Brown Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brown Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:617;Page:12628] 
4.  
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Labour 
: Is he contemplating any changes to the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill given the public interest in its outcome; if so in what areas? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Labour) 
: 
 I am meeting with employer and employee groups to discuss the issues arising from the bill. I will consider any changes that the select committee recommends in due course. 
Peter Brown 
: Is the Minister aware that many people in this country—business people and employees—are quite happy with the current Act; therefore will he tell the House if he is aware of that where the pressure is coming from to make such significant changes as this bill does? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Yes I am aware that a number of people are happy with the current Act which is somewhat at odds with what a number of those same people said when the Employment Relations Bill was initially introduced. I heard at that time that some people were saying that growth would go down. Actually it went up. The same people also said that unemployment would go up. It went down. As a result I say that predictions often do not turn out to be true. 
Dianne Yates 
: With whom has the Minister met to discuss the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: I have met with Business New Zealand on a number of occasions the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions on a number of occasions the Business Roundtable and some of New Zealand’s major employers. I will continue to meet with other groups while the select committee hears submissions to obtain the best range of perspectives on the bill. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: Noting that the Minister has not met according to his last answer with the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) has he been advised therefore of the unanimous vote of 230 businesses in Auckland in favour of a resolution that “rejects the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill and asks that it be referred for genuine good faith tri-partite consultation between Government employers non-union employees and unions in accordance with the spirit of being a member of the ILO.”; if he has heard of that resolution what action if any does he intend to take? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: I suspect that organisation will tell me those things tomorrow when I meet with it in Auckland. 
Paul Adams 
: Will the Minister contemplate changes to the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill in light of the incorrect claim in the explanatory note that compliance costs to business are likely to be relatively insignificant yet anyone who takes on a new business or contract will face increased costs when the liability of the old workers is factored into the price? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: I am sure there will be changes to the bill. That is the nature of select committee processes. Of course compliance costs are some of the issues that I understand the select committee is looking into. 
Peter Brown 
: Does the Minister acknowledge that one of the main aims of the bill is to provide collective contracts for more employees and that the simplest way of achieving that is to remove the union monopoly that is in the current legislation? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Certainly one of the aims of the bill is to promote good workplace relations. It is certainly the aim of the Employment Relations Act to promote collectives. How those are to be achieved are the issues that I understand the select committee—of which the member is part—is considering at the moment.