Key John: Minimum Wage Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Key John: Minimum Wage Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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JOHN KEY (NZ National—Helensville) 
: 
 Like National speakers who have gone before me I rise to oppose this bill. This is absolutely hopeless legislation. It is another form of inflexibility in the labour market that we are becoming used to on this side of the Committee. Time and time again we see inflexibility driven into the labour market. 
The title of this bill should not be the Minimum Wage Amendment Bill; it should be the “Loss of Jobs For Some of Our Most Vulnerable Young People Bill”. This will attack the 26000 young people who rely on on-the-job training and the goodwill of employers to take them on and give them a chance. Members of this Committee should go and ask those 26000 people what they most want—do they want another dollar or another 50c potentially tacked on to their minimum wage do they want the opportunity to have a job through which they can show their skills and shine and grow into a wonderful career or do they want to go on the dole? The Government is telling us that as a result of this legislation some people will go on the dole. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: It’s in writing. 
JOHN KEY 
: It is in writing. Is it good for the employers of this country to have a smaller pool of people to choose from and for them maybe to get people who have come from the dole and who have unfortunately had that experience rather than on-the-job training? I say no. Is it good for the young people of New Zealand who are out there excitedly looking for a job and who are prepared to put their nose to the grindstone and work hard? I say no. Is it good for the taxpayers of New Zealand who are having to fork out for the thousands of people who are on the dole under this Labour Government? There are 135000 people on the dole already and that number will be going up as a result of passing this bill whose title we are discussing here tonight. That number will be going up and it is in writing in the commentary. 
This should not be called the Minimum Wage Amendment Bill—that is a ridiculous title for this bill. It should be called the “Loss of Job Opportunities For Vulnerable Young People Bill”. 
Mr Hughes is a young man— 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Is he on a training rate? 
JOHN KEY 
: Maybe Mr Hughes has pushed this bill through because he is scared that his rate will get dropped down because he is the youngest member of Parliament in this House and all of a sudden the boss—who is over in Paris at the moment—has seen that young members in the European Parliament get paid less. Darren Hughes has gone and spoken to Mr Swain and various other Ministers and said: “Look push through this bill before the boss gets back and all of a sudden my wage is down.” Mr Hughes mixes with a lot of young people. He knows the value of on-the-job training. He is learning his skills and his craft just like those 26000 other people are across the country. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: He’s got his training wheels on now. 
JOHN KEY 
: He has his training wheels on right now but we hear he is doing a wonderful job and that is the kind of on-the-job feedback that comes through. He and his Government will rob young people of that opportunity. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: He worked for Judy Keall. He should get double the rate. 
JOHN KEY 
: That probably says it all. This bill will rob those young people of that opportunity. 
I will go back to my earlier point. The young people of New Zealand would like an opportunity to have a job. I know that when I was in commercial practice I had many people who came in and offered to work for nothing. That opportunity to work for nothing was valued far more than whatever the wage was. They did not want to talk about whether there was a minimum wage. They did not care about whether the Minimum Wage Amendment Bill was appropriately titled; they cared about the opportunity to have a job. That was the most important thing because when they went to get another job their future employer looked at their resume to see what their past work had been—not what they had earned not whether the minimum wage had been applied and not whether they had got $5.85 an hour or $5.95 an hour but what experience and opportunities they had had. This bill will rob those young people of that job opportunity. That is a disgrace. Young people are being sent the wrong message when they are told that it is better to go on the dole than to be paid a little bit less. That is how the thinking that the dole is good for this country is indoctrinated. It is not good for this country—working is.