Disabled Persons Promotion Bill
Disabled Persons Promotion Bill
20 March 2007
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NATHAN GUY (National): I have had people in my office who have been particularly concerned about Part 3, "Minimum Wage Act 1983". My office is located in Levin, and listeners will know that we have had the closure of the Kimberley Centre. Some of its residents are now out in the community and are doing a very good job working in certain sectors of our community.
Recently I visited Jimmy, a young fellow working in a horse stable. He was doing a very, very good job, cleaning out the stables and feeding the horses. I must say that he was getting a small amount of pay—about $4 an hour—but in respect of the work he was doing, his employers said that his productivity levels were not as great as those of other people. Yet he turns up every morning bright and early, he enjoys his work, and his employers love the work he does for them. He is very much part of their business and he has high self-esteem. Although it would take Jimmy a lot longer to do the job than others would take, he feels very much rewarded by the work he does.
The concern out there in the community of Horowhenua, in moving through this Part 3, is that some employers will actually not employ these people. That is a real concern. It is a concern that a lot of people who have been through my office have about this bill. Although this is Labour's ideology—it is all about its ideology, is it not—the reality is that people are really concerned, particularly about Part 3. This bill has taken 3 years to be put through, because Labour has not been able to get consensus around the House. That is how long it has taken for the bill to go through and for Labour to get the bill into the Chamber tonight to be debated in the Committee stage.
It is interesting that the Labour Party has caved in to the union movement. The real concern I have is that labour inspectors can turn up at whim and revoke the exemption permits. I do not think that that is on, and the parents who have been to see me do not think that that is on. We have some real concerns in our community about that. There will be a lot more paperwork involved for employers, and although I accept that it is great to have these people out working in our community, I think the biggest concern is that their productivity levels may not be as high as those of other people. There are jobs out there, but the concern for these people in our community is all around the Minimum Wage Act and whether there will be opportunities for them if they have to be paid $11.25 an hour. That is the real concern we have about Part 3.