SpeechAGNES LOHENI (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to stand and give my voice and support to this second reading of the Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlements Amendment Bill. I'd also like to acknowledge the chair Louisa Wall and the members of the Health Committee who examined this bill. I was not a member of Parliament at the time but I do recall quite vividly the announcement of the historic $2 billion pay equity settlement which was passed in June 2017 by the then National-led Government so I feel very fortunate to be able to be here at this time to speak in the second reading of this part of the bill. It was indeed a historic and momentous occasion and it does recognise the work that is carried out by 55000 workers in our aged care and disability residential care and home community support sector. Of course we acknowledge that the majority of that sector are women. They are mothers they are sisters they are aunts and I in particular also acknowledge women in my wider family that work and have worked in this sector. It's incredibly important work and it's also important that we show that we are caring for the people that are caring for our loved ones for our elderly for our vulnerable and for the disability sector as well. I commend the work of the select committee and the officials in their efforts to address and to tweak some of the shortcomings in the bill in particular around the carers who are hired by individually funded clients. It's already been traversed from the contributions made tonight in terms of the background to this bill and in particular was noted around the Terranova settlement which I actually didn't know that much about but I was really pleased to hear the contribution from my colleague Dr Shane Reti about that. But as has been traversed it is really to give effect to those settlements which were in respect of the vocational and disability support workers. That was signed by the Crown and relevant parties on 17 June 2017. I'd like to acknowledge that the primary purposes were to address those historical inequities and to achieve that pay equity in a more consistent manner across the sector and I think this goes a long way towards making that happen for the sector.The principal Act expressly excluded the mental health services that were funded by the Department of Corrections the Ministry of Social Development and Oranga Tamariki and so it's good that this bill has corrected that now that this has now provided and made provision for mental health services—a positive move particularly in light of recent years and the climate in our mental health services particularly. I would note just some of the select committee changes that were clarified in terms of the support workers that can be employed by clients who receive individualised funding for the Ministry of Health. These workers and their employers are included in the settlement agreement. Also as was noted the definition of employer in the principal Act did not cover the individually funded clients. The changes now would ensure that those care workers are paid by individually funded clients so that they receive the same pay and conditions including both minimum-wage rates and back-pay. Also in terms of some of the key provisions in the bill around mental health and addiction support workers and vocational and disabilities support workers these are covered by the other provisions of the of the principal Act including the enforcement of provisions in the case of disputes or an employer's failure to comply with the requirements of the principal Act. I would just like to say that I support this bill to the House. Thank you.DEPUTY SPEAKER: This is a split call. I call Dr Duncan Webb.