SpeechDr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green): E te Māngai tēnā koe. I rise on behalf of my colleague Golriz Ghahraman to support the COVID-19 Response (Courts Safety) Legislation Bill. We note that this is an omnibus bill that amends the Courts Security Act 1999 the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 the Juries Act 1981 and subordinate Jury Rules. It also applies to tribunals covered by the Courts Security Act 1999. This bill will support the safe and effective operation of courts and tribunals by reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 among those who visit the courts or work there. It also enables heads of bench to make rules for conduct at court proceedings necessary to address health and safety risks. Not being a lawyer I had to look up what heads of bench" meant. So for anyone else watching who had no idea each court is headed by a senior judge usually described as the Chief Judge or Principal Judge of that court and those positions are often referred to as heads of bench. In this country this also includes the Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court in respect of both the Māori Land Court and the Māori Appellate Court. So those heads of bench have administrative responsibilities in relation to the court but no direct authority or responsibility over the judicial work of the judges.Having established that this bill enables those heads of bench to for example require physical distancing of visitors and staff within the courtroom and the wearing of masks. They're also able to hold the proceedings in whole or part by audiovisual or audio link. So we support the heads of bench having this appropriate level of power in addition to the massive power they already have as judges.Frankly I'm quite concerned that given all the COVID restrictions that exist we need to pass a law for this purpose at this time. Have the courts not already been doing this and if they have does that mean that they've been illegally keeping people safe—the public and their staff—all of this time? Now the Greens have supported measures necessary to protect public health and adapt to the ever-changing presence of COVID amongst us in a way that minimises harm particularly to vulnerable populations such as Māori Pasifika people with disabilities and immunocompromised people. We've consistently raised the importance of safe workplaces during this pandemic because any worker in this country should be able to go to their work and know that they are safe—whether that's paid work whether that's voluntary. But they should also know they have access to support in the community should any one of them or their whānau succumb to this virus. So we agree this is urgent and we support this bill going through the truncated select committee process. This bill also changes jury provisions. They can be deferred or excused if potential jurors do not comply with COVID requirements like having a vaccine pass or they're vulnerable to the effects or have household members who are or their income will be significantly disrupted by COVID. I would say that at any time a juror should be able to be excused if their income will be significantly disrupted by them having to attend and not be at their workplace. However for Māori because of systemic racism in the justice system Māori are disproportionately more likely to appear before the court and because of systemic racism in the health system Māori are also proportionately more likely to be infected with COVID. So these public health measures are very very necessary for Māori but also anyone who is compelled to be at court for any reason. Of course being able to take part in the jury process shouldn't be a risk to your health because of the close and prolonged mixing of jurors. Otherwise again there's potential risk of low representation of Māori in juries. As of midnight last night only seven of our 20 DHBs had reached 90 percent double doses for Māori. Congratulations to Wairarapa who just passed this milestone. With cases skyrocketing even despite likely under-reporting it seems very belated to start insisting on vaccine passes into a place. We reiterate our earlier position that the wider use of rapid antigen tests should be able to broaden access for people who are not vaccinated to prove they are not infected so they can in this case have better access to the justice system. However we note that these changes are intended to be temporary. This bill expires when the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 is repealed or earlier if my colleague Chris Bishop has his way. We all look forward to that—when mandates are removed when restrictions are lifted and we can walk maskless in the world. So for as long as it is necessary let's do our best to keep our people safe in the courts regardless of how they come to be there and whatever their role might be. So I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora."