Robertson Grant: Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Robertson Grant: Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:668;Page:14995] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take a call on the title debate. This is my first call on the Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill and as the MP for Wellington Central I want to make clear how pleased I am that  
The Hobbit 
 will be made here in Wellington. A number of my constituents will be working on the production and indeed already have been. I think it is excellent that it is being made here. Members on this side are all strong supporters of  
The Hobbit 
 being made in New Zealand. 
But I refer to what could be a potential title for the bill the “Employment Relations (Gerry Goes off the Boil) Bill” because quite frankly that is what we are debating tonight. The Government’s incompetent management of its relationship with Warner Bros and with the film industry in America has led us to a crisis situation. Gerry Brownlee might not have too many National MPs based in Wellington with whom he can talk because they are not that thick on the ground in Wellington. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Some of them are thick. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Some of them are thick but they are not that thick on the ground in Wellington—that is right. If there had been more National MPs for Gerry Brownlee to talk to over the last 2 years they would have been able to reflect what everyone in Wellington knew—that there were issues concerning  
The Hobbit 
. There were issues with Warner Bros about the financing. They were worried about what was happening with MGM. Everyone in Wellington knew about this over the last 2 years and what did Gerry Brownlee do? He sat there. He did not go over to talk to Warner Bros. He thought he could rely on the reputation that Labour had built up with it over 9 years. He sat there and let this issue fester. We come to this House today with a legal fiction of a bill with a crisis manufactured and opportunistically taken up by Warner Bros because Gerry Brownlee was not doing his job as Minister for Economic Development. That is why I say to Mr Brownlee the title of this bill could well be the “Employment Relations (Gerry Goes off the Boil) Bill”. That is why we are here tonight I say to Mr Brownlee. We are here because as Minister for Economic Development you did not do your job properly—[ 
Interruption 
] I am talking to Mr Brownlee and I am saying Mr Brownlee did not do his job properly. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. He is using the word “you” and bringing you into the debate. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I thank the member for that. The member knows that because I called “Order” at the time and he did refer to Mr Brownlee. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: It is interesting that Tau Henare is very worried. I think Tau Henare is mainly concerned about this because he wanted a role in  
The Hobbit  
but they would not give him one. They offered him one in  
Kojak  
but not in  
The Hobbit.  
That is why Tau Henare is upset. 
There is another title we could use which is the “Employment Relations (Chaos and Shambles in the Government) Bill”. We have heard today from Gerry Brownlee himself that it was not pressure from Warner Bros that led to this bill except the Prime Minister himself told us that it was critical for Warner Bros that this legislation be passed and the movies would not be made in New Zealand if this legislation was not passed. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: That’s right. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Gerry Brownlee said “That’s right.” So why has Gerry Brownlee not stood up in the Chamber tonight to say that he was sorry that he misled the House earlier today when he said that this was not because of pressure from Warner Bros. “Shambles and Chaos” should be the title of this bill—the “Employment Relations (Shambles and Chaos in the Government) Bill”. The Government simply cannot get its house sufficiently in order to know whether we are here because Warner Bros made us be here or whether we are here because the Government has somehow mysteriously decided a change was necessary—despite the fact that since 2005 the law has been settled in this area. All of a sudden it is a crisis and we are here under urgency. We are here under urgency because the Government has not got its act together so the bill could have the title “The Government Has Not Got Its Act Together Bill”. 
There could also be another title of this bill—a serious title change. If we are trying to reflect what is in this bill it should be the “Employment Relations (Film Production and Video Games Work) Bill” because this bill goes far beyond film production. We have not had a substantive call from a member of the Government to tell us how video games ended up in this bill. Nobody discussed anything about video games. There are some high-quality video game manufacturers and developers in Wellington. How did that even end up in this bill? It is not mentioned in the title so the title is immediately misleading even on the Government’s own terms. We have not had the Government take a call on this. Its members have sat there simply allowing us to stand and raise questions that are unanswered because the Government is pushing through a bill but it does not know why.