing that unions do is they represent workers in a way that addresses that imbalance of power. They provide a level of fairness which is crucial to a highly functioning workforce and a highly productive economy. As mentioned good employers have nothing to fear from fair pay agreements; in fact quite the opposite. Great employers should welcome the ability to benchmark their practices against industry best practice. In fact what the good and the great employers will do and as mentioned I acknowledge the vast majority of New Zealand employers—certainly every single employer that I have met—is a good employer who wants what is right for his or her workers and his or her company and in fact the country. But what it will stop is in fact that race to the bottom that Minister Wood spoke about. It will stop the cowboys coming in and creating an environment which is uncompetitive and untenable to the vast majority who live in our communities. Most of us are here are mothers or fathers and the thought of our children working in companies in a way that they were exploited is just not tenable let alone our friends our family our colleagues and those who live in our communities. Those who exploit their workers are on notice that their practices will not be tolerated nor are they acceptable to the vast majority who live in our communities. The norms and practices reinforced by fair pay agreements are those reflected by our diverse communities. No longer should people have to work in a way that is unacceptable to the majority of New Zealanders and to be honest no longer acceptable to the vast majority of our trading partners either. As global consumers become more engaged more educated and more enabled they will want to know that they are buying products from companies that employ their workers that treat their workers in a way that is reinforced by these fair pay agreements. We have a brand that is "100% Pure". It is a brand enhanced by our Prime Minister who asked us all to be kind and we bought into this. In fact those words resonated around the world to the point that we were acknowledged in 2020 and 2021 by a number of world-leading and reputable organisations as the country that dealt with COVID better than anyone else.Dr Shane Reti: How's that going now?Hon STUART NASH: It is now time that we also live this brand and I think it's going incredibly well Dr Reti because we have one of the lowest death rates in the OECD and as a medical practitioner I am astounded you are asking that question. But that aside it is time that we lived this brand we heeded the call in all our workplaces across every industry across our country. Our competitive advantage will not and cannot be built on low wages. Low wages is not a plan for the future nor a strategy for prosperity. And disrespecting workers is not a way to treat other human beings. Fair pay agreements will ensure that workers are treated well and are treated fairly that employers understand their obligations and once again we can take our place in the world as a wonderful place in the world to do work and to work. That is only fair and right. Thank you."