Dowie Sarah: Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDowie Sarah: Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 12 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5748. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill): I rise in opposition to this bill being the Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill. Look I like to think of myself as pretty centrist on the spectrum but as we have heard in previous speeches this is just an impractical bill. We have heard from officials that the risks outweigh the benefits and this bill will certainly not achieve its goal. At the end of the day contractors can often write off their own expenses—they like the flexibility that the law provides around that. It is about the structure of employment that is suitable for that worker.This is a Government that supports measures that are going to grow the economy and give that worker the flexibility to go into business to get into work and to choose the structure by which they want to operate. With regard to some of the things that the Government has put in place to grow the economy—and I heard one of the Opposition speakers talk about measures that she thought were exploitative—well I can talk about the 90-day work trial period. That has worked extremely well in Southland especially in the agricultural sector. It has allowed people a chance to get into work—to achieve their hopes and dreams by convincing an employer to give them a chance. They have entered into these employment relationships and have had that opportunity to work hard and prove themselves and to get into employment. It is the same with the youth wage. Not everyone is going to take a chance with youth but the youth wage allows these people to get into work—Andrew Bayly: Worker participation increasing.SARAH DOWIE: Exactly—worker participation is increasing. That is a good thing. People are getting into work and what does work do? It brings people out of poverty and helps them achieve their hopes and dreams. This is an economy that has been growing. In the past 4 years it has grown at 2.6 percent and Southland is no different. In Southland things are going extremely well notwithstanding obviously the drop in dairy prices but we have got other things going on there. There are other industries that are growing. You can look at tourism aquaculture whatever—manufacturing international education.But I want to just move on to New Zealand Aluminium Smelters. Obviously we are quite relieved that the smelter has achieved a deal with Meridian Energy and has got that deal on the supply of electricity across the line. And what does that mean? Well the smelter employs—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member. The time has come for me to leave the Chair for the dinner break. This debate is interrupted and I shall resume the Chair at 7.30 p.m.Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Kia ora mai tātou. Tēnā tātou katoa. The House is resumed. When we paused for the dinner break Sarah Dowie had 2 minutes remaining to speak which is available to her.SARAH DOWIE: I would very much enjoy taking the rest of the 2 minutes available to me to speak on the Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill. Where I left off I was talking about how it was wonderful down in Southland to have Tīwai Point New Zealand Aluminium Smelters across the line having reached a deal with Meridian Energy as to the power costs. That smelter is directly attributable for 1000 jobs direct jobs in the community and 3000 indirect jobs. Could you imagine if there was extra cost put on those contractors? Most of those indirect jobs are contracting jobs. If there was extra cost put on those contracting jobs we would see the unemployment rate escalate and the participation rate in jobs go down. That would not be good for Southland given that we generate over 15 percent of New Zealand’s total export receipts.We have a fantastic reputation to uphold and we want to do so by taking up the measures that this Government has put in place. They are practical measures to keep the economy growing and to move people into work through such measures as I have already mentioned—having firm written terms and conditions in an employment contract 90-day trials and having youth wage rates to get people into work—rather than making the employment regime more rigid. We want to keep people moving through into work achieving their hopes and dreams and moving out of poverty. It is with that that I say that this bill is one that is not practical. The risks outweigh what could be some benefits and that is certainly something that has been communicated through the officials and therefore I do oppose this bill.