Hutchison Paul: Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Bill Human Rights Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hutchison Paul: Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Bill Human Rights Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Readings 
[Sitting date: 02 September 2008. Volume:649;Page:18340. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to speak on the third reading of this very important and benchmark legislation the Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Bill and the Human Rights Amendment Bill (No 2). It is a great day when all parties in Parliament support legislation such as this. It is however really important also that when there are concerns about process they are taken in a constructive light. And there were concerns about process with this legislation. However the National Party has done everything possible at every stage to make sure we are in full cooperation with the Minister. And I must say the Minister has also done a great deal to ensure that we were well informed beforehand and that we were able to do what we wished to do.  
However we were of course concerned about the fact that a broad range of parties were unable to have time to submit on this legislation and that was something that I think does require a reality check. This is very serious legislation and this convention is very serious and we take it seriously. We do not want to have false expectations. We want to ensure that the aspirations of this sort of legislation can indeed be translated into reality. That is why we were concerned that people like the Certified Builders Association the unions and businesses that are affected and have to make the real practical changes to their buildings or their access ways and that do indeed have financial implications imposed upon them are appropriately consulted so that indeed I say to Mr Chauvel these expectations can be realised. I hope the member takes it on board that this is not a rose-tinted pass to everything happening suddenly. It must be done piece by piece stage by stage in a practical sincere and appropriate way. That is the way the National Party would have appreciated it being done if we possibly could have.  
However I am absolutely delighted with the way everybody has worked to get this legislation through. I too thank all of the officials because I know they have had to do a tremendous amount of hard work over this very short time span. I understand there is still more hard work to come in order to achieve the realisations that the legislation promises.  
I also sincerely want to thank the disability sector for the tremendous amount of work it has done for many years in order to bring this about. I know that it has spent on its part year after year lobbying all sorts of different people including the National Party and I must say that it has been for me a source of constant inspiration and learning to have had connection with the whole disability sector whether it be CCS Disability Action or IHC or of course DPA. It has been a great pleasure and a real privilege to be involved with the thinking and the sincerity that have been behind bringing this about tonight.  
Indeed it is a great occasion that we come to the third readings of this legislation. It is quite complicated in its background; it has heavy implications in a whole variety of legislation including the mental health legislation that I mentioned earlier on. There are quite subtle changes in the way things are changed to ensure that people who are suffering mental illnesses are able to fully participate in a whole variety of circumstances—such as on school boards—that they have not been able to in the past.  
Passing this legislation is indeed another step in terms of implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy and in terms of going along the pathway to accessibility and ensuring that New Zealand becomes a fully inclusive society. So it is with great pleasure that the National Party supports this legislation’s passage in its third readings.