Hipango HareteHARETE HIPANGO (National—Whanganui): Kia ora Mr Speaker. I take a brief call as the last speaker for the National Party on the Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill. This is a watershed moment—pardon the pun but it literally is because it's a turning point in terms of the health and the hygiene of our Aotearoa New Zealand water and the status of it. Just reflecting on previous speakers this afternoon I was one of those children from the 1960s through to the 1970s who also had the benefit of a rural community upbringing and our water supply was of course either rainwater in the tank—and yep when it was cleared out we found a dead possum or rat every now and then; we were pretty hardy and sturdy in those days—and also we used to go down to the river to cleanse to bathe to wash. Interestingly enough for Māori the word wai" water is a significant word in terms of wairua—a cleansing element. Wairua is the spirit. Waiora health—"wai-ora"—so the importance of the cleanliness the cleansing the purity of our waterways. I now turn to the amendment itself in taking this brief call. The main provisions of this bill are that it removes "requirements for the Ministry of Health to consult for [the] 3 years and [the] gazette changes for two years" prior to "making any changes to [the] drinking-water standards"; it clarifies that "water safety plans must include timetables to implement measures that mitigate risks to the drinking water" streamlines "processes for the appointment of drinking-water assessors" and removes "unnecessary references to designated ports and airports."In keeping this brief I just turn again to reflect on some fond memories as a child and I reference Minister Mark your recollections of going to water sources to fill your bottle. My memories are going down to the Hautapu River in Ōtaihape which was the source for many of us. There was a waterfall there. We would go down there we would bathe we would wash we would cleanse but we would take water from further up the river. Regrettably in my childhood in the 60s and 70s we couldn't do that in the Whanganui River; it was polluted. But now it's a different story. It just turns my mind in closing about who does what under this amendment bill in terms of the authorities. The local councils are responsible for supplying healthy drinking-water to local residents and we've heard from speakers in the House earlier this afternoon about the watershed moment in terms of the disastrous outbreak in 2016. Who does what? The Department of Internal Affairs is responsible for the legislation within which local governments operate and when it comes to drinking water the Ministry of Health is to set the drinking-water quality standards and guidelines.I will always reference from personal experience and the impact on my life and in 2017 legislation was passed in this House called Te Awa Tupua—the Act in relation to the Whanganui River. Part of the cleansing and essence of who we are as Whanganui is our waterways and the importance of keeping that as pure as can possibly be. So that hearkens back—we have our other authorities and our Te Awa Tupua authorities in terms of Whanganui water and the Whanganui River. It's not to be overlooked in terms of the health and safety of our waterways. Kia ora Mr Speaker."