O'Connor GregGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): Madam Deputy Speaker it gives me great pleasure to rise to speak on this Marrakesh Treaty. Just—DEPUTY SPEAKER: My apologies—this is a split call so five minutes; bell at one. Sorry to interrupt the member.GREG O'CONNOR: Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Just to build on the presentation by the Hon Nicky Wagner I think what the important thing is when we get to debate a treaty like this is that it highlights disability issues. We've talked about the 168000 New Zealanders whose lives will be enriched by this potentially. But what it also does is ensure that—what we often forget when we're talking about disabled people is that it's actually so much of the pleasure of the world that they are deprived of. Those of us who grew up understanding the pleasures of literature in particular understand just what a journey we can take into that area.It's quite ironic that it is called the Marrakesh Treaty because Marrakesh is somewhere that those of us who in our youth backpacked around the world—Marrakesh is one of those places and occupies in our minds an exotic location. It is very exotic—it's not the oldest place in Morocco it's not even the capital of Morocco but it is the cultural centre of Morocco. What better way to have a treaty that is going to enable so many people in New Zealand who are currently deprived of the ability to fully partake in the cultural pleasures of our world than to be called the Marrakesh Treaty? So I am very much proud to stand here and be in support of this.The print disabled blind severely impaired unable to hold or manipulate a book unable to move or focus their eyes or experiences a disability with respect to visual perception—they're just words but they mean so much if you're one of the people who are subject to any of those disabilities. I know through my own personal involvement with the disability sector that it is a part of the world that constantly looks not for pity not even for assistance but just to feel that they belong to the world in which those who are shall we say privileged enough to be normal occupy. It's treaties like this it's measures like this that just go that little bit further to ensuring that those people do get to participate fully in the world.The Marrakesh Treaty—it's a treaty on copyright adopted in Marrakesh as you've said on 28 June 2013 and it seems a long time ago but in the lives of so many people anything that improves is worth waiting for. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities—New Zealand is a party to. Of course that guarantees full equality under law for people with disabilities so again it is absolutely appropriate that New Zealand be part of any legislation any treaty that improves the lot of those people.Before the legislation comes in there's only a small number of organisations that are prescribed bodies under section 69 of the Copyright Act that exists now and there's only two organisations in New Zealand who are actually able to produce material under that Act. It is extremely expensive and in the absence of this Marrakesh Treaty it would continue to be a bar to so many fellow New Zealanders accessing the whole world—the world of literature the world of every written and other word that we need to be part of the world.This also explicitly provides for the import and export of accessible-format copies. At the moment of course if someone does wish to import any material they are subject to the copyright of those countries as well—so again a big restriction. So part of not only ensuring that those with disabilities the sight-impaired in New Zealand become part of the New Zealand society—fully functioning members—but they can actually also become part of that world I suppose as I said at the start prefaced by that exotic land of Marrakesh in Morocco. So it gives me great pleasure to recommend this treaty and our participation in it to the House and as it progresses through the House just a thought for those who will be watching who will be very pleased to know that they're going to be part of a bigger wider world.