Webb DuncanDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a pleasure to stand up just to talk briefly about the Human Rights (Disability Assist Dogs Non-Discrimination) Amendment Bill. I think we need to place this bill in what's really a tapestry of legislation which is increasingly not just recognising but doing much more than that—kind of legitimising and putting on equal footing those members of the disability community. This is just one small part of that. I mean we wouldn't for a moment dream of telling people that they couldn't enter somewhere because they had a wheelchair or a walking stick or a moon boot indeed. But the suggestion here is that people who come in with dogs which are just as essential to them being able to access as much as possible the amenity that ordinary able people can are in some ways discriminated against. So congratulations to Mr Menéndez March for identifying this as an issue and recognising that this you know slim bill is an important step towards that. I guess it's really a signal—and I want to recognise having had it reported back from the select committee the fact that the select committee went out of its way to make sure that its own process was accessible. I think that's something that all select committees would do well to take note of just to make sure that those barriers which able people perhaps don't see—that we turn our minds specifically to them and ask the question: Well you know how is this going to be approachable for someone with low or no vision or low or no hearing or limited mobility or any other number—or neurodiverse?" My own Youth MP is neurodiverse and I must say she is teaching me a lot about the challenges that face people whose disabilities may not be immediately apparent. So when we do see someone—and I notice that it's identified in this bill—perhaps with a companion dog a dog that is an assistance dog that we don't leap to conclusions about the need or otherwise for that assistance that we don't leap to some sort of judgment but we accept in good faith that that animal is there for a reason because as soon as we make an assumption we run the risk of essentially being discriminatory. I think we have made leaps and bounds in years in some areas. But I do think that in respect of disabilities and especially in respect of disabilities which aren't immediately apparent to us—that aren't mobility disabilities or the like—we can sometimes brush them aside as trivial. I guess I'm challenging us here in the House in our select committees to just pause and engage—engage with the disability community and ask. Don't tell what the right thing to do is but ask: "What can we do to come to you?"; not "How can we make it easier for you to come to us?" but really for us to cross the bridge to them rather than the other way round.So again congratulations to the member for this bill. Obviously the Human Rights Act—and I think it's important to recognise you know this piece of what is constitutional legislation is not static and it will never be static because our society evolves and we increasingly recognise and extend and expand our human rights horizon. I'm very glad to see that we're doing this in respect of you know companion and assistance animals that make the lives of these people in the disabled community that much better. So very happy on this side of the House to commend it. It looks like a small piece of—you know a change of a definition and an inclusion in the Human Rights Act but I can see that for some people this will actually be transformative. This will make them be able to go places they couldn't go before with a sense of pride and a sense of not having to apologise for the fact that they're bringing this companion animal with them. So once again to Mr Menéndez March well done. Congratulations on identifying this and moving just one step further on the journey of making sure that all New Zealanders can fully participate in our community. Kia ora Mr Speaker."