Martin TraceyHon TRACEY MARTIN (NZ First): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to support the Equal Pay Amendment Bill 2018. There are times when I stand in the House and just shake my head actually at some of the things that are being said by the Opposition. I don't know where Kristine Bartlett is today but I can only imagine that it must irritate her something shocking to be lauded by the Opposition today when she was required to take the court case forced into a situation of years of having to fight for what was now apparently according to the Opposition speakers obvious all along. It was obvious all along!I listened to the Hon Nikki Kaye. I totally support the acknowledgment of the joint working group—the joint working group that the previous Government put together disbanded and then completely ignored the majority of the stuff that they said should happen. The joint working group proved a lie to the fact that business and unions cannot work together for the betterment of all. Yet I would have to say to the public Go and have a look" and whenever else the word "union" is mentioned by the Opposition it's not often with that same loving tone I can tell you now. So I do want to acknowledge the joint working group.I want to acknowledge—again the last speaker talked about the pay equity deal the pay equity arrangement that was reached by Oranga Tamariki and the Public Service Association (PSA). That was $114 million over five years—a 30.6 percent increase for statutory social workers employed by Oranga Tamariki. But that didn't happen by accident. There are a couple of things that need to be acknowledged there. Tina Corrigan my very very dear friend Rachael Baxter-Mackay and Pixie Stockman: three women who had to put their names on a court case to bring that forward under the previous administration because that was the only way this was going to get discussed—for women to actually go to court. What Oranga Tamariki and the PSA have proven even before this legislation has gone through is that the way to create comparators collegially working together as employer and as workers' representatives—working collegially together to find the comparators is not an issue.It set the tone for the negotiations once that comparator was established—mutually agreed. So not only should the PSA and Oranga Tamariki be acknowledged for the collegial way that they actually worked through this issue came up with the comparators the way that the joint working group had said that they should—there was never any drama in it. We need to recall that when I believe the Opposition is going to try and go back to what was their preferred way of coming up with comparators—the hierarchy of comparators or whatever—that removed that ability for those representing the workers involved and the organisations and the employers to come up with what is right and what is proper for themselves. They are grown-ups. They are actually able to work together and we need to start breaking apart the myth that we cannot have this collegiality between employers and unions.I also want to acknowledge the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins and this coalition Government with supply and confidence partners who did an historic pay equity settlement for education support workers. Hundreds of women who support some of our most challenging young people inside our schools with physical and behavioural needs—back in August 2018 they received their pay equity settlement. That's going to take some of those support workers from between $16.77 and $19.87 per hour up to a new rate of around $25.70 per hour. That is an amazing lift for some of those women and quite rightly—Mark Patterson: Well deserved.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: "Well deserved." my male colleagues shout from behind me as they should.I will acknowledge again the Hon Nikki Kaye when she said that this is not just about money; this is about validation—validation of the work being done. Some of the work that women are doing for some of the lowest pay is among the hardest that we have inside this nation so we needed to make sure that we not only acknowledge it in a dollar value but acknowledge it just across society.I want to talk for a moment about the back-pay issue because I know it is causing some people concern. I want to acknowledge the fact that people need to go and have a look at new section 13ZD inserted by clause 18 which sets out limitation periods that will apply to awards for work performed before the date of the determination—e.g. before it was determined what the appropriate rate should be. It states that the maximum period for which back-pay can be sought is six years in all cases. And this is the point of it. We've heard again today from way back in 1998 to today that we still have an over 9 percent gap around what the value is of this work and this has been since the late 1990s. We cannot wait any more. So this is to incentivise both parties to get together and deal with this issue. With 125 years of women's suffrage we need to move on and put this to bed. We need to get this sorted and we need to get it sorted as quickly as possible.I am very interested—and again the Hon Nikki Kaye—in how quickly one shifts position. The Hon Nikki Kaye spoke about and I think the other speakers from the Opposition side have talked about how slow this Government has been—it's been here for 12 months—to address this issue. Nine years—nine years [Gestures to Opposition benches]; 12 months [Gestures to Government benches]. So I think we're moving with a somewhat rapid speed.I would welcome the members of the Opposition seeking to truncate the select committee if they think we're going too slowly. If the Opposition believes that the Government is going too slowly then I would suggest they can move a motion at select committee that it moves much faster through. Then we can return it to the House and get it into legislation and away we go—all will be right with the world according to the Opposition. But again while sometimes I do stand and shake my head what I do know about this side of the House is that this Government is moving forward to make New Zealand a better place for all New Zealanders and this is another step in the recognition that women New Zealanders needed—52 percent of the public needed.I'm going to make one last comment and that is around the suggestion that this Government may not be aware of flow-on effects out of the Oranga Tamariki pay equity settlement. We are and we are working on it so it's all right. Calm yourself—sorry not you Mr Speaker. The other thing though too is around this concept of how many women are in the workforce. I would like to make sure that we don't decide to set up a target for women in the workforce that forces them into the workforce unless they wish to be there.So this is about making sure that we don't see work as being the be-all and end-all with regard to your value to society. This is about making sure that when women do work they are paid fairly for the work that they do. Kia ora."