Naylor Jono: Coroners Amendment Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNaylor Jono: Coroners Amendment Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 20 October 2015. Volume:709;Page:7405. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JONO NAYLOR (National): I think that this bill reinforces Parliament’s role in continuing to improve and refine the processes that the Parliament initially establishes. We know that the Coroners Act was put in place in 2006 and like all legislation we cannot simply let legislation just sit on the books forever and a day and not look to improve it or have better processes in place. This is what this bill does.Following the last speaker Andrew Little I do just want to reassure the House and reassure any members of the public who are listening that our loved ones and family members are very much at the centre of this bill and what it is that we are trying to achieve. Behind this bill the provisions within this bill are all about speeding up the coronial process. It is about making this less traumatic for family members in particular.For family members or for families who have lost somebody through an accident through a traumatic event it is a very traumatic time. So when people are having to wait 400 days or perhaps 700 days for the outcome of a coronial inquiry or inquest that is long time for people to wait before they can have closure. This bill absolutely and utterly looks to speed up the process because family members—those who have lost loved ones—are absolutely at the forefront of what we are trying to achieve here. The potential is for victims to be revictimised at times by processes and we want to make sure that the coronial process and the length of time that it takes in no way draws that process out any more than it needs to be for those people.I want to acknowledge a number of the submitters who came to the Justice and Electoral Committee. They were very brave in that they came and shared their own stories with us. That is not an easy thing to do in a public setting and I think it was very valuable for us as a select committee to hear from them and to be able to acknowledge some of the difficulties that they have faced through the traumas that they have suffered. I think it was really helpful to us as a select committee and I just want to acknowledge those families that came forward and shared their stories with us. We also heard from organisations like the New Zealand Medical Association which of course—because this is good legislation—was very supportive of the bill. That was positive for us.There are a couple of aspects that I want to just briefly touch on. One is the removal of the requirement for there to be an automatic inquest if somebody passes away while they are in the custody of the State. A coroner still can conduct an inquest—they are not barred from being able to do this. They still can undertake an inquest where they think it is required.For example if you have somebody who has been in prison for a long period of time and perhaps they have contracted a terminal illness of some description and then they clearly die of natural causes I think we would all agree that it is pointless to go through the full formal inquest process. This gives coroners that ability to not go through that process where it is simply unnecessary.Finally I just want to touch on the new restrictions around suicide reporting. I think we would all agree that the suicide rates in New Zealand are far too high and so it is beholden on us where we can to put things in place that will limit triggering people in terms of copycat behaviour or otherwise. Under this bill publication of the method or the site—if it suggests the method of a suicide—will be prohibited unless the Chief Coroner grants an exemption. This supports international evidence that says this type of reporting if it is not done properly can lead to copycat behaviour.In conclusion I just want to say that I am really pleased with the way that this bill has come together. I think it is going to make things more practical going forward for the coronial service and I think it is going to better serve the needs of those New Zealanders who have suffered the traumatic loss of a family member. I commend the bill to the House.