And They Call Me a Quack…

Anyone noticed that Trevor Mallard (never the most stable of MPs) seems to be getting increasingly irrational of late? What rational Labour MP would subject himself to the vagaries of the Kiwiblog comments section? (Sorry, Dave, your posts are good, but some of your commentators are nuts!) I mean, yes, the Standard, by all means. A labour MP could have a nice little love-in there, but Kiwiblog? What’s next? Cross-dressing for the Annual National Socialists convention?

In keeping with his increasing strangeness, today he makes utterly clueless comments to the media about the 90-day probation bill:

““New Zealanders should not be fooled. National’s attempt to try and sell this as a way to boost employment opportunities with small to medium sized businesses is a sham,” he said.

“The 90-day clause would make it far more difficult for small to medium businesses to attract skilled staff when they most needed them, he said.”

This sound bite is utterly illogical. Why would it make it harder to hire skilled staff when the legislation in question is entirely voluntary? (an aspect that appears to have escaped the attention of the left and the media, both.) Because skilled and hard-to-find employees will probably not sign such a probation (I wouldn’t), it will not effect them. The people it will effect are those who have easily replaceable skill sets and these are precisely the people in need of more fluid employment. The reduced risk to the employer would make the employer far more likely to hire extra staff, even if it turned out to be temporary. Kate Wilkinson, the Minister for Labour (not the “labour minister” as reported in the article     ) is quick to point out that employees are still protected against discrimination, harassment, duress and unreasonableness. This covers most things other than a reasonably amicable dismissal.

I suspect that, come the 2011 election campaign, this bill will be hardly mentioned, as absolutely nothing of interest will have happened. If mentioned, statistics will be quoted from both sides “proving” how good or bad the bill has been.

If the meantime, I guess Trevor will continued to demonstrate that he really is Quackers…

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