SpeechCHRIS BAILLIE (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of ACT to take a short call on the third reading of Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill a bill we don't support not because we don't think it's a great initiative a great idea but only because the country just simply can't afford it. I say short call because I know this bill is going to go through today and the ideology of this Government will once again take precedence over common-sense basic economics. And even a slight understanding of the effects on businesses of these continued attacks just make it so difficult to make a living for businesses to pay their staff and just survive.Last week I read out a letter from a refrigeration company which said that they are increasing their fees due to inflation minimum wage increases and the cost of fuel over the last year. I got another one last Friday; it says Every endeavour has been made to hold to our current pricing. The time has finally arrived where we are unable to do so any longer and regretfully an increase of 5.9 percent will take effect from 1 April. The recently announced statutory adult minimum wage increase raising it from $20 to $21.20 has meant an additional increase to our services where the majority of our labour force will fall into the new bracket."These things are real. They're not just made-up names that people use to justify an argument. To hear the rhetoric coming from all Labour MPs having learnt from the grand master Grant Robertson that everything's fine businesses are being looked after added costs minimum wage extra holidays extra sick days—but what doesn't actually affect them just makes those who actually have businesses and business experience and going through the pain shake their heads in disbelief.Last week we got a lecture from a Labour backbencher who said that some businesses will find it tough but that what they don't understand is that while they have to pay more on the minimum wage those people will go out and spend the extra money in the community. It's just so simplistic and just so wrong. If she was still in business I know she'd have a different view.Kiri Allan told us during the committee stage that businesses actually wanted the extra holiday wanted to pay time and a half wanted to pay a day in lieu were rapt about the extra KiwiSaver costs and wanted to not be able to trade. I suspect she spoke to a tourism operator in Gisborne and not the retailers who will be forced to pay this extra without any extra income.ACT thinks it's a great idea to celebrate Matariki a very significant event and an occasion that certainly deserves its own special day. The cost of recreating a 12th public holiday is estimated to be around $450 million. ACT believes that if the Government wants to indulge in another holiday it needs to identify a holiday to be removed from the calendar. I thought I'd quickly go through the options.New Year's Day—the start of the year; that's pretty significant. Then there's the day after New Year's Day—maybe for those who enjoyed New Year's Eve too much. Are we going to have a day after Matariki? Waitangi Day—a highly significant day where we all agreed that all citizens of New Zealand have the same political rights and duties. Then we have Good Friday and Easter Monday a Christian celebration. It's interesting—I wonder how many Labour MPs took an affirmation and not the oath on the Bible. We have Anzac Day to me the most important relevant and meaningful where the New Zealand armed forces including more than 2000 Māori in the Pioneer Battalion joined the rest of the world against a common foe. Then we have Labour Day. It's been celebrated in New Zealand since 1890 when in 1840 builder Samuel Parnell won an eight-hour day in Wellington—quite an achievement. Then we go to Christmas day. It's relevant to our Christian community. And Boxing Day which dates back hundreds of years where a Christmas box was given to workers by those who could afford it. That's a nice idea but is it really relevant today?Then we get to the Anniversary Days celebrating the settling of our districts throughout New Zealand. This year Auckland had their Anniversary Day six days before the Waitangi holiday. Hawke's Bay this year will have their Anniversary Day a week after school holidays. Nelson was also on 31 January just a week before Waitangi and it's a real nuisance for schools starting the year very unsettling. So maybe they can go. Or maybe we replace them with other very significant events in our history. Maybe replace Nelson Anniversary Day with Te Rauparaha's clashes with Rangitāne or Ngāti Kuia in 1827. We need an accurate history of New Zealand.ACT appreciates the significance of Matariki for all New Zealanders. The use of the stars in the migration of Māori to New Zealand around 800 years ago is of great significance and really should be taught in school history classes. Abel Tasman used the same stars about 400 years later along with James Cook after that and they were used in the migration of all cultures to this beautiful country. What a fantastic story we have to tell.I'll finish with a quote from a man who did more for Māori than anyone in this House will ever do and who I'm sure would have welcomed the acknowledgment of Matariki. The late historian Michael King said "Pākehā New Zealanders who are committed to this land and its people are no less 'indigenous' than Māori." All New Zealanders will celebrate Matariki on 24 June including ACT but we can't support this bill. Thank you Mr Speaker."