Today is a member's Day, which should finally see the second reading debate of the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill and the committee stage of Darien Fenton's Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill. Unless of course the government throws the House into urgency again in another effort to avoid public scrutiny of its legislative programme...
Fenton's bill looks like it could be interesting; Fenton has put up an SOP which addresses many of the concerns raised at select committee, and makes the bill workable; it makes it clear that it is targeting companies exploiting contract labour to circumvent the minimum wage rather than individuals contracting people's services for "personal, domestic, or household use or consumption" (meaning your babysitter or non-corporate household cleaner). It also legislates a pathway to a $15 / hour minimum rate. I expect National to object to that, but the only reason they have to oppose the bill overall is ideological: that they want this exploitation to continue, and object to the very idea of a minimum wage. So it will be an interesting test of their new centrism.
