Jackson Willie; Tolley AnneHon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister of Employment): Kia ora Madam Deputy Speaker. I just wanted to first of all acknowledge a couple of members who have passed a week or so back. I never got the opportunity to honour them. They were both National Party members: Tony Steel and Katherine O'Regan. I wanted to mention them because I always had a lot of admiration for Tony Steel not because he was a National Party MP at all but because he was an All Black and a pretty genial sort of bloke. We had a lot of good discussions about sport in the House.Hon Tim Macindoe: And a great sprinter.Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Yeah a great sprinter wasn't he? Wasn't he a great sprinter and a neat guy actually. I remember working with Tony on a few things as we do sometimes across the House and as we've done on this bill.Katherine O'Regan was a woman who I admired very much because I went overseas with her about 30 years ago. It was a leadership delegation that she led with Richard Northey. I thought she did some neat things Katherine and I was very sad to hear about her passing too. I remember going to China with her in 1986 and I remember her working so well with our Māori membership in particular. She had quite a distinguished political career serving as a Minister and very nearly knocking the Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters out of Tauranga. I think she lost by 62 votes one year. So I want to just honour those two.He tika me mihi ki a rāua kātahi anō kua hinga nō reira e te tokorua nei moe mai moe mai moe mai rā. [It is fitting here to acknowledge the two who have recently passed away so to you both rest in peace.]In terms of this bill it's been spoken about at length. I will say that the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee has worked very well together—no doubt about that. Despite National and Labour both being on there generally we've worked pretty tightly well chaired by Simon O'Connor—no doubt about it. Also a lot of experience was brought to the table from our member here from Manurewa Louisa Wall.Louisa Wall: I miss Gerry.Hon WILLIE JACKSON: The saddest part of it all of course is that National decided to demote our good friend Gerry Brownlee and now he's missing in action. We do miss his experience and what he brought to the committee which was a lot of humour and a lot of experience and certainly some background. So he's sadly missed now and sadly he's been replaced by the former Foreign Minister Todd McClay who brings nothing apart from sarcasm and reminders about what Ron Mark said about this bill the last time that it was brought before the House. But as we all know time has moved on and Ron's had a good rethink and now—I should say the Hon Ron Mark—realises that this bill is the right bill to go through. So I want to acknowledge our committee. I think it's a good committee and we seem to work from a pretty good position.In terms of the bill it establishes as everyone has said a regulatory regime for the brokering of weapons and military equipment by New Zealanders and New Zealand - based entities operating offshore. Of course that brokering involves negotiating arranging or facilitating the international transfer of weapons and military equipment from one foreign country to another.Quite rightly the bill requires all New Zealand citizens New Zealand ordinary citizens and New Zealand entities wishing to engage in brokering to register with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade and obtain a permit for each brokering activity. Of course the secretary may grant permits if satisfied that the proposed brokering activity is consistent with New Zealand's international obligations and would not prejudice the security defence or international relations of New Zealand.We've traversed many of the components of this bill during the second reading but it's important to say that the bill does not prohibit the brokerage of weapons or military equipment and it's appropriate to repeat that it regulates its activity to ensure controls are in place. That's a key point because the dangers of them ending up in the wrong hands—like Kiritapu Allan's relations down there in Tūhoe—are probably absolutely minimal but you never know how Governments respond to that danger when they hear about arms being handed around. As we all well know there's quite a sensitivity around who's got weapons or who may have weapons. We hear and see the horror stories every day. Items such as cars trucks and rubbish bins are being used in terms of weapons. Imagine the damage that could be inflicted on our communities if more advanced-design weapons were to fall into the hands of the wrong people. That's why around the world at the moment pieces of legislation such as this are so important.In terms of keeping communities safe in terms of keeping a level of stability in different communities and different countries and in terms of providing peace and protection this type of legislation safeguards and makes a number of communities feel safe and comfortable in terms of going forward. The bill on its own though won't be the only solution but it is us doing our part here to hold Kiwis accountable New Zealanders accountable who act or behave in an inappropriate way. It's not only part of our wider international obligations but also part of the solution to control or limit the damage that can be caused. You know whilst we can be accused of overreacting or exaggerating what some of the problems might be it's better—whether we're a National or Labour Government or in this case a coalition Government—to act on the side of safety.I also want to highlight as I did when speaking during the first reading on the bill that its intent is to enable appropriate conditions—enable appropriate conditions—to be placed on a broker's registration or permit. New Zealand plays its part in the international framework by ensuring that there are appropriate controls in place that will prevent New Zealanders and New Zealand - based entities from being involved in illicit arms brokering and deter any illicit arms brokers from shifting their activities to New Zealand. Now again we have to be very serious about this and we have to err in terms of the safety side of things. I know that the bill of course doesn't excite many of us out there but it remains important to remember the impacts that some of these weapons that are traded can obviously have on innocent communities around the world.We're getting numerous examples of I suppose—for want of a better word—terrorist activities around the world by all types of people. Some of that comes about because there is no control framework that has been put in place. That's why it's my view that it's vital that we as a country continue to play our part in this international context—that when Kiwis play a role no matter how insignificant in the brokerage of weapons they're registered with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade and they have to obtain the appropriate permits.I said this last time I contributed to this bill and it remains just as true today. We all look from the relative safety of our country from Aotearoa at some of the effects the weapons have had abroad from attacks that have taken the lives of the innocent to those that have helped change the landscape of many a nation and it's essential that we continue to rally against the illegal trading in weapons and military equipment. This particular bill will ensure that monitoring and reporting in this area will directly prevent Kiwis from engaging in brokerage where there is a real risk that these weapons will fall into the wrong hands. I commend this bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. I didn't interrupt the member but I just do want to remind the member especially as he is a Minister that we are expected to deliver speeches without reading them—much better improvement this time but we really should be delivering speeches without reading.