Hipango HareteHARETE HIPANGO (National—Whanganui): I rise to take a brief call on this first reading of the Coroners (Access to Body of Dead Person) Amendment Bill. This bill requires lively engagement and debate on what is a deadly serious piece of proposed legislation. This bill should it continue to sustain life and passage into law will require more than Royal assent; it will require many Government cents and dollars and responsible sentiment and sensitivities to ensure that the intent of the amendment is met and satisfied. In other words intent is all well and good. What is required to the amendment and not simply discretionary is the resourcing to enable and satisfy the intent giving an extended life to the efficacy of this amendment bill.Whenever I stand to address this House I shall as a matter of practice endeavour to reference that upon which I speak to those whom I know or am aware have another or greater knowledge base or experience and skill. So I stand and speak this evening premised on not only my own personal and professional experiences but those of my coronial colleagues and when I say coronial colleagues—people I practised law with but they have advanced and been elevated to the status of coroner whilst I've still practised as a lawyer. Thus I speak and address this House in my capacity not only as National MP for Whanganui and a member of the Māori Affairs Committee but also as mana w'enua Māori of Whanganui with cultural tikanga protocols to adhere to in the context of that which I am experiencing.I also speak as a former lawyer and district health board governor with relationships to the police iwi liaison personnel dealing with deceased persons and whānau the coroner the Coronial Services of New Zealand health professionals funeral directors community leaders and most importantly whānau of the deceased person. I also speak from my own personal experience stricken with the death of loved ones and the desire to have immediate hands-on contact with and access to our deceased person tūpāpaku and finding that compliance with the law necessarily restricts that. But in terms of that necessary intervention there are ways of minimising the most harrowing sorrowful anguished moments in our life and this amendment will enable that to occur.The amendment to the law will aid in easing the passage of the deceased the tūpāpaku through the legal process acknowledging and heeding cultural customs and practices in a timely and culturally appropriate sensitive-management way of releasing the body back to the whānau but bearing in mind also from an evidential basis—I say as a lawyer—the importance where there is a suspicious and sudden death not to compromise the validity of the necessary evidence that's required. Other members in this House have spoken about the inquiry into the whānau access and particularly those of my colleagues who sat on the Māori Affairs Committee.I wish to connect with you in the way that I have had a personal enduring collegial friendship and association with the now Deputy Chief Coroner Brandt Shortland. Over the years and the times that we have reconnected he's talked about his duty and responsibility. He's been a practising lawyer like me for 30 years although he advanced into the coronial service of 11 years' practice and more recently has been New Zealand's Deputy Chief Coroner for almost 3 years the only Māori to ascend to this level of responsibility. Deputy Chief Coroner Shortland was one of the 27 submitters to the Māori Affairs Committee and he's spoken about his experiences not only as a coroner but as a Māori coroner navigating the relationships between whānau and also many other ethnic groupings associated with the sudden unexpected death of their loved one. He has talked about the importance of building relationships of trust with those engaging with all those professional bodies and groupings that I spoke about but more importantly the whānau relationships.Time is of the essence. When this bill takes its passage to the second reading I will talk further around the importance of resourcing this amendment which to date has been discretionary. Also my friend has indicated that coroners for many years although not required to have actually been implementing the practice that will be requisite under this legislation. I sense the cross-party support that's in the House this evening. I sense that there will be many cents of the Government required to sustain this in terms of the resourcing and implementation of it. And in conclusion I commend that the bill is kept alive and that the body of it is given access and passage to the select committee. I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.