Doocey MattMATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise and speak in support of this important bill. I just want to acknowledge the last speaker Louisa Wall and acknowledge the great work she does as chair of the Health Committee. I do respect her for her work not only as a local MP but as the chair of the health select committee but I'll tell you what: I disagreed with that last point. Respectfully I think it's more probably toeing the party line that you know We need this. It's got to be expedited—three months instead of six for the select committee process for submissions." But in a backdrop of the Government dragging its heels for the last 2½ years when they could have got on and put this bill up a lot earlier they're clearly feeling the pressure of wanting bills passed before an election to look as though they have done something. The impact of that is going to be select committees rushing bills through that do not give an appropriate time for the public to have their say.Now look I'm a pretty balanced person—well I like to think I am—and there are some bills that arguably you mightn't need the full six months but I would argue this one needs its full time. Why? This is the first time in New Zealand we are going to be looking at vaping regulation. Even Darroch Ball who was contributing to the Hon Michael Woodhouse's speech earlier was saying you know "Do it once. Do it right." Well if we are going to take Mr Ball's approach and his advice then why are we rushing through this bill? We want everyone to have their say because I think there's some real—well there'll be some quite contentious points and I think that the last speaker Louisa Wall outlined them I think very articulately.On one hand we are needing to provide adults or young adults the ability to quit from normal smoking and transition to vaping but how do we safeguard our children and our young people? What we don't want is a perverse outcome that yes we allow some adults who've been smoking for a very long time and have failed to quit with the current tools the ability to move into vaping but then find out that we've created a new market of young people who weren't smoking traditional cigarettes and have gone straight into vaping. I use that word "market" on purpose and quite provocatively as well because I'll tell you what: this is a very commercial market. Already globally the vaping market is around $10 billion and expanding literally by the month. We don't have any available data of what the commercial market is in New Zealand but I would say it's probably exponentially growing by the day.I take the Hon Michael Woodhouse's point of having his BS radar on during the submissions process because I'll tell you what: some of the submissions will be heavily influenced by players in the market seeing the commercial gain here. That's why I think it's very important that the regulations we bring in are informed by the right health approach not necessarily informed by the right commercial approach because what is going to play out in this debate—and it's a classic dichotomy when you look at harm reduction versus abstinence. You know the Government's already fallen into this trap around the testing of party pills in dance parties saying that testing will make it safe. No it won't. By informing a user of what the substance is it might make it less harmful; it definitely doesn't make it safe. The only safe way of using a drug is not to take it at all.Then you have this argument of harm reduction versus abstinence and I think yes some people have already started smoking and quite rightly we are going to advocate that vaping is used as a tool to reduce the harm but we must be very clear here: vaping is not safe. Yes it's apparently by the research 95 percent less harmful than current smoking but it still carries risk. That is why we need to make sure we take the time and get the right regulation in place.What's disappointing is this current Government came in using words like "a new style of politics". Things were going to be done differently. As we've heard this was the ability to actually well put words into action. This could have been a cross-party bipartisan bill. We've seen them in the House earlier with the carbon zero bill and the Opposition actually reached out and the Minister declined that offer.I think that's disappointing for a Government that came in on the mantra that things were going to be done differently because there was clearly a bill already put up. The Hon Nicky Wagner—how good is Nicky Wagner I must say. Imitation is the best form of flattery and that's what this bill is. It's an imitation of the Hon Nicky Wagner the bill she had provided. So we had it. We lost 2½ years. But respectfully to the Hon Nicky Wagner there's still more work to be done in this space and that's why we're advocating to ensure that everyone is heard because what we want in this argument and in this bill is a health approach. I don't think there's anyone in this House that disagrees with the vision of smoke-free 2025 and we need to make sure that if we are really focused on achieving that in dare I say it five years to go—times are going quick—then we need to make sure we're taking the best approach. I just hope that we are going to get this bill in the right shape. So that's why I encourage the main players in this space and the public as well to come forward and make their submission because this is the first time New Zealand is going to have regulation around vaping. We need to make sure that New Zealanders have the right tools—the right tools to be informed by and the right tools to make their decision. But equally we need to make sure we're not providing the ability of a new cohort a new generation to come through with a new vice of their own. So that's why I think there needs to be a lot of focus on this bill. Finally if I can just wrap up and say it is interesting that we have these approaches of vaping. We're increasing the excise tax in tobacco products. We've got towns in my area of North Canterbury like Hanmer Springs which is declaring itself smoke-free. So we've got the right things in train but I do think one day we are going to have to face the real decision if finally we are going to outlaw and prohibit smoking products once and for all. Thank you Mr Speaker.Debate interrupted."