Verrall AyeshaHon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Associate Minister of Health): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is with great pride that I rise to take this call on this Government bill to ban conversion therapy—35 years since Fran Wilde's Homosexual Law Reform Bill passed in 1986; 17 years since the Labour Government supported the Civil Union Bill into law in 2004; eight years since my colleague Louisa Wall's marriage equality amendment bill passed in 2013; and today this bill which began its life as a member's bill Marja Lubeck's bill is here as a Government bill because this Labour Government is committed to creating a more inclusive and accepting New Zealand and being the best place in the world to be a child.Conversion therapy is harmful to mental health. We know that the rainbow community experiences worse mental health. University of Auckland research shows that same- or multiple-sex attracted people have higher rates of depressive symptoms self-harm and suicide attempts. The Counting Ourselves survey documents worse mental health for trans people living in Aotearoa. Behind those statistics I think of the many friends that I know who have had those experiences: the friend who buried his boyfriend when he was in his 30s; the girlfriends who bounced in and out of mental health wards.People subjected to conversion therapy have worse mental health outcomes. A paper in the American Journal of Public Health suggests twice the odds of experiencing suicidal ideation; a 75 percent higher risk of planning a suicide attempt. Not long ago on 8 July we came together in this House to debate Zero Suicide Aotearoa. Members on both sides of the House were united in their concern about suicide. Just a month ago we heard from the Opposition about how concerned they were about these issues and here with an opportunity to do something about it they are voting against a very practical measure that would make a difference to many New Zealanders.I listened to Mr Bridges' comments. He didn't really talk about conversion therapy at all. I will talk about conversion therapy. I don't want to talk about the mental health consequences of conversion therapy anymore because it seems to me to miss the point. The problem with conversion therapy is just how awful the practice itself is. All people but particularly young people want to belong. Young people are forming their identity. Naturally they want to be accepted. Conversion therapy is about trying to erase someone's identity. It is about saying that part of you is defective and we want to root it out. Conversion therapy is coercive because behind conversion therapy is a threat of exclusion: this part of you is wrong and you don't belong. If we did this to a prisoner we would call it abuse or torture. It is the threat of being banished of being cast out of society.Lots of people complain about being cancelled over trivial matters and disagreements but conversion therapy is actually cancelling someone. Imagine being the young person in that position; it must be traumatic and it is totally unjustifiable. Does anyone in this House think conversion therapy is a good idea? A lot of members opposite can't look up right now. Does anyone think it's a good idea? If it's not a good idea the Opposition has the opportunity to support this bill to select committee to address their technical objections but they chose not to take that to fearmonger about items that are not at all in the bill.Conversion therapy is a sick and bizarre practice and what is unbelievable is that these practices are called therapy". What a misappropriation of the word "therapy". It causes hurt not healing. To believe conversion therapy is therapy you have to believe that being gay lesbian bisexual or transgender is a disease; that it is something wrong in need of fixing. And the charlatans that engage in this practice use the language of medicine to bolster their false authority. That's why it's so important that medical psychiatric and psychological authorities around the world have condemned the process. I wonder what Dr Reti thinks. I wonder what mental health advocate Matt Doocey thinks.The rainbow community has long fought homophobia. We have done this by asserting our rights by being visible. The primary way we do this is with pride by being proud and refusing to be ashamed. The rainbow community has progressed progressive law reform in New Zealand to ensure that our rights are upheld and the rainbow community has called for this bill to be passed today. I am very proud to be a member of New Zealand's rainbow community and I am proud to be a Labour MP supporting this bill. All our young people should grow up with a sense of pride in themselves. Conversion therapy is monstrous. It is not therapy; it is hate. I commend this bill to the House."