Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 I will speak to the title of the Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill; I am not going to ramble on like some of the previous speakers. This bill is about the protection of disclosures and the protection of those who choose to take the risk to point out injustices within public organisations. As I stated in my earlier representation to the Committee the bill is designed to improve aspects of an Act that currently exists. It gives the Ombudsmen an enhanced coordinating and helping role. It should allow whistleblowers to bring serious wrongdoings to light while protecting their interests and making it easier for organisations to investigate people effectively. 
This is a good bill. It is not about the current Government persecuting and chasing after bureaucrats; it is about the protection of those who are willing to raise up their voices against injustice and willing to raise up their voices against fraud and crimes which we heard about earlier today. It is not about the political machinations of mistakes that have been made in the health sector which certain members have alluded to. It is not about apologising for mistakes that were made under 9 years of quite incompetent oversight of the country and of Government departments. It is not about that; it is about protecting those who have said “I see something wrong within my organisation or my place of work and I am prepared to take a risk and speak out against some of the injustices.” 
Some of the changes to the principal Act are commendable. Some of those changes have been alluded to by a number of members in this Committee without getting into the political debates around some of the examples that have been used. This amendment bill has been based on a report a comprehensive report that was submitted to the Government Administration Committee some time ago. I am glad that all members and all parties within this Chamber have come together to promote this bill. The National Government is closing this bill. We are closers; we do not just talk it up. We are not going to ratchet it up. We are closing this because we believe in it—whether or not the Opposition also believes in it. We are a Government of action unlike the previous one that sat around with a bare Order Paper for the last 3 years of its term in Government. We are a Government that has a full Order Paper whether or not some bills were initiated under the previous Labour Government and we are proceeding with some of the actions in this bill. 
We support the broad approach of the principal Act and we support the efforts to improve its operation as well as its administration. Some members here tonight have talked about the resources to be applied to implementing some of the changes within this legislation. That is not something for me to look at. Our debate tonight is really about changing the principal effects of the Act in order for it to run in a smooth and efficient manner. As some have already said tonight the Ombudsmen are held in high regard across this whole Parliament and it is a good fit to increase the facilitation and coordination role of that particular office and those particular persons within their place in Government. We expect that this bill will provide better tools to enable Government agencies to respond in a more coordinated and effective manner. It is not just about the legislative changes that are going on; some changes do need to be made both within organisations that will use this bill and also among the leadership of those organisations. And some speakers here tonight have pointed the finger at some of those leaders. 
Finally all parties here agree that silence is sometimes not an option and that it is in the public interest that sometimes confidence is broken in order to go after some of the wrongs that have been committed within the public domain. Thank you.