Kanongata'a-Suisuiki AnahilaANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI (Labour): It's an absolute privilege to be the last speaker on the third reading of the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill. Can I just say I just need to comment to the last speaker Nick Smith. Could somebody open the window? The rhetoric is just suffocating.Anyway before I get on to a summary I want to honour all 1786 New Zealanders who submitted and shared their story with the Health Committee. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank you for your stories because they have contributed to this excellent bill.All has been mentioned by all the 11 speakers before me so what I'm going to attempt to do is summarise some of what has been said. I begin with the leadership of the Hon David Clark. I want to quote exactly what the bill is so that there is no misunderstanding going forward and I quote—this is from the Minister—The bill: introduces an exception and statutory defence for people eligible to receive palliation to possess and use illicit cannabis and to possess a cannabis utensil; provides a regulation-making power to enable the setting of standards that products manufactured imported or supplied under licence must meet; deschedules cannabidiol so it is no longer a controlled drug."I want to comment on the Hon Simon Bridges. He asked a question: "What will police do if loose leaf is smoked near a school?" He also commented on the exceptional years of research done by Dr Shane Reti. But in response to the Hon Simon Bridges' question of "What will police do if loose leaf is smoked near a school?" well all 1786 submitters never told us that in their pain and in their dying days they are outside a school smoking. Can I respond and I want to quote this from the police who shared at the select committee. When this was put to them the police said "Police are currently assessing whether or not to lay charges on a case-by-case basis on evidence and in accordance with the Solicitor-General's guidelines which state that the prosecutor must be satisfied that the evidence adduced in court is sufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction and that prosecution is required in the interest of public interest. Can I say to those members "Call 911"—or in our case 111.I want to commend the leadership of the chair of this select committee Louisa Wall. Louisa Wall shared with us the workings of the select committee. Within a year we've come back with this bill and it's now at its third reading. Louisa Wall had commended the whole of the select committee which includes everybody. There were seven amendments that were discussed at select committee and out of seven five were in the Minister's Supplementary Order Paper (SOP)—five. So in terms of the working of a select committee I think that that's commendable and I want to acknowledge the work of the select committee in terms of the conversations that were held to get five amendments out of seven in the Minister's SOP. Louisa Wall also alerted us to the fact that this will bring economic benefits to Aotearoa New Zealand—highlighting the work of Hikurangi Enterprises.The Hon Michael Woodhouse also commented on police actions if they are smoking at a school. I've already said enough of that.Jenny Marcroft from New Zealand First spoke about the need for high-quality and easily accessible medicine for people. She also gave an explanation into how New Zealand First have found a coalition to work together—that New Zealand First believes in showing compassion and that this is about showing compassion in terms of bringing in the word "palliation" which improves the quality of life with regards to those of our loved ones who are dying.Dr Shane Reti focused again on loose leaf. He focused on his international research. My response to Dr Shane Reti is maybe it was a little too late. There were nine years that he could have brought those in.Chlöe Swarbrick questioned us that surely the point of laws is to keep people safe and she further stated along her speech that this bill is how we treat our sick through compassion.The Hon Nicky Wagner also spoke about how Labour had nine years in Opposition to come up with a detailed bill. Well it baffles me. National had nine years—National had nine years to come up with Dr Shane Reti's ideas. I think all speakers of the National Party commented on the excellent research and the dedication of Dr Shane Reti. I think that was an opportunity lost that they could have done in the last nine years. She also talked about requiring careful thought when decisions are made and I will respond to that later on.Angie Warren-Clark talked about palliative care—that it's different and that when you're in that state of your life the last thing you want to hear is somebody telling you how long you have to live. So palliative care when it's needed then you take it.Simeon Brown: well I'm not going to talk about that anymore because it was covered by the other speaker. When you're smoking outside rehabilitation premises—well if I'm in my dying days again the last place I would be is smoking at a school or taking illicit cannabis outside some sort of a rehabilitation place.I want to talk about Dr Liz Craig. Dr Liz Craig told us that people who came to the select committee shared about the suffering and chronic pain. They shared about how their loved ones or themselves had gone through this. She also alerted the fact to us that this is not a de facto legalising of cannabis. She said "Doctors can already prescribe medicinal cannabis." Of course David Seymour talked about the unreality permeating from the other speaker on the other side and that the real danger here is synthetic cannabis. That is the real danger.Dr Nick Smith spoke honestly about an assessment tightly regulated providing tremendous good. He talked about New Zealand research. He gave us all this research but I want to end and I want to quote the next steps from the Minister. I can add a lot into the conversation but I think this piece of legislation needs to actually pass so that those who are in need of palliation can receive what they can under this bill. And I want to quote the Minister because I think it will clarify what the next steps are if the Opposition didn't hear it.I quote "The ministry will release a consultation paper on the scheme early next year. This consultation paper will seek feedback on quality standards licensing system and the regulations needed to establish the Scheme. The Misuse of Drugs legislation already provides a framework for licensing the production of medicinal cannabis products. The Scheme makes use of the existing framework and does not add unnecessary compliance costs. The Ministry will develop the quality standards in consultation with experts." The Minister—as he said—is "convening a medical cannabis oversight panel to provide feedback and expert advice on the development of the Scheme."There's no need for me to delay this any further. It has been an absolute honour. This is the first bill as a new member of Parliament that I have gone from inception to now passing in its third reading. I want to acknowledge all the stories that have been shared intimately with the select committee. I want to acknowledge the leadership of the coalition Government and its supportive partner and I commend this bill to the House."