O'Connor Damien: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
O'Connor Damien: Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:3913] 
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour) 
: 
 I had no intention of speaking tonight but after coming down to the Chamber and hearing that rant from David Bennett I had to get up and speak. The Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill is about supporting New Zealand—the country our ancestors worked for. New Zealand is a country of equal opportunity. The bottom line is that this bill represents the very values the Labour Party stands for: we will provide a safety net for people in this country who need it. 
We know what the Tories on that side of the Chamber stand for. They think the person who earns the most money is the person who has to be revered and looked up to. They think that because Mr Key made a lot of money he should be chief. Well let me tell the Tory party that most of the people who make this country work—the people who produce the goods and the exports—are earning $12 to $14 an hour. They are picking fruit and milking cows. They are working out there on farms. The Tories say that if people are on a contract they do not deserve the minimum wage. 
Labour says that it is time to deal with some of the technical issues around employment conditions so that we can guarantee the minimum wage not just for people on wages but for all workers. Do members know why? It is because someone earning $12 an hour is working hard to survive. We should at least provide that safeguard for people who are on contracts. But no the Tory Government thinks we need a free market in everything in order to deliver trickle-down benefits to everyone in this country. The Government thinks that rising unemployment is good news because it puts pressure on increasing wages and may allow a whole lot of employers who will exploit people who have no ability to negotiate to keep wages down. That is not what our ancestors worked for in this country. 
We need to ensure that the increased levels of productivity and the increased benefits from whatever industry that drives this country can flow through to each and every New Zealander. The market does not deliver that situation. If we ever needed a lesson in the failure of market economics to deliver we should look around the world and see where there is a need for guidance regulation and wise law. We need good law not only as in this case for people who are on the minimum wage but for people right at the top end where the market has failed many who have been trying to manage capital around the world. The market does not always deliver. We need good law to protect those people who need a fair outcome from their efforts. 
I know that Mr Peachey over there understands that and I know he supports that. He knows that unless we protect people who are on contracts and need at least the minimum wage for their efforts the market will deliver poverty friction and tension in families in his area and bad outcomes for all New Zealanders. What we are trying to do here is deal with a technical issue that says we need a base rate and a basic level of protection for each and every worker in this country. That is just a fair go. 
Most New Zealanders expect this Government to deliver laws that give a fair go to each and every New Zealander. Labour increased the minimum wage nine times when we were in Government. We increased it from $7 to $12. That was a reasonably good effort. There was still the issue that those on contracts did not get the same level of protection. That is why this bill is needed. For any Tory to vote against this bill is an absolute outrage to the fair-minded etiquette and values that drive each and every New Zealander. We need protection for all New Zealanders not just those at the top. 
The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 4 in the name of Darien Fenton to Part 2 be agreed to.