Lees-Galloway Iain: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLees-Galloway Iain: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 04 November 2015. Volume:709;Page:7694. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: Is he satisfied that the Employment Standards Legislation Bill will end zero-hour contracts?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Acting Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): Yes the Employment Standards Legislation Bill will support families by extending eligibility for paid parental leave it will help protect hard-working New Zealanders by strengthening the enforcement of employment standards and it will address unfair practices such as zero-hour contracts. While the term “zero-hour contracts” does not have a legal definition it generally refers to agreements that require an employee to be on call and available for work without providing a guarantee of hours or payment in exchange for that availability. The Government has made it clear there is no place for these types of employment relationships in New Zealand’s labour market. The precise detail of the legislation is currently being considered at the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee and I look forward to its recommendations in due course.Iain Lees-Galloway: Does he acknowledge that zero-hour contracts do not currently exist in law but will if his bill passes as it stands?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I acknowledge the first part of that question. I think it is a matter of debate on the second part and that is being discussed at the select committee currently.Iain Lees-Galloway: Well then does he agree with Human Rights Commissioner Dr Jackie Blue who said that the bill “leaves too much room for zero-hour contracts as there is still no provision for minimum hours to be offered in individual employment contracts.”?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I do not think that Jackie Blue is the Human Rights Commissioner.Iain Lees-Galloway: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think that is a fine point. I may have slightly got the name wrong—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Indeed that may well be the case but that is hardly a point of order.Iain Lees-Galloway: Does the Minister really expect the public to believe that everything is going to be just fine when the last time he did this he ripped the right to health and safety reps off tens of thousands of Kiwis and broke his boss’s promise to the Pike River families?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: He is simply incorrect as he was in the previous supplementary question. The Government is working very hard to ensure that this matter is properly addressed and I am sure the member in his quieter moments is contributing at the select committee.Iain Lees-Galloway: Is this not just more of the same from a Government that is making life less and less secure for working Kiwis just like when it took away New Zealanders’ meal breaks weakened their health and safety on farms cut negotiating rights—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Bring the question to a conclusion.Iain Lees-Galloway: —let employers walk away from the bargaining table—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! The question must be delivered in line with the Standing Orders. That one is not. I warned the member to bring it to a conclusion. I will give him one chance to ask a question that is in line. If he cannot manage to do so we are moving on immediately.Iain Lees-Galloway: Well is this not just another example of him ripping away rights from Kiwi workers?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: No. I appreciate that the member is probably auditioning for the Labour Party conference this weekend but the reality of it is that this Government takes a sensible and measured approach to these matters and the new workplace safety and health legislation is a very big step forward on the past law.