Sio William: Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sio William: Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 09 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:2105. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 That last contribution by David Bennett could be best summed up as really a waste of time—time-wasting. The public listening to that would have made up their minds that that was a lot of time-wasting. I want to say to Mr Tau Henare that I genuinely was listening to his arguments on this Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill and I want him to know that he needs to remember his roots. I ask him to remember his roots I ask him to remember where he came from I ask him to remember the unions that he worked for and as he sits next to Mr Key and Mr John Banks on that other side I hope that he does remember his background and the people who supported him to the place where he now sits.  
If I accept the argument that Mr Henare made that this bill is not about attacking the unions then you have to ask yourself why we are spending time debating this particular bill. Why are we spending time debating a bill that simply endorses what is already the common practice of organisations out in the workplace? Why are we doing that? That will be the question that serious people listening to this debate need to ask Mr Henare because there is no evidence as I understand from the reports of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee to show that there is anything wrong in the workplace in terms of how unions conduct their secret ballots. There is no evidence of anybody complaining about these sorts of situations. I have to say that we have to ask why we are spending time on this particular bill which people might describe as being frivolous. Why is that? 
 I would put it to you that there will be a lot of people thinking that this Government has run out of ideas. Only last week the household labour force survey was released and we saw figures: 160000 people unemployed—6.7 percent. That is 55000 additional people unemployed since December 2008. We now have a situation where we have not only thousands of people underemployed but also 160000 unemployed and then we have got another several thousand people jobless. I think that is the issue Mr Tau Henare should be emphasising or should have brought forward rather than debating something that already exists out in the workplace. I would say the debate should have been about jobs but that is not what we are hearing from this Government. What we are hearing about though is more Draconian labour laws Skycity pokie machines and more mining of our environment. All that gives us is more gambling more environmental disasters and lower and lower wages.  
I heard somebody earlier say there were plenty of jobs available. That might be right. You might see those jobs but you have to ask whether those jobs fit the skills of the 160000 people who are unemployed. Do those jobs fit the thousands who are underemployed working part-time who are wanting more hours? The answer is no and this Government is sitting idly by not doing a single thing about it. We heard earlier today that 1000 people are going to Australia every week—every week. What plans does this Government have in order to make sure that we are keeping our best brains here in Aotearoa New Zealand? This bill reflects the lack of any new ideas. This bill reflects the lack of any serious undertaking by this Government to address the real issues that thousands of New Zealanders are facing at the moment. They want jobs. There are not enough jobs available. Our young people do not have sufficient skills education and training to match the jobs that are available. We have qualified people who cannot find full-time work and if they are finding jobs normally the jobs would be part-time and these people would be overqualified and underpaid for many of those particular jobs.  
Look if this was serious—we had 12 people make submissions five presented themselves to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee—National should have taken into consideration the Supplementary Order Papers that were put forward. If National wants freedom for the workplace if it wants freedom for workers then let us talk about democracy in the workplace. Let us talk because that is what it should have been about—democracy in the workplace. Hey we see in this bill that National is prepared to force workers by law to take a secret ballot—something that many unions are already doing—but National is not prepared to compel boards of directors and the shareholders of these companies to take into consideration the impact and effect on families when they lock out workers. We saw that in Auckland with the Ports of Auckland. We saw the impact that had on families. We are also seeing it now with AFFCO. When companies lock out workers it is OK for them to do that without any legal obligation for them to take a vote on that.  
So what is the bill really all about? That is what I am asking Mr Tau Henare. I think that when you hear the contribution by Mr David Bennett earlier—a lot of time-wasting; it was frivolous—this is not the kind of legislation that we should be debating. We should be debating serious legislation on the right track for this country so that people do have jobs and do have incomes that can sustain their families and so that our young people the next generation coming through have opportunities for education and training and have equal access to them rather than what we are seeing now—things becoming tougher and tougher and harder for many many families. The Government could start by simply stopping sacking public sector workers. In the Pacific community many public sector workers are supporting large families. Many of them have been impacted by this Government’s austerity measures and the wholesale cuts across the board to Government departments with people now on the unemployment roll and you have to ask how this bill is going to support those communities those people without jobs. It does not—it really does not.  
Members opposite laugh and think it is fun to poke fun at the public when the public are asking where the jobs are. On Saturday I and the Hon Phil Goff attended an event by the Migrant Action Trust out in Onehunga. A couple of hundred people from both the ethnic Pacific and the Maori community attended that and the message that came from that community who are struggling under the economic austerity measures of this Government is that they want to work—but where are the jobs? If they do find work it is usually part-time and people are unable to support their families on the wages from those jobs. I would say that that message is not confined to just Pacific or Maori or ethnic communities. That message is now felt by people across this country of ours just because this Government is not doing anything to address the real issues and the real problems that our communities are feeling.  
Mr Henare I did take seriously the argument you put forward that this bill was not an attack on trade unions but when you line it all up with everything else your Government has done—Draconian legislation such as the 90-day bill under the guise that it will somehow create jobs there have been none. Mr Bennett might shake his head but go out there and talk to the people Mr Bennett. There are no jobs. All we are hearing about is more pokie machines more drilling more mining lower wages and fewer and fewer jobs. That is not a recipe for success. That is not a recipe that New Zealanders want in this country and that is why today David Shearer said that thousands are leaving the shores of Aotearoa New Zealand. They would not leave if there were job opportunities for them. They were not leave if our salaries were not falling downhill. They would not leave if that was not happening. So the member’s speech was very very frivolous and a waste of time. I think that the public listening to the debate on Mr Henare’s legislation will make up their own minds. I would ask Mr Henare to withdraw his bill and let us talk about something really really serious.