Bennett David: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Bennett David: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 The Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill was put up by Labour members in the last throes of their Government and was never actually taken on board as a Government bill. It is amazing that they come into the Chamber at this moment just in time to tell us that we should vote for the bill and that to not vote for it would be unconscionable to workers and not take into account the people who are out there working hard—all those great anti-Tory lines that the Labour Party uses. Yet what did they do when they were in power when they had the chance and when they were sitting on the Government side of the Chamber? They did not support this bill. They did not support this bill because even they knew it was bad law even they knew it was unworkable and even they knew that their colleagues at the time—New Zealand First—would not have voted for it. 
That is the problem with Labour members. If they are so high and mighty and come into this Chamber to say this bill is the best thing since sliced bread why did they not support it 9 months ago? They did not want to support it 9 months ago because they knew it would not work. So this bill is destined for only one position in this Chamber: it is destined for failure. It did not pass the Labour test when it was put up by Labour members so it will certainly not pass the test of this Committee at this time. 
Why does it not pass the test? It is because even the Labour Party in its heart of hearts knows that we cannot make employees and independent contractors the same. There is a point of difference. The reason we have the ability to independently contract services is that contracting represents different kinds of work in many cases. It often represents people being in business for themselves. When people are in business for themselves which is something Labour members would not have much idea of they actually have to make some sacrifices. They have to go out there and do things that would not fall under the rules and regulations of an employment agreement in order to get the business going. How many plumbers builders and electricians charge their clients on an hourly basis by the book? I bet members that they do not and they certainly will not do that in this current environment because they want to keep their jobs they want to keep their work and they want to make sure they give a fair deal for what they do. That is the business those people are in; it is not the business of 120 people in this Chamber sitting behind desks and chairs telling people how to run their lives. That is what people do not want and that is why they voted against Labour at the last election. That is why even the Labour members would not put up the bill. They knew it would never work. 
Look at this bill now. Labour members come in here and expect us to vote for it and then they put in amendments about increasing the minimum wage just to try to play for it. Well when National came into power we increased the minimum wage off our own bat; Labour did not have to tell us how to do it. The Labour Government never made a statutory increase in the minimum wage as Labour members are proposing now. Over 9 long years when the economy could actually pay for things they would not do that but in tighter economic conditions they expect us to do it. It does not make any sense. 
The relationship between this bill and the reality of commerce and of individuals’ ability to determine their own futures is non-existent. This bill does not relate to what it is like in the real world. In the real world people contract to provide services; in those contracts for services their position is to provide services and somebody pays them to do so. That is how it works; that is how life goes. People go out and provide a service for money. If we take away the ability of people to contract then we are taking away one of the fundamental rights of our economy we are taking away one of the fundamental rights of our people and the member proposing this bill will be taking away one of the fundamental human rights. It is a fundamental human right for people to better themselves to have a choice about how they live their lives to make a choice about how they conduct their businesses and to make a choice about how they provide their services. It is important that we in this Parliament enable people to make that choice and deliver those services in the appropriate manner. 
The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 4 in the name of Darien Fenton to Part 1 be agreed to.