Sio William: Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Waitaki Easter Trading) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sio William: Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Waitaki Easter Trading) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 27 June 2012. Volume:681;Page:3480. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 I too want to acknowledge the bringing forward of this Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Waitaki Easter Trading) Amendment Bill by the member for Waitaki. I appreciate that it is an issue that the member is saying is confined to that particular area. However this is the third or fourth time that such a bill has come before the House— 
Dr Rajen Prasad 
: 10. 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO 
: —10 at least—well since I have been here. Although I have heard the member say that it is confined specifically to Waitaki the problem that I have is that once it happens then— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Only one problem? 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO 
: —yes only one bottle—the genie is then released. 
I want to reflect to the member and the rest of the House the feeling that I have in terms of the community that I represent Mangere but also wider out in Manukau. I suspect there are other members here representing Manukau who will feel the same way. When similar bills came forward some years back in 2007 those issues were heavily debated in Manukau City Council when it did exist. By and large the feeling of that particular council when it did exist was that it had to set a limit around the interests of the commercial enterprises to try to balance that out with the interests of families in the workforce. So today the view of most trade unions that I have come across is that they still believe there should be sufficient time allocated for workers to spend with their families. 
I recall when the late Sir Paul Callaghan spoke at a conference—I think it was a Labour Party conference not too far from here—and said to us that in terms of where this country ought to be moving it is towards more high-value jobs and tourism was probably the least of these valued jobs. Therefore— 
Nikki Kaye 
: Do you support local bills mate? 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO 
: —we probably should be looking at countries in Europe that do not open on Easter Sunday— 
Hon Member 
: Is Raj Prasad still talking? 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO 
: —let me have my turn; you can have yours after—but are more wealthy economically than our country. 
The big problem I have is that we are going down the slippery slope of where workers are being forced to work over and over and over again for less and less and less. I have to ask is this not why we once upon a time had the 40-hour working week and the overtime and the triple time so that we confined the working environment to 8 hours a day allowing for the worker to have 8 hours of rest and 8 hours of leisure— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Are you not worried about the people down in the South Island? 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO 
: Well this is the point. If any business cannot survive closing on Easter weekend or on Easter Sunday it should not be in business really. If any business cannot pay workers a decent wage it should not be in business. That is the fact of the matter. 
But I want to raise another issue that is even more important from my electorate. We have Mangere Mt Roskill Manukau East Manurewa—it could be classified as the Bible belt. There are many Catholics as well as other religious communities who hold very dearly to Easter being an important event where there is a requirement for them to come together in worship but more important to spend time with family. I want to ask the member Peseta Lotu-Iiga where he stands on this because he is constantly talking religious stuff out in the community. So is he going to be voting in favour of this against what I am told by him he cherishes or will he support this particular bill? 
Although I appreciate it is a local issue that the member is trying to bring forward once we open up that bottle there where do we stop? Where do we stop and who really benefits from this? I think if anything we should be collectively coming together and building a better New Zealand where we are sharing the profits and where we are making sure that we are looking after families.