Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Thank you Mr Speaker. I am pleased to stand and speak in this second reading of the Arms Legislation Bill. I want to say that actually I agree with the speaker Dr Duncan Webb who's just resumed his seat in terms of wanting a just and safe New Zealand and to have law that's fit for purpose. The reality though is that National sees that the bill as drafted won't deliver a just and safe New Zealand that the Government speaks of. That's why we've been very practical and pragmatic in terms of proposing 13 changes or improvements to the legislation that would deliver a just and safe New Zealand.The first one of course—which is a bit of a no-brainer really—is the firearms prohibition orders because if a member of the public or a member of the community was listening to this debate and thinking in terms of risk to them and their safety where is the greater risk? Who does that risk come from? Does it come from the criminal element does it come from someone who is associated with a gang or does it come from the person who lives next to me who owns a firearm to shoot rabbits and possums? So it's really important for those who are listening to this debate that National absolutely wants to ensure we have a just and safe New Zealand. But what we don't believe is that the bill—as drafted that's come out of select committee—delivers that. We want to have a piece of legislation that delivers it. So if you were to ask who the New Zealand public is more at risk from are they at risk from the person who lives next to me who has the firearm to shoot their possums and rabbits or is it the person who has a criminal record who is a member of a gang or a gang affiliate? So we're quite surprised—I'm personally very surprised—that the Government hasn't included the firearms prohibition orders. That's the top of our list in terms of recommendations for how this legislation can be improved. I urge the Government to incorporate that particular change because of any of the changes that we are recommending that is the one that I think would have the biggest difference. If I think about those that have been in contact with me about this piece of legislation—they've been loosely called the firearms community—well let me let me put a face on those people. They are the people who are sport shooters. Shooting and target shooting is a sport for them. It is a means of recreation. As I've said they are the people that are killing pests—whether they're rabbits or possums. They are those that hunt for recreation or for food. They are a group of New Zealanders if I look at the statistics in terms of the number of firearms licences 248000—the vast majority of those are law-abiding upstanding members of our communities. They are not the lunatic fringe they are not extremists; they are everyday New Zealanders that participate in our communities in our schools in our churches and everywhere else.So again I come back to the question that I posed at the start to the Government: who is the public at greater risk from? Criminals gang members gang associates or the sorts of people I've just described as members of our communities that are part of the nearly 250000 New Zealanders that have licences who use them for sport for hunting for pest control to gather food for their families and in some instances it might be to humanely dispose of an animal on a farm. I think the unfortunate piece of this legislation is the Government have got the balance all out of whack. What it's doing is actually penalising and adding bureaucracy and rules and red tape to the close to 250000 New Zealanders who have a firearm for a range of purposes and actually it really fails to deliver the really hard edge of this which is: who causes the greater risk to New Zealand communities?I want to just briefly touch on the firearms register because in my own electorate I know that had there been a firearms register a murder would have been solved much quicker if there'd been one in place. So in theory a firearms register is a good idea but it's only a good idea if it works and delivers on the purpose. That's why National was suggesting that this bill should be improved by including the details of the register in the bill itself so that it's clear for everyone what is actually going to be delivered and how it's going to work.There are still some concerns on this side. I share them with my colleagues that have spoken previously at length about this in terms of—given the examples and experience of countries overseas with a firearms register that perhaps it would be better to say Actually that's a very chunky piece of work. It's really important that it works. Why don't we take that out of this bill deal with it separately build the business case and do it properly?" And at the end of the day I'm going to finish as I started. National absolutely wants to ensure a just and safe New Zealand. We want a piece of legislation that is fit for purpose and that works. That's why we've got 13 recommendations to improve this legislation and we're asking the Government to support these practical pragmatic changes to make this bill work. Thank you Mr Speaker."