The Greens will support the Governor-General Bill. As other speakers have said, it represents a step forward, a modernisation beyond the practices of the colonial era.
The New Zealand Transport Agency, in many ways, has done a good job, but it is handicapped. Firstly, the Government sets very strong policy guidelines, particularly from the Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce, who lay down the seven roads of national significance that the New Zealand Transport Agency then had to fund.
One of the problems with the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill—and it is a problem with the Act that came into force under the last Government—is that it gives the impression that victims are getting serious financial compensation. In fact, they are not. It is just crumbs from the table for a few victims. The real question of proper compensation for all victims of crime is not addressed in this bill.
The most inadequate parts of the Budget Estimates of Appropriations are the sections on the intelligence services, the Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Security Bureau.
The Green Party will be strongly supporting this bill, the Employment Relations (Statutory Minimum Redundancy Entitlements) Amendment Bill. If it passes, and I hope that it does, it will correct a major injustice for workers in this country: being laid off without any redundancy.
The Green Party opposes this bill because rest and meal breaks are important, not only to prevent injuries and death, but also so that people can just have a rest, be human, and not be slaves to a clock, working hour after hour without proper rest.