Chadwick Steve: Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 Repeal (Easter Sunday Local Choice) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Chadwick Steve: Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 Repeal (Easter Sunday Local Choice) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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Hon STEVE CHADWICK (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to speak to the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 Repeal (Easter Sunday Local Choice) Amendment Bill. I find I am in an odd position in Opposition as the ex-MP for Rotorua. 
Paul Quinn 
: Ex! 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK 
: Yes absolutely; I lost Todd won and he is bringing this bill into the House but I always supported Easter trading. I supported it because I was the MP for a vibrant and very alive tourist diamond of New Zealand. 
When I first got into Government Rodney Hide’s bill carried over from Patricia Schnauer was before us and I supported that bill too. I have to say I came in for a lot of challenges in my party at that time and over time we changed clauses in the bill. I have heard lots of debate including comments just now from Simon Bridges that there are workers’ protections in this bill and that it is great that they have choice. In effect they do not have much choice. I really believe that that is the position we are in. I put in a clause to strengthen worker protection after Rod Donald’s garden centre amendment to Easter Sunday trading and I was very clearly shown that it did not protect workers who were coerced to work. 
I really believe here and now that whatever the outcome of tonight’s debate—and I think this is the most muddled debate; I think we have debated this issue seven times in the House—the issue will not go away. It will keep coming back to the House but I believe it has to come back as a Government bill. Government members are now in the perfect position of having the Prime Minister as the Minister of Tourism. Herein lies another hook. If workers were given the protection of Easter Sunday being made one of the annual public holidays and were given time and a half and a day in lieu we would not be coming back to debate this issue in this House every time there is a new Parliament. 
I do not believe that a member’s bill will ever really make the cut. I fought very hard for a bill such as this one and members who were around in the last 9 years know that I did. I think I did quite a good job but one would have thought during the election campaign that that was one of the reasons why I was an abject failure and why Rotorua would toss me out. And Todd was going to do it—he was going to come in on his white charger― 
Todd McClay 
: A blue charger! 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK 
: ―a blue charger; that is right—and fix it once and for all. 
I wish Todd McClay good luck because I think the debate is still very divided. Workers are saying: “You may think that you put worker protections in here but actually there is coercion that we don’t feel comfortable with.” That is absolutely what the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the National Distribution Union have told me and so have workers. They say that if they dare suggest that they want to have Easter Sunday off they will be told: “There are plenty more workers in this labour market especially in the time of a recession and you will be down the road sunshine.” I do not think there is adequate protection for workers in clause 10 of this bill. 
Darien Fenton 
: Very weak. 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK 
: It is weak and if it gets through tonight then that is one thing that the Commerce Committee or whichever committee it goes to will absolutely have to work on. I believe John Key has the perfect tool. He has a working party looking at the holidays now. If that came back tidied up we would all be very relieved. We could get on with other great noble members’ bills in this House. The way to tidy it is to do it through that working party review of the holidays we have now make Easter Sunday a public holiday pay people properly for it and give them time off. 
I am still the buddy MP for Rotorua and I am still “hanging around” Todd. I support this bill and I am proud to support it. It was just good luck that it was drawn in the ballot; it was not good management by the member for Rotorua. I wish Rotorua good luck. I have just returned from there and the people of Rotorua are waiting to know that this House will support them and get the bill referred to a select committee. They have gone trans-Tasman and they want to see a vibrant retail sector and a vibrant service sector. There is that hook for the service sector—pay them properly and they will be there when they choose to work. I am pleased to speak on this bill. I am so glad I got an opportunity to do so. There is a way of fixing it.