SpeechGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Madam Speaker. CS Lewis said—and I pause as the room is filled with awe and wonder—Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'. Otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite." I just thought I'd let that sink in as we speak on this very significant piece of legislation. In this House which doesn't have infinite power but it has a lot of power and today I have to remind people that this is a members' day and this is a member's bill and of course there is the wonderful biscuit tin that does its magic and has got us to this place. But there is also the work of Rachel Boyack who has worked on this and has had the luck the blessing or whatever it is for us to be able to debate to take this legislation to the select committee and to bring it back here to the House this morningI guess that part of what I've heard this morning as I've listened is the fundamental differences that come from different sides of the House around what's important. As I've listened I realised that language as much as we want to ignore it or forget it is power. With that is education and being educated is understanding words and language and forming sentences and structures and for many of us in this place we've had the privilege and the opportunity to attend schools private schools for example that offer a certain type of education that's different from others. Many of us have had the privilege of making it to our universities. But many of us haven't and this isn't about intelligence. This isn't about who's better than anyone else. It's actually just about how language works within our society.Language has always evolved. It's always changed; it's always moved. If you just look at our dictionaries every year new words are added and changed. As we spread across different generations and different ages language has been adopted. It has been embedded into laws into our market places into our learning institutions into our religions into our story telling into our politics and of course even into our Public Service. Each time each generation and each decade it changes and it evolves to affect those who are here right now to understand it and to move forward. So plain language is something that we need to look at for all people in our society and as I said earlier this isn't about dumbing down; this is about making it accessible to everyone.Last week I was blown away and humbled to see a new Speaker elected into that Chair a bilingual Speaker a speaker of te reo and speaker of English. Several generations ago that just would not have happened. That would not have been a thing that would have been seen in this place. But to see the progression the moves and the changes in our society so that we have a bilingual Speaker of two of our languages here in Aotearoa makes me very proud. I'm grateful to the Rt Hon Adrian Rurawhe for accepting that position.It shows that society moves on and it changes and it morphs and it grows. As I say language is such a powerful thing and often that's why our institutions want to protect language from being made more approachable and accessible—because language is power. In fact I began with CS Lewis. I will continue with some other great thought leaders. Julia Penelope said "Language is power in ways more literal than most people think. When we speak we exercise the power of language to transform reality. Why don't more of us realize the connection between language and power?" I think part of the conversation this morning and part of the pushback I've heard is the fear that maybe "I may lose some power because I have the command of the English language. I understand it. I can speak words that no one else knows."Hon Gerry Brownlee: No you can't.GLEN BENNETT: Well I can't; I know. I can't use those words. I am a simple man a man of my community but a man who can actually string a sentence together and can act actually understand our society. But for example I could have given a 30-second speech. I know some of you wanted that. I could have given a one-minute speech. A few less of you would want that. But I would like to give a 10-minute speech in support of this bill. The thing with a 10-minute speech is—and I know people are setting in with a cup of tea and enjoying it—that it takes a lot of time and effort to create less words. I know it sounds boring and I know you're rolling your eyes but it's true. So in my 10 minutes I haven't articulated as clearly and concisely as I could have—I'll admit that right now. Hon Member: You could have used plainer language.GLEN BENNETT: I could've used plainer language but if I'd been given a one-minute or two-minute speech I would have had to spend a long time curating and crafting the words to bring them together and it would've taken a lot more effort but I've chosen to let you enjoy the humble drones of my voice for almost 10 minutes.This bill is important for many communities within our nation and our society and for me as the MP for New Plymouth it's an important piece of legislation for many of my constituents. I referred in the first reading of this to a particular constituent who had actually ignored Work and Income for many years. There was some funding they weren't supposed to receive they that were receiving. They actually wanted to do the right thing but the issue they had was actually having to negotiate the system. When they got given a form of 20 pages to fill out to explain everything they chose to ignore it because they didn't have the education the expertise to be able to fill that form out. So they continued with something they didn't want to do because the system had become so oriented around language around forms that they chose to step away from something they should have done. That's sorted now I'm happy to say.Another thing in terms of constituents who come into my office is that again they drop a document that is thick full of words on my desk. It's full of words words words—not Shakespeare but words that come out of this House.Hon Member: They don't come easy.GLEN BENNETT: And they don't come easy. Those words often are complicated and difficult to negotiate and get your head around. I know that many of us in this House are able to pick up that document and we're able to decipher it and pull it apart within seconds but for some of us—and I'm happy to admit it—it takes a little bit more effort.So the accessibility of plain language is important not only for all people but for many of our constituents across the board. But language is obviously a key part of communication and for some of you in this room that communication is excellent top notch but for others—let's be honest—it is clunky. It is wordy and there have been times in this House when I've been frantically on my cell phone on Google trying to understand what words mean when for example someone could have said "very" rather than "infinitely" although that's a really bad example I know.I support Rachel Boyack and her legislation. I thank all of those who submitted on this and I thank our society in the 21st century as it can actually look at what was and not just assume that is what will be because language and legislation that come through this House should be accessible to all people. I finish with the words I began with: "Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'. Otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite." On that I commend this bill to the House."