Davis Kelvin: Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Davis Kelvin: Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 Keith Locke says that we should push the commencement date of the Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Act out 10 years and Carol Beaumont says 15 years. I say let us push it out a century because even in 100 years’ time we will not have more than a handful of people complaining about the whole secret ballot thing. In fact why do we not just push it out a millennium—why do we not just push it out a thousand years because in that time there will still be only a handful if that of people who actually feel the need for this bill other than Tau Henare and perhaps a few thousand of his descendants who will want to maintain Papa Tau’s legacy of giving it to the workers. 
Keith Locke was right: this is about the National Government interfering in the intimate workings of a voluntary organisation. Now why on earth would it want to do that? And who is going to be next? Meals on Wheels—“Sorry you can’t have cabbage on Tuesday you’ve got to have peas.” This will be the National Government’s next step in interfering in other voluntary organisations and what they do. After that it will be Victim Support after that it will be the Boy Scouts and after that who knows? The world is at Tau Henare’s mercy when the Government is interfering with voluntary organisations around the world. It will be Volunteer Service Abroad next: “Sorry you can’t go to Tonga for your voluntary service abroad. You will have to go to Kiribati.” 
This will be the start of something big for Tau Henare. Let us start with the unions. Let us interfere with the workings of that voluntary organisation. Let us deal to the unions and then we can take on the rest of the voluntary organisations. 
It is a nonsense bill. There is no need for this bill as we have already outlined in the title clause debate. As well there is an imbalance here. There is a lack of fairness. We want to know what it is about National members that they do not understand fairness. National’s tax is not fair. It is tax cuts for the wealthy. Here is another thing that is not fair. Unions will have to have secret ballots yet employers will not. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Commencement. 
KELVIN DAVIS 
: Commencement. Again within 1000 years of the commencement of this bill employers will not have to conduct secret ballots of their stakeholders when they want to lock out these horrible union workers. Not within 10 years not within a decade not within 15 years not within a century not within a millennium will employers have to do what Tau Henare wants the unions to have to do and that is hold these secret ballots. For what reason? For what purpose? Oh the bullying he says. Well there is a story about the pot and the kettle and I am not sure which one Mr Henare wants to be when it comes to bullying. His overbearing attitude is exactly what he is accusing unions of having. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: What’s wrong with a secret ballot? 
KELVIN DAVIS 
: What is wrong with it? Fairness I say to Mr Williamson. There is nothing fair about this when we are expecting a voluntary organisation to have to have secret ballots but National does not expect employers to hold secret ballots of their stakeholders when they want to lock out workers. It is the fairness. 
There is a lack of fairness and again National does not understand fairness. Its tax cuts were for the wealthy. It was not fair that the wealthy received a $1000 a week tax cut and the low-paid workers received something like 25c an hour in their tax cut. 
I feel it does not matter how far out we push the commencement date. It will not make a difference whether it is 1 year as stated in the bill or whether it is 10 years 15 years a century or a millennium. It will not make a difference because there is not a problem. As Jacinda Ardern put it so eloquently this is a bill looking for a problem. There is nothing here that will be remedied by commencing the bill at any stage.