By AUDREY YOUNG political reporter
Act leader Richard Prebble risks being hauled before Parliament's privileges committee through his plans to prematurely reveal changes to the Employment Relations Bill all over the country this morning.
But Prime Minister Helen Clark said Mr Prebble was getting hysterical and opposition to the bill had an undemocratic flavour.
The controversial bill was due to be reported from a select committee to Parliament by 9 am this morning and passed next week under urgency.
The tabling in Parliament has been delayed until tomorrow, but Act had already organised seminars for 2000 people this morning to discuss the changes.
Mr Prebble, who claimed Act was the victim of Government dirty tricks, said he would release the bill whether or not it had been tabled by 9 am.
"This is one of the worst abuses of the parliamentary procedure that I've seen," he said.
"I'm going to tell the public what's in the bill because I think the public is entitled to know. I know what privilege is for and it is not so the Government can rush a bill through without people knowing what it means."
Opposition parties have copies of the final bill because they have members on the select committee, but under Parliament's rules it is a confidential document until the committee chairman, Labour MP Graham Kelly, tables it.
Mr Prebble said the Government had used the rule to stifle debate over the changes.
Mr Kelly said on Friday that he had been waiting for more information for the commentary that accompanied each bill.
Helen Clark said: "The sooner the bill is passed and working and people see that the sky hasn't fallen in, the better."
But she expected the bill to be reported tomorrow.
"Employers who have taken out full-page ads against it which they've already written are going to look slightly silly on Tuesday morning."
The changes reflected reasonable concerns by employers but the fundamentals had not changed.
"What we will assert very firmly is that we addressed the cluster of employer concerns that were reasonable around issues like director liability, fixed-term contracts and dependent contractors, and that reasonable solutions have been proposed.
"But we never said we would change the fundamental premise of the bill and anyone who expected that would have been misleading themselves."
Labour had campaigned openly on new legislation, and opposition to the bill had an undemocratic flavour, said Helen Clark.
"To even think a Government which commands a majority in the House on these sorts of issues would roll over and say, 'Oh, we were wrong for the last nine years for advocating a change' is simply ridiculous," she said.
"It's just that some people don't like the change."
The Prime Minister was not surprised that unions were recording an increase in membership and she welcomed it.
"People perceive there is going to be a better playing field so there is more point in belonging to the union."
Responding to reports that Associate Labour Minister Laila Harre wanted to push ahead with a minimum work code, Helen Clark said the priority was to get the Employment Relations Bill through.
Any work on a minimum code as well as a code on good-faith bargaining would be the result of a tripartite working party: the Government, unions and employers.
"It is not going to be something that will just be dreamed up in isolation by the Government and its officials."
One-day delay for bill leaves Prebble high and dry
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