Twyford Phil: Minimum Wage (Starting-out Wage) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Twyford Phil: Minimum Wage (Starting-out Wage) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 18 October 2012. Volume:684;Page:6019. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatu) 
: 
 It is sad on this eve of Labour weekend that we should be in the House this afternoon debating what I would describe as National’s great leap backwards. This is what National believes constitutes an economic growth strategy— 
Brendan Horan 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I was just worried about the honourable member when he leapt backwards that he might have hit his head on the back— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Order! That is not a matter of order of the House. Please sit down. 
PHIL TWYFORD 
: As I was saying this is National’s great leap backwards and it was particularly galling and irritating to hear Chris Auchinvole the former member for West Coast - Tasman opining what a fantastic policy this is. This is the former member for West Coast - Tasman. I challenge that member to go and knock on the doors of the families of the former Spring Creek miners. Two hundred - odd Spring Creek miners recently lost their jobs because of this Government’s monetary policy. I challenge Chris Auchinvole to go and knock on the doors of those families and explain to them that driving down the minimum wage is an acceptable way to manage this economy and build opportunity. Go and knock on the doors of those families and tell them that working for $10.80 an hour is good for them and good for their families. Do it Mr Auchinvole. Do it and come back and report back to this House and tell us what those miners said because I would be very interested to hear what they said to you. 
What a disappointment—what a disappointment—this Government has been to New Zealanders. It came to office by saying that it was going to reduce the current account deficit. It was going to manage the economy back into growth. It was going to reduce the number of people migrating to Australia. It was going to reduce the wage gap with Australia. It was going to build more jobs. And what have we seen? We have seen defeat and failure on every single one of those promises. This Government has taken New Zealand backwards. 
Nothing illustrates the absolute poverty of ideas that characterises this Government more than its bringing this bill the Minimum Wage (Starting-out Wage) Amendment Bill to the House. This is a party that only a few years ago declared that increasing the take-home wages of New Zealanders was its top priority. It comes to the House this afternoon with a bill to legislate down the minimum wage to deliberately cut the amount of money that New Zealanders take home in their pay packets. It is unbelievable. Those members’ idea of stimulating growth is taking away the workplace rights and the livelihoods of New Zealanders. We saw it with the 90-day fire-at-will bill. We saw it with this Government’s willingness to trade away our employment law and people’s rights at work to Warner Bros and now we see it with a legislative cutting of the minimum wage. Those members are bankrupt of ideas. They have got no idea. They have given up on any attempt to grow this economy and grow the prosperity of New Zealanders. A couple of days before Labour weekend on a day when it is increasingly clear that one of our finest manufacturing companies is going to be sold into foreign ownership this Government has given up. This bill is the best it can offer New Zealanders to grow the economy and improve the livelihoods of New Zealanders. 
What kind of perverse logic is it when you legislate the cutting of wages for one of the most vulnerable groups in our society? As Andrew Little said in an earlier contribution to this debate jobs are created when employers have business confidence when they believe that there is a market for their products when they have certainty and when there is work to be done. There is no way and it is not credible to suggest that cutting the minimum wage from $13.50 an hour to $10.80 an hour will create jobs. 
This bill will not hurt just young people. By blowing a hole in the minimum wage what it will do is have a depressing effect on the wages of all low-paid workers in New Zealand. It is bad for young people. It is discriminatory and unfair. It will contribute to the growing sense of hopelessness that is driving thousands and thousands of our young people across the Tasman. 
What is worse—worse—is that it undermines all the effort that has been put into raising the productivity of New Zealand firms and New Zealand industry. We know that New Zealand employers are addicted to low-paid labour. That is why they do not invest in capital plant and technology to drive innovation and productivity and this bill makes that situation worse. This country is hungry for political leadership that will raise incomes and grow the productive economy. This bill does the opposite of that and Labour will fight it every step of the way.