Bond Ria: Home and Community Support (Payment for Travel Between Clients) Settlement Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBond Ria: Home and Community Support (Payment for Travel Between Clients) Settlement Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 16 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:9017. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RIA BOND (NZ First): I am pleased to take a call on behalf of New Zealand First to support the Home and Community Support (Payment for Travel Between Clients) Settlement Bill. I understand from listening to previous members this afternoon that this bill has arisen from there having been an unfair disadvantage financially impacting on the home and community workers and that this has been going on over a very very long period of time. I also want to add as previous speakers have said that I am actually quite pleased that multiple areas such as the Ministry of Health the district health boards the unions and the employers have all agreed that this issue is not something that they wish to see continue for longer.Adding to what the previous members have said I also want to say that this has been an appalling position for workers to be put in—to not be recognised for their travel in between their clients’ homes. In today’s world it is absolutely appalling to know that that was occurring. I also want to add to what the member Poto Williams said which is that when we are going into our communities and into the homes of our loved ones often it is to take care of our elderly people.In my previous career I had quite a few clients who found the situation they were in quite frustrating and for them it was all about the love of the job that they were going to between each client’s house and it was the long-term commitment they made to these clients to ensure that they could still see them and could provide personal services such as showering and making sure that these clients were actually looked after.So I am rather pleased that this bill and the way that it is going through is addressing that problem but I am also concerned to hear that it does not address the underpayment or the undervaluing of this sector itself. Coming from a previous career where we were a female-dominated workforce we often struggled to actually get recognised and be able to feel quite proud and to ask for a higher wage as females in the workforce. So I am rather heartened to hear previous members discussing this as an area that they are going to be watching quite closely. To ensure that there are the qualifications needed to deliver the level of care and knowledge to our at-home clients is actually quite crucial.I want to mention a saying that we have in the hairdressing industry which is that if you pay a person peanuts then you are going to get monkeys. I am rather happy to say that the people in this sector particularly are in no way at all monkeys. They are very proud people they are very hard-working people and I think it is fantastic that this bill is actually addressing their ability to be paid while going to and from a client’s house. So New Zealand First supports this bill. Thank you.Preamble agreed to.Part 1 agreed to.Part 2 agreed to.Part 3 agreed to.Schedule 1AA agreed to.Schedule 1 agreed to.Schedule 2 agreed to.Schedule 3 agreed to.Clause 1 agreed to.Clause 2 agreed to.Bill to be reported without amendment presently.