Seymour David: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (6 Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is subject to correctionSeymour David: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (6 Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 08 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11837. Text is subject to correction.]DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): It gives me great pleasure to rise on behalf of the Speaker—sorry on behalf of the ACT Party. I would never purport to rise on behalf of the Speaker but you know a little bit of ambition can go a long way.I am struck by the fact that many of the arguments I made in Part 1 in respect of the extension of paid parental leave entitlement from 18 weeks to 22 are also quite relevant to this particular part too on the extension of paid parental leave to 26 weeks.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): Does this mean we are going to have four calls repeating them?DAVID SEYMOUR: How many would you like?The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): One good one.DAVID SEYMOUR: If I cannot do that would you take four bad ones?The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): Go for it.DAVID SEYMOUR: OK thank you Mr Chair. There are actually a number of topics but thankfully Tracey Martin has given me fresh material in her contribution which was around gender equity. Her claim was that the extension of paid parental leave by 4 weeks from 22 to 26 will be mainly occupied by fathers. Her claim can be further extended in that it will actually lead to a cultural change in gender relations in New Zealand.In other words she believes that men hitherto somewhat unfamiliar with domestic chores and duties will find themselves taking that extra 4 weeks off and discovering a whole lot of things about parenthood they would not otherwise understand. Give me a break! Never has there been somebody so out-of-touch with the modern reality of New Zealand. That might be the 1950s world view that we hear from New Zealand First but the reality is that my friends who are parents fathers are deeply involved in every aspect of childcare and they do not need an extra 4 weeks of paid parental leave to achieve that. As usual Tracey Martin is an inspiration. I wish I was as clever as she thinks she is but few of us can ever be.The reality is if you go a little bit deeper into her argument it is not entirely obvious that an extension of paid parental leave really would lead to men—or fathers—taking a larger role in the household. It might well be—and I would be interested to hear from the member in charge Sue Moroney whether she has considered the implications of this bill for gender equity—that an extension from 22 weeks to 26 weeks would actually lead to women taking more time off work and men being even further shut out of parenthood. It is really not obvious what the real effect would be on the roles of different parents even if we buy into Tracey Martin’s rather imaginative and out-of-touch version of gender relations in New Zealand in 2016.On behalf of the fathers in New Zealand who are intimately and deeply involved in their children’s upbringing I say to her that it is frankly a little bit offensive that the only way we will be kick-started into fatherhood is by an extra 4 weeks of paid parental leave extended from 22 weeks up to 26 weeks.Tracey Martin: You have no concept of what you are talking about you typical man.DAVID SEYMOUR: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. The Standing Orders require that a running commentary is not allowed when members are barracking. I have not had a moment’s respite from Tracey Martin’s screeching. I wonder whether you could call her into line.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): I would like to sustain that point of order. In fact the member may well have been reading my thoughts. The member interjecting constantly—a constant flow across the Chamber—is contrary to the Standing Orders and just a little bit more than the rest of us can stand.DAVID SEYMOUR: Thank you for sustaining that point of order. It might interest you to know that as one ages one’s ability to hear higher frequencies diminishes which is why the leader of New Zealand First has been able to tolerate that member for so long.Tracey Martin: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. Are you going to allow that sort of sexist comment to be made in this Chamber?The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): Firstly I did hear a number of the interjections that the member made to the member who currently has the call and I understand that we have been having quite a robust debate. I do not believe as the Chair that was a sexist remark and so I am not going to take issue with it at the moment. I would like all members to be a little bit more sensitive as to what may cause offence within the Chamber.DAVID SEYMOUR: Speaking to the point of order—The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): No I have ruled on the point of order. Get on with your speech.DAVID SEYMOUR: That is exactly what I will do but I will just point out that elderly hearing loss occurs in men and women. I was not being sexist towards the leader of New Zealand First.There are a number of other matters in this part of the bill that I think deserve attention other than gender equity and the role of fathers in New Zealand. One of them is the universality of the uptake. I think this is important. If it was important in Part 1 when we discussed the fact that not every parent takes up paid parental leave then it is even more important when we extend it to 26 weeks. We understand that every year in New Zealand approximately 60000 children are born—