Huo Raymond: Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHuo Raymond: Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 02 July 2013. Volume:691;Page:11711. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RAYMOND HUO (Labour):Tēnā koe Mr Chair and good afternoon to all parliamentary colleagues. I am enjoying this urgency session as I always do and I am not quite sure whether—Hon Trevor Mallard: It is still the 2nd—it still says “Tuesday” on the wall.RAYMOND HUO: Of course it is Tuesday. Of course it is Tuesday because it is an urgency session. I am not quite sure whether we will carry on into Friday or Saturday but if we do it will be more exciting. Just imagine—a group of parliamentarians engaged in a kind of a fierce debate but a quality and a fair debate on the Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Amendment Bill on a Saturday for the purpose of protecting the public safety and all other good things associated with this particular bill.To the surprise of the Minister for Building and Construction the Hon Maurice Williamson I did read his second reading speech. I was not in the House when the bill received its second reading because I was overseas as part of the Prime Minister’s business delegation. Three or four people from the sector—probably three because one of the emails was sent twice—believed or decided that I should read the Minister’s speech so they sent the speech notes to me by email and I did read it. Juggling between functions events and meetings I did read the Minister’s speech and I enjoyed it. There is merit in his speech and on that basis I should acknowledge that the issues or problems around the Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board and the entire sector are historical. So the issues or problems are not necessarily associated with one particular board or one particular Minister and I believe that is a fair comment. Fairness or a lack of fairness is one of the reasons why this sector or a significant number of tradespeople from the sector have taken the case so far and why many of the tradespeople in the sector have chosen to oppose the bill.I should congratulate theCampbell Live team on its television report “The politics of plumbing” which picked up some interesting points that I had not picked up. The confession from me is that I did not pick up the show and I did not watch it until yesterday afternoon—until a group of people again from the sector decided that I should watch the show. This was because my mind was directed to some other issues and some other bills so I had not followed the developments of this particular bill that closely.The show addressed some interesting but important issues. First of all who are the cowboys? One of the purposes of this bill is to ensure that the Plumbers Gasfitters andDrainlayers Board is properly funded to carry out its statutory duty in order to protect public safety and health. In order to carry out its statutory duty including the board’s prosecution function it must be funded in some way. Nobody would argue against that. Nobody would disagree with that. But who are the cowboys? Yes there are a number of untrained unregistered and unlicensed tradespeople in the sector but if we look a little bit deeper into this particular issue concerning this particular bill the matter is not that clear-cut regarding the so-called cowboys.In no way would I defend cowboys if they are genuine cowboys but as presented in the television show among the tradespeople in the sector a number of good competent and skilled tradespeople like Mr Allan Day who have chosen to boycott what they call unlawful levies and fees in whatever form—or to borrow the Ombudsman’s words it is a new form of tax. They have chosen to boycott it because what the board has been doing was against the law. This bill is intended to validate the board’s unlawful action—Hon Ruth Dyson: Retrospectively.RAYMOND HUO: —exactly as the Hon Ruth Dyson says—and to make retrospectively what was unlawful lawful. If “retrospective” “ultra vires” or “validation” are too much like legal jargon simply watch theCampbell Live show “The politics of plumbing”.Where there is a breach of law by the tradespeople there is a prosecution from the board and by the board and the entire sector is being asked to fund the prosecution. But where there is a breach of law by the board we have now a Minister for Building and Construction trying to ram through this legislation in an urgency session to validate retrospectively what was unlawful and make it lawful. That is exactly why we have been asked to be here today to debate a bill that is being rushed through in an urgency session.Secondly the information made available to the Government Administration Committee was shocking. In 2001 the cost to relicense for two trades—I am not quite sure which two trades; they could be gasfitting drainlaying or plumbing—was around $50 and $75 for three licences. But today a 5-year licence configured around the board’s regime costs $10000.Andrew Little: What?RAYMOND HUO: It is $10000 according to the information made available to the select committee. Many of the tradespeople who are employed or self-employed have no choice—Andrew Little: No wonder we’re running out of tradespeople.RAYMOND HUO: —exactly as Mr Little says—but to pass on the cost to consumers. Many cannot afford it and some have chosen to boycott. Therefore they become unregistered and unlicensed and therefore they are nicknamed cowboys. The same 5-year licence in Australia costs only $330. It is no wonder that we are losing quality tradespeople to Australia and our housing prices are getting higher and higher. I welcome and urge the Minister to rebut the claim. But what is more scary and what should cause more concern is that if we let the sector carry on under the leadership of the Minister and the leadership of the board sooner or later to get a plumber gasfitter or drainlayer to your doorstep will be as expensive as it is to instruct a lawyer.I feel so sorry for the Minister for Building and Construction the Hon Maurice Williamson who is one of the most experienced and longest-serving MPs in New Zealand. But watching him onCampbell Live  where we saw a picture of him framed by a toilet seat too I felt saddened. I felt saddened when I watched the television show yesterday and I still feel saddened. Although politics is not designed for the faint-hearted or the thin-skinned this is not a good look for his National-led Government supported by ACT and Mr Peter Dunne. This reflects to a large extent the level offrustration of the sector. Again I feel saddened because it is not a good look for the Minister it is not a good look for the Government and it is not a good look for all politicians. Again this reflects to a large extent the level of frustration of the sector and this is one of the many reasons why Labour finds it hard to support this bill.In my subsequent contributions I would like to touch upon some details in this bill. Thank you.