Andrew

LITTLE

Opposition Leader

19 August 2015 MEDIA STATEMENT
Parties must drop the politics over Health and Safety

Now is the time for the Maori Party and Peter Dunne to drop the politics over Health and Safety law reforms and do the right thing by New Zealanders, Opposition Leader Andrew Little says.

“This isn’t any kind of law to be horse-trading on. This is all about the lives of our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives and it must be above any individual interests.

“If the bill returns to Parliament today, we must live up to the promises made in the Royal Commission after the tragic deaths of 29 men at Pike River. This law isn’t about the numbers. It is about protecting every person who goes to work to make sure they make it home again that night.

“When you cut corners in health and safety, it costs lives. The National Government is cutting corners in this legislation and it will cost lives.

“Yesterday in the historic legislative chamber we heard the stories of families whose sons and fathers hadn’t come home. While John Key cuddled a puppy on the steps of parliament for his social media audience, 15 family members arrived on that same forecourt to fight for the lives of others.

“Today we have to honour their struggle and I urge the Maori Party and United Future to do the right thing, to create a law we can all be proud of and to say no to the National Party’s watering down of this life and death legislation,” Andrew Little says.

© Scoop Media