Fairbrother Russell: Disabled Persons Employment Promotion (Repeal and Related Matters) Bill — In Committee 
Fairbrother Russell: Disabled Persons Employment Promotion (Repeal and Related Matters) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:637;Page:8084] 
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER (Labour) 
: 
 In speaking to this part of the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion (Repeal and Related Matters) Bill I simply ask the question of what is wrong with people being paid according to the work they do rather than according to the place at which they work. What is wrong with that? What is wrong with people being paid for the work they do rather than according to the place at which they work? There is no answer to that from the Opposition. The members of the Opposition do not meet that challenge. In that case why are they stalling on this bill? This is legislation that is fundamental to human rights in this country. It is fundamental to the way in which we regard our fellow citizens. It is fundamental to lifting the cloak of paternalistic behaviour which was redolent in the preceding speeches of those from the other side of the committee. 
It is fundamental to every citizen of this county that he or she has the right to be paid according to the work he or she does rather than according to the place at which he or she works. Dr Paul Hutchison has gone on and on about the disadvantage to the work centres that would be caused by the passing of this bill yet time and time again in his speeches in this House he refers to just one workshop—he speaks of just one of 47 providers in the country. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: No two major providers. 
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER 
: Two? Oh well two then. If there are two that indicates the lack of substance to Dr Hutchison’s argument. Forty-five out of 47 cannot be too bad in terms of those providers who support this bill. 
So I get back to the basic question we must ask ourselves: how do we regard our fellow citizens in this country? Do we regard them solely as an economic work unit to be exploited by organisations who are receiving better work than that for which they pay? Or do we regard them as equal citizens who should be paid fairly for the work that they do—not assessed on any inherent disability but judged on the work that they can do and their output and paid accordingly? 
It is time we stopped branding fellow New Zealanders. It is time we stopped putting people into little boxes and then shoving them to one side. The time for passing this bill has come and the time for delay is long past. So that is why clause 8 of the bill which deals with the exemption for approved organisations has a time frame that can be quite tight. But one can hardly say that it has not been without notice; this bill has been on the cards since 2001. The pathway strategy has been clearly defined and consultation has been extensive. At the end of the day National members can use all the words they like but they will not answer the challenge as to why someone should not be paid for the work he or she does rather than for the place at which he or she works. 
So I am pleased to be part of a Government that is bringing in a repeal of a 47-year-old statute that was passed in the days in which the National Party is still firmly rooted—the days of believing that one can determine people’s worth by the way their employers regard them. That is an elevation of thought—an approach to life that says that those who pay the piper will call the tune. Well there are some people in this country who need the protection of a Government that understands the different abilities of individuals and the richness of life and the colour that people of all stripes bring to our society. The day we put to one side the branding iron that brands some people as being inferior and less worthy than others—saying that those who work in such and such a place get branded as inferior—is the day we emerge as a much stronger more decent and more humane society. 
This is a bill whose time has come. This is a bill where the delaying tactics of Opposition members reflect only on them and no one else. This is a bill that says that all humans in this country no matter their range of abilities are entitled to respect to an opportunity to work to remuneration and to the recognition of their ability to organise their own lives—not because of some institutionalised bias and not because of some patronising attitude that two out of 47 employers will find this difficult to apply. I say that those two out of the 47 employers had better take a long hard look at the operation they run. They should take a long hard look from the client base up and say: “We employ human beings and we shall regard these human beings as people worthy of an appropriate and decent wage.” 
The time for delay is long past. The time to pay people of all stripes and abilities is here. This is the opportunity the National Party should be embracing. National members opposite should relieve themselves of some of their inhibitions and guilt and step forward up to the plate.