Clark David: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Clark David: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 20 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:8082. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North) 
: 
 I move  
That the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. It is a pleasure to be speaking to the second reading of this bill. Like Mr Auchinvole for me this bill represents my first bill through this House and I am grateful for the opportunity to do that. I understand that Mr Auchinvole has gone to do media so he may not hear this speech in its fullness. But before I get too far into this address I do wish to put on record my thanks to other parties in this Parliament that have come together to support this bill. There have been pledges of support for this bill from the Green Party from New Zealand First from the Maori Party from the Mana Party from United Future and from Brendan Horan and without the support of all of these colleagues this bill could not proceed. I think it is a sign of how the Parliament can come together when there is something that is obviously a sensible thing to do that we ought to get on and do and that can just proceed without the need for the Government to be involved it seems. The Government is on the wrong side of this bill and yet it cannot stop its progress. 
The bill has returned from the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee with what might be described as only cosmetic changes. Those changes are aimed at clarifying for legal reasons its purpose. The bill is largely as it went into the select committee. It was very well drafted and for that I wish to place on record my thanks to Mr Robertson its previous sponsor. 
Grant Robertson 
: That will be me not the Assistant Speaker. 
Dr DAVID CLARK 
: Yes. It has continued to enjoy widespread support; 80 percent in the most recent Stuff poll is indicative of all of the surveys I have seen. The only quantitative survey of the business community that is available did actually survey 1000 small and medium enterprises so it could be seen as reasonably authoritative in that sphere. That survey recorded support of 50 percent in favour of the bill and if you add to that number in favour those who regard it in a neutral way you get to 87 percent. So there are 87 percent who either feel neutrally about it or support it. There are only 13 percent of that community who for one reason or another are not in favour of the bill passing—and it is fair to say even that has been a muted response. It is the kind of bill that enjoys very widespread support so that is why it is a pleasure to bring this bill to the House. It is one that has widespread support and that seems to represent common sense. It is little wonder too when it gives hard-working Kiwis some well-deserved time with their friends and family. We know that we work very long hours in New Zealand and this bill provides us with the opportunity to have a couple of extra days every 7 years. 
The bill addresses an issue that really occurs only in those years when Waitangi Day and Anzac Day fall on a weekend. It will amend the Holidays Act 2003 to provide for the transfer of the public holidays for Waitangi Day and Anzac Day if they fall on a weekend. The days of celebration will still be 6 February and 25 April respectively but there will also be a public holiday on the Monday that follows. The bill came into existence really in response to the situation in 2011 when Kiwis had only nine holidays in a year when they were expecting 11 public holidays. Mr Grant Robertson spotted that anomaly and identified a public mood for change. We know that in those years when we miss those holidays we really do miss those holidays. It is what we already do for Christmas and other public holidays. Christmas is still celebrated on 25 December each year even when it falls on a weekend. The only difference is that Kiwis know they can count on a holiday being added after Boxing Day. It is time they will get to spend with their friends and families. And it is exactly the same with New Year. When New Year’s Day falls on a weekend revellers do not hold off their celebrations. Instead they count on subsequent and additional days of recreation. 
It is also what they do in Australia by the way. We know that in Australia Anzac Day is already Mondayised in seven of its eight territories. In Western Australia in Victoria in Australian Capital Territory in New South Wales in South Australia in Queensland and in Northern Territory they Mondayise Anzac Day and anecdotally the experience is that they get increased turnouts at the Dawn Parades. It stands to reason. You can imagine that on a Sunday morning if you have got small children and you know you have got school the next day it is easier not to go to those kinds of commemorations. But when you know that you have got the next day to spend with friends and family relaxing it makes sense to take your family along. You might even travel to be with your family to commemorate the important occasion of Anzac Day. I think Anzac Day does have a growing significance for New Zealanders as a part of their national identity and as a part of our history and that is part of what this bill recognises—that growing significance to New Zealand of Anzac Day. The nearest equivalent of Waitangi Day in Australia is Australia Day and we find that in Australia again seven out of eight of its territories already Mondayise that day. It is only New South Wales that does not Mondayise. So the majority of Australians are used to this kind of thing; it is what they do there. It is what we are in fact used to with all our other holidays and it is a little bit of an anomaly that we do not already do this for Anzac Day and Waitangi Day. I guess that when those holidays were originally formed we perhaps did not celebrate them so universally as a country and in such a significant way as we do now. That is why I think the time has come to give these holidays the full recognition that other holidays have. 
I have been asked by a lot of people about when this bill will take effect and what it really means for them in terms of when the holidays kick in. For the record the Anzac Day holiday on 25 April next falls on a Saturday in 2015. That is the first time that we will have the Monday in lieu after this bill passes through to law and then Waitangi Day the following year. And then it is not until 2020 that Anzac Day falls on a weekend and again in 2021. Likewise for Waitangi Day it is 2021 and 2022. So until 2022 we can look forward to an extra 6 days’ holiday as a result of this bill. 
It is symbolic but it also recognises that in those years when we miss the public holidays we really do miss them and this fixes it. I guess it is a bit like a house that leaks. When it is not raining you do not notice it but when it is raining you do. Now that it is not raining—this year we did have our full complement of 11 holidays—we are taking the opportunity to repair the roof to make sure that we fix the situation so that we do celebrate these holidays fully in those years when they fall on a weekend. The bill overall if we look at it in broad perspective is about giving Kiwis a decent break. Kiwis deserve all of the holidays they get and this bill ensures they get those 11 public holidays each and every year. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: Not many. 
Dr DAVID CLARK 
: “Not many.” my colleague says—11. It could be more but 11 is a good start and that is what this bill achieves. 
We also know that there has been a bit of scaremongering. I wish to put on record that the Government’s numbers have been shown to be fairly inadequate. 
Grant Robertson 
: Again. 
Dr DAVID CLARK 
: “Again.” my colleague comments and he is right. The figures the Government came up with for the costs did not take into account the self-employed people who are not affected by the changes in public holidays. They ignored the benefits of domestic tourism which Martin Snedden made a lot of. It is strange that the Minister of Tourism has not come out in support of this bill. The industry is certainly hurting over that from those whom I have spoken to. Certainly I had the opportunity to be in the Coromandel over the break and people up there were unhappy with their electorate MP for the fact that the bill was not being supported. So we see around the country that the benefits were not counted. We also see that the numbers just do not stack up for a range of other reasons too numerous to mention here. 
I want in closing to say that the Labour Party is very proud to bring this bill to the House because it does give the full recognition that other holidays have and makes sure that hard-working Kiwis get to spend time with friends and family each and every year not just 5 years out of 7. Thank you.