9. DARIEN FENTON (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Labour
What recent reports, if any, has she received on minimum wage levels?
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister of Labour) Link to this
A Department of Labour report shows that as of next month successive Labour-led Governments since 1999 will have lifted the minimum adult wage by 46 percent and the minimum youth wage by 95 percent.
As a matter of fact, I have. I have seen a report in which is expressed a strong desire to scrap the minimum wage and increase the number of people on welfare. I quote: “If they can’t live on those wages, then find some way of supplementing their income.” So said Dr Brash.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Nick Smith, at the end of that question, said: “That’s just untrue.” He is not allowed to say that about something that is said quite specifically by a Minister in this House. It calls into question the veracity of the Minister, and on many occasions members have been disciplined for doing that.
Madam SPEAKER
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
Yes. Well, the point of order is about compliance with the Standing Orders. The Minister conveniently—and she is not the only Minister to do it—gets around Standing Order 377, in that it is not her job to talk about what Don Brash or any member of the National Party said. We are quite capable of talking for ourselves. So what Ministers do is get a long list of terrible things that were said—most of which are untrue—and tag on, right at the end, who said them. I interjected, quite properly, that what was said by Ruth Dyson was not true. It was a perfectly proper interjection, firstly because she has no responsibility for what was said—she was breaching Standing Order 377 in the first place—and, secondly, what she said was not true.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I want to make it absolutely clear to the House that as that reply was being given by the Minister, Don Brash was nodding in confirmation—pleading guilty, in fact, to making the comments.
I thank the member for that. The point is whether there is an implication of deliberate misleading—and I did not take that to be this situation. It was just that it was wrong, from the member’s point of view; it was not that the Minister was personally misleading the House.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I understand from the interjection Dr Smith made that he was accusing me of misrepresenting Dr Brash in a quote. That quote was directly from an interview with Dr Brash on Good Morning on Television One on 26 August 2004. Therefore my integrity has been challenged, and I ask you to seek withdrawal of that comment from Dr Smith.
The Minister has asked, because offence was taken in respect of the implication. She has given evidence of where the quote came from.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Might you explain to the House, under Standing Order 377, where that Minister was in order at all, in talking about what Dr Brash had said, as it occurs all over the place. It occurs repeatedly. The reason why the House gets into trouble is that you do not enforce Standing Order 377, whereby Ministers have no responsibility for what any member of the Opposition says. It has nothing to do with their ministerial responsibilities. I think I am perfectly entitled, when members from this side of the House are half-quoted, to say “simply not true.”
Hon Mark BurtonI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The Minister was replying to a specific question as to whether she had seen any reports. The Minister had clearly seen a report, and furthermore she subsequently quoted the source and date of that report. It clearly was in order.
I think the point here, however, is that any member has a right to object to a personal reflection. That has happened here, so in that context I would ask the member to please withdraw the comment.
Dr Wayne MappHow will the Government’s proposal to boost the minimum adult wage to $12 an hour in 2008 improve New Zealand’s already low productivity, given that Britain, the United States, and Australia have minimum wages lower as a percentage of incomes than New Zealand, but they are much wealthier than New Zealand?
The member is correct in pointing out that addressing productivity is a key priority for this Government, and it is good that we are able to do it with the lowest unemployment rates recorded in New Zealand for over two decades. Making workers feel valued for the value of the work that they contribute by giving them a fair wage is an important contributor to that goal.
Hon Jim AndertonHas the Minister seen any OECD reports where the OECD now believes that minimum wages are a very positive reinforcement of productivity and economic growth for economies when previously they held a different view?