McKee NicoleNICOLE McKEE (ACT): I rise to speak on the District Court (Protection of Judgment Debtors with Disabilities) Amendment Bill. Just before I get started I'd like to assure the Hon Dr Nick Smith that there were no chocolate chips harmed in the making of some feijoa muffins. I'd like to commend Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki—and I apologise if I've pronounced that wrong; it's my first attempt—for this bill that you have brought before the House. The bill came about because there was a disabled person who had their mobility van seized by a bailiff. By doing so this not only restricted the support and independence that that person needed but also they could not participate in any activities outside of their home. So it was really important that this was brought to the House. Originally this bill was just about preventing the seizures of items needed for the debtor's care and support or independence that promoted their inclusion and participation in society but it now includes looking after the dependants—the disabled dependants—of a judgment debtor and I think that's one of the most relevant things that we were able to do within the select committee process. It's actually amazing that we had to legislate for this. This being one of my first references within the select committee to look into I was really quite surprised that we were even having to look into this because I thought people would be protected already. I mean the bailiffs after all do have some discretion. They can't take essential household items like stoves and fridges but they also have a job to do and businesses need to ensure that they can get their goods back or that they can get payment for their goods and the court judgments do need to be enforced in some way. For the creditors this bill is actually not going to prevent the repossession of goods that are provided in a credit contract. As the members across the floor have stated there are actually other avenues that the creditors can take as well. So this bill really is about protecting those people with disabilities and impairments and that's why it makes it so easy to support. Currently the law does not prohibit the seizure of items that people with disabilities or impairments own like mobility scooters and vans and specialised vehicles hence the member brought this to the table for us to debate. We also need to look now at the number of seizures that may occur because in this COVID climate we have a lot of job losses we have a lot of rises in the cost of living and we have a lot of people that are unable to meet their debt more so than ever before. In fact just this week I had a phone call from a gentleman on a different topic but he is struggling. He is disabled and he told me that he had to figure out whether or not he was going to pay an application fee for a Government service or eat his meal on Wednesday night. So there are so many people out there struggling that regardless of whether you have a disability or not we need to do what we can to support them. It was an eye-opener I found for me as well on the number of different things that could be seized and the concerns that people with disabilities and impairments actually have. Our select committee discussions brought about the issues that I was not previously aware of—for example that change in definition for disability". It was noted that impairments were not defined in the current definition of "disability" and this bill will make changes to make sure that impairments are defined so that people who are impaired rather than disabled will also not have some their items or property potentially seized. There is a difference between the two but there is no difference when it comes to being able to access the ability to join in society and partake. I also would like to take the opportunity to thank the officials that came before the select committee time and time again to give us their valued advice. One of the things that was brought up was those with low-vision impairment and those with hearing impairments or disabilities actually needing access to their phones and phones being a part of those items that should not be seized—that people depend on them in some cases to communicate with the outside world. It was really really important that we did address that. We have I think found a right balance here in that it's necessary for the judgment debtor's care support or independence and it promotes their inclusion and participation in society. That's where we will have just a little bit of difference about how a bailiff can enforce the law once it goes through—and I am confident it will go through because you do have support around the House. It gives some clear guidelines. When we look at promoting inclusion and participation in society it gives support or independence to the individual. That means whether it's a phone whether it's a car or whether it's a mobility scooter it will depend on the individual whether or not that gets seized. There are some concerns—and they have been addressed—about whether or not those people with disabilities will actually be able to get credit once this law goes through. There are questions about how they may be able to secure their loans. Will they even get loans? Will they get loans at different rates perhaps higher rates? Effectively it's going to be up to the creditor to perhaps seek another form of security from the debtor or find an alternate way of collecting from them. We need to make sure that if we have a scenario where mum or dad might have a debt but their child has a disability and the bailiff turns up and wants to seize the car that is stopped because we need to make sure that child can go to school or can go to the doctor if that's needed. We need to make sure that those with impairments of hearing or vision as I mentioned before still have access to those essential items and that they can communicate with others and as I keep repeating participate in society. This will happen if they can meet the criteria that has been mentioned within the bill. So on that note the ACT Party supports this bill and we also commend Anahila for the work that you've done on it."