Today is the first Members Day of the year. First up is a local bill, the Auckland Council (Auckland Future Fund) Bill, which is pretty boring. And then we get some fireworks, with the Committee Stage of Camilla Belich's Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill. This made it past its second reading after surprise support from NZ First; today we'll get to see if that will continue. Will employment law be significantly improved because the coalition parties hate each other? If so, we should take the win. There's also an amendment paper from BelichNZ First which would remove the softer penalty for thieving bosses, and use the standard one under the Crimes Act. So, employers who steal more than $1000 by refusing to pay their workers would be looking at seven years, the same as someone who steals more than $1000 by any other means. On the one hand, this doesn't go far enough - being an employer is clearly a position of trust in relation to employee wages, so the higher penalty for theft by person in a special relationship should apply. OTOH, most thieving employers will be stealing more than $1000, so it might not make much difference. It will be interesting to see if NZ First votes for this as well.
Following this is the second reading of Deborah Russell's Companies (Address Information) Amendment Bill, and then the first reading of Marama Davidson's Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill (backed by ConsumerNZ), which would see us allowed and empowered to fix our broken stuff, rather than throwing it in the trash. The House should then make a start on the first reading of Hūhana Lyndon's Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill, which the racist government will almost certainly vote down. There should be a ballot for two new Member's Bills tomorrow, or whenever they're holding them these days.
