Mitchell MarkHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. It is a huge honour to stand and take a call on this Domestic Violence—Victims' Protection Bill at second reading.I just want to acknowledge the previous speaker Jan Logie and the bill that she's brought to this House. I think we came into Parliament in the same year—in 2011—and no one can challenge her absolute 100 percent relentless focus and dedication to making sure that victims of violence issues are raised and brought into this Parliament.I have to say that I want to thank her for not getting up and making a speech about how much it's only the Green Party or herself that cares about these issues because actually the people on this side of the House care very deeply about these issues as well. And if we choose to disagree that the intent of the bill—we do not feel that it's actually going to achieve what is the genuine intent of the sponsor of the bill—it doesn't mean that we don't feel very deeply and passionately about these issues.I can tell you now from my own personal experience and I was reflecting on this that I came on to the committee very late and I got involved in the—and I'm disappointed that Jan Logie is sitting there shaking her head because when I listened to you I did it with respect. A big part of the kaupapa of this House is that that happens and you're sitting there just shaking your head at—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Order! Please I ask the member not to include me in the debate—Hon MARK MITCHELL: Sorry Madam Assistant Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): —and to address the Chair as opposed to the member.Hon MARK MITCHELL: I was reflecting before I came to the House to speak tonight. I too dedicated most of my adult life to trying to prevent and stop domestic and family violence and trying to ensure that the victims of domestic and family violence were protected from the offenders and the perpetrators of it. I didn't just do this in New Zealand although I had a 14-year policing career that kept me on the front lines. Some of the toughest places actually to police during my time were the East Coast and Gisborne. At that time we were still dealing with some massive social issues and some of them are still there unfortunately including the issues that we had with Rastafarians and some pretty horrible gangs.But I didn't just do it there; I actually did it in Iraq and I did it in Somalia and made sure that in the programmes that we were implementing always at the heart of them was making sure that family violence that violence against women that violence against minorities that targeting of minorities was at the forefront in driving what we were doing. So when I came on to the committee I was very interested in this bill because I honestly felt that if there was something in the bill that would make a fundamental change in the way that victims of violence and family violence could be supported and helped then I thought that was a very good thing to do. But when I actually looked at the bill and started to look at it closely I realised that actually what we were trying to do is just somehow transfer the issue back into the workplace.Now I agree—I totally agree—that the victims of crime should feel confident that they can go and talk to their employer they can discuss what they're dealing with and the employer will be able to work out a plan for them to mean that they feel safe and secure in their employment and that they are supported in terms of whatever they're having to deal with at home. I think that you're right. A lot of the submissions from business clearly demonstrated that they were already doing that.The submissions though were from big business and let's make a clear definition here. It's that big companies are able to absorb far more costs and compliance than a small to medium sized business. The reality here in New Zealand is that 70 percent of our economy is small to medium sized business. I can tell you right now as a business owner—and I've been a small-business owner and I transitioned a small business into what would be seen as being a big business. I can tell you right now that as a small-business owner the thing that kept me awake at night the thing that I worried about—well there were two things. One was cash flow because small businesses without cash flow will wither and die on the vine.Hon Andrew Little: Ha ha!Hon MARK MITCHELL: The other thing—I mean you might find it funny but this is actually true all right?Hon Stuart Nash: We're dealing with this with the invoicing today.Hon MARK MITCHELL: Yeah. The other issue is making payroll. When you have employees the first responsibility that a small-business or medium-business owner has—and I'm talking about those because those are the ones that are going to be affected most by this bill—and the thing that they worry about most is making payroll. All of us here in this House—although I acknowledge Jo Luxton in the House because I've listened to her speak. She's a small-business owner and I think she understands completely the challenges that are faced by small business—whether it be cash flow whether it be personnel—and worries about being able to make that payroll and actually pay your employees.That is something that is important because actually if the business fails they don't have a job. They're not able to put food on the table for the family. The problem that I saw with this bill is that what we're going to do is we're going to say Small and medium sized businesses you're now going to have to find a way to manage an additional 10 days of leave. Small and medium sized businesses you're now going to have to find a way of managing the compliance costs and the compliance issues that come with that. Small and medium sized business owners you're going to have to find a way of being able to manage what are often very complex domestic violence and family violence issues back at the home."Actually in my experience—and maybe it's changed—actually some people do want their privacy protected. Some people don't want to—you might look surprised. Some people don't want to discuss their issues in the workplace. Some people actually just want to maintain a separation between the two.Priyanca Radhakrishnan: It's not forcing anyone to.Hon MARK MITCHELL: So—well no. You're not forcing them but part of the argument that you're making is that—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Not me. Thank you.Hon MARK MITCHELL: Sorry Madam Assistant Speaker. Yeah one of the arguments that has been made by the member is the fact that it's going to allow people to speak about their issues in the workplace. If they want to do that now they can—if they want to do that now they can. Is there anything right now that's preventing a victim of family or domestic violence from being able to go to an employer and talk to them? We know the answer to that. The answer is no. There is nothing stopping them. How do we know the answer to that? Because it's happening right now. It's going on. The submissions in front of the select committee said "We are doing this now." It is happening—Jan Logie: No!Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well that's not what you said in the opening speech. In the opening speech you said that you had businesses—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! I remind the member to address the Chair and not to include me in the debate.Hon MARK MITCHELL: Sorry. Sorry Madam Assistant Speaker. The member said in her opening comments that businesses had come in front of the select committee and said "We're doing this right now. That's what we're doing."Jan Logie: Did you listen to my speech?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well that's not what the member said.So we do support the spirit of the bill and we are going to be submitting some Supplementary Order Papers on it. One of the Supplementary Order Papers is going to be aligned to and supporting the premise that if a person is suffering from family or domestic violence then they are entitled to take annual leave or sick leave because they have been a victim of family or domestic violence. I mean to me that seems like a very very good compromise because it's capturing exactly what the spirit of the bill is which is allowing someone—they don't have to go and get a certificate from the doctor. They don't have to apply for some annual leave. They're able to go to the employer and they're able to say and state—or someone on their behalf—that "We are having issues at home." they have been a victim of domestic or family violence and they're immediately allowed to and can access their annual sick leave and annual leave entitlement.We're also going to submit a Supplementary Order Paper that's going to require or ask that within the first six months or before the policy is implemented the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment goes out and undertakes a nationwide educational campaign with small and medium sized businesses so that they understand what their obligations are under the Act and it allows them to get ready. It allows them to prepare. It allows them to have the flexibility in the workplace that's going to be required and it's going to mean that hopefully the policy will at least be implemented with some sense of a seamless implementation instead of just immediately applying this on to a small or medium sized business that actually is not ready for it does not understand exactly what it means does not understand the additional compliance issues that are going to be placed on it and actually if you have a small or medium sized business owner that doesn't understand what it means or how to implement it in reality—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I apologise to the member. Your time has expired. I apologise. I also mucked up the time clock."