Mitchell MarkHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa): I was just checking to see if I was up now! I haven't had the chance to speak on this bill but I'm glad that I'm being given the chance. Mr Speaker first of all can I just take my first opportunity to say congratulations on taking up the role of Deputy Speaker. I always enjoy when you're in the seat. You are very fair. I would ask that you maybe advocate for removing the sanctions around the use of you" because I seem to be the one that gets most heavily penalised in this House for that. But anyway I'm very pleased to stand and take a call on this bill. I think the reality of it is that all of us come to this House because we want to make New Zealand a safer place and in particular we want to protect our young people. We do understand and we do know that we have got a drug problem in New Zealand—methamphetamine these party pills. It's becoming a growing industry unfortunately because we are being the recipients of serious criminal organisations like these 501s these gangs the Comancheros and the Mongols that are coming in from Australia and they're taking us to a new level in terms of violence and organisation around the drug trade and the supply chain. So we've got a big issue—we've got a big issue in our country; there's no doubt about that. I can see why the Government would want to be focused on tackling that but I feel very strongly in my heart of hearts that this is the wrong pathway to go down. I'm just going to step that through quickly. I think I've listened carefully to the evidence and the data that Chlöe Swarbrick has put up. I've listened carefully to the evidence and the data that our own team has put up. The one thing that's become very evident to me is that we needed a select committee process and we needed to go through that because actually we need to sift through all that information that data—Chlöe Swarbrick: You didn't turn up Mark. There was one for my petition.Simeon Brown: That was a petition.Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well—yeah that's right. That was—Chlöe Swarbrick: There was Ministry of Health advisers and officials.Hon MARK MITCHELL: And like they said that was on a petition. But the reality of it is that this is a serious serious piece of legislation as we come into the summer break. Make no mistake about it. I just want to run through the concerns that I have from an operational level. Maybe the next caller or even Chlöe you could stand and respond to this—that firstly we're going to send a message as a Parliament. We should be the responsible ones. We should be the ones that are actually studying and making very very clear decisions because what we do here does matter and the signals that we send to the rest of the country and our young people do matter. The reality of it is passing this bill today it's going to change the conversation amongst young people. There are good young people out there actually that won't take drugs and the reason why they won't take drugs is that it's illegal and they don't want to break the law. But the conversation is now going to change—and trust me the conversation will change. Now they're going to have a lot more peer pressure and they're going to have people saying well you know what the Government said that it's OK; we'll test your drugs. But—Hon Member: We haven't though. Hon MARK MITCHELL: I know that you keep putting up the argument that you're saying that it's not OK and it's making it safer. That is a false argument because the way that the young people see it is—Hon Simon Bridges: They won't get that advice.Hon MARK MITCHELL: They won't and they'll see their Parliament as quite simply saying that it is OK—it is OK to take these drugs. And by the way when they hand the drugs over and they are tested and they receive them back they will think—they're not going to be involved in a nuanced debate about what the ingredients are or what's actually in them; all that they'll know is that they've had their drugs tested and they've got them back and they're safe. And they're not safe; they can kill them. I can tell you what I had a long conversation with Simon Watts who's a new MP the MP for North Shore who's come into our caucus. He's a paramedic—he's a paramedic that actually attends these concerts. He incubates people that have taken these drugs. I've got no doubt at all—the chemical product inside these drugs that's harmful is the MDMA. That's what kills young people. So that's the first thing. The next thing that I want to know is—because I heard the Minister on the radio this morning saying that these drugs are still illegal that people can still be arrested and charged. So if young people—or not even young people; if anyone a member of the public is coming into a concert—by the way these concert promoters normally try to promote their concerts as drug free because a lot of parents when they let their kids go to them want to have a high level of confidence that there's not drugs there that there aren't drug dealers there that they're not being peddled. So when people arrive and they're coming in with their drugs and they're being tested and they're being handed back are the police allowed to monitor and watch? Are the promoters of the concert allowed to watch those people knowing that they're coming in with drugs knowing that probably an outcome is going to be that guys like Simon Watts and our paramedics are going to have to be incubating and trying to save them? Are they allowed to monitor them? Are they allowed to watch them? I don't know. In my view that would be common sense wouldn't it? Because you know that you've got people entering with a harmful product or a harmful drug that could ultimately end up with them in a seizure frothing at the mouth or even in a cardiac arrest with some brain damage. Shanan Halbert: Simon Watts would want a health response.Hon MARK MITCHELL: Sorry what was that? Simon Watts—Shanan Halbert: —would want a health response.Hon MARK MITCHELL: So I've just had a response here from one of the new members. I'm sorry I don't know your name but it's a good question.Hon Member: You know his name.Hon MARK MITCHELL: No I'm genuine. I'm sorry I don't. But it's a good question. The member for Northcote—Shanan. So congratulations and it's a good question. He said a health response—let's have a health response. So if we're going to have a debate in this Chamber that this is a health response and this is a health-related policy then put up the evidence and the data that shows us that less people will use drugs and there'll be less harm because in this debate not one of you—take a call take a call and convince me and show me that actually you've got the data that shows that there's less use and there's less harm. I'll make a prediction—I'll make a prediction—that this summer season at these concerts there's going to be more use and there's going to be more harm. And I'll make another prediction because what we've done is we've created a safe zone and we've incubated drug dealers from prosecution. You might raise your eyebrows. You might say "Oh he's being alarmist." No I'm not being alarmist. I'm just providing you with feedback from our front-line responders the people like the police. I don't know if you've been and spoken with the police or whether you've spoken with our paramedics. Simeon Brown: They haven't been consulted.Hon MARK MITCHELL: I don't know if they've been consulted on this legislation. Apparently I'm told that they haven't been. They are the ones that pick up the pieces. When we're off on our summer holidays at the beach they're the ones that are actually picking up the pieces. They're the ones that have got the kids vomiting in a comatose semi-comatose state. They're the ones trying to contact parents or taking them to the hospital or trying to track down where the drugs are coming from and shut the supply chain down. They're the ones that are actually dealing with it. Surely on a piece of legislation like this we should have actually been listening to them. We should have been listening to what they had to say and their feedback. Hon Dr David Clark: Police have been supportive of a health response.Hon MARK MITCHELL: So what did they say? We've got the Hon David Clark in the House. Let's listen—let's listen. Let's get some feedback. Take a call and give us the feedback on what they said because I can predict something right now: you are going to have—I'm getting the wind-up message. So you are going to have drug dealers—Chlöe Swarbrick: You have them now.Hon MARK MITCHELL: —that are going to come—no you're going to have drug dealers now that target concerts because you know why? They are now incubated. Concert goers and drug dealers now will freely ply their trade. Not only will they freely ply their trade; their pills will actually be quality tested. So they're going to have them quality tested and then people are going to go in there they're going to consume them and they're going to have the results of drug use and drug overdoses. That's what's going to happen. So this bill is not a good bill. It's not a safe bill. I'm pleased that it's going to have to come back to the House but I am concerned and I do flag—and I hope that we'll all be watching to make sure this doesn't happen—that there will be an increase in use of these drugs. There'll be a new insidious pressure put on young people that currently say "Our Government says that it's illegal and we shouldn't be taking them." and there's going to be an increase in harm talking to the health policy. That's what I'll be watching very closely this summer. Thank you Mr Speaker."