Bridges Simon: Domestic Violence Amendment Bill (No 2) Care of Children Amendment Bill Adoption Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bridges Simon: Domestic Violence Amendment Bill (No 2) Care of Children Amendment Bill Adoption Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Sitting date: 11 August 2011. Volume:674;Page:20591. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga) 
: 
 It is funny but I actually agree with the member Rajen Prasad and I will talk about that. In the first and second readings of the Child and Family Protection Bill I took the opportunity to speak on the domestic violence and care of children issues in the bill and it is very worthy legislation that tidies up a lot of things and makes advances in relation to domestic violence and the care of children in this country. But Rajen Prasad focused on the issue of adoption. 
I have talked previously in this House about the issues of child trafficking a massive issue involving many millions of children in this world of ours. We think of it being an issue in the Third World—and that is true—but worryingly if we read about this we see that it is also an issue in wealthier nations. So we are not being complacent about that and we address that issue and meet our international obligations through this bill. 
I agree with Rajen Prasad that a future Government—this one has been exceptionally busy in the justice field—will need to overhaul and modernise the adoption legislation. I think basic demographics give us a picture of what has happened in this area. If we go back to the 1940s 1950s and 1960s—the 1950s and 1960s certainly—there was a baby boom. There were thousands of adoptions a year in this country and then for a variety of no doubt complex reasons—contraception of course and also a word we do not talk about much in this House abortion and a variety of other factors—today in 2011 there are something like 100 adoptions a year in this country. 
I think as Rajen Prasad has said we need to modernise the law. We need to have a good look at that because I think there will be many more prospective parents than just 100 in this country who want to adopt. Just as in this bill we are looking at our international obligations and we are placing a bulwark a protective measure against illegitimate adoptions and exploitative adoptions so too we may need to look at freeing up adoptions and doing more so that good prospective parents can adopt in this country and potentially can adopt from overseas. I would not claim to know a lot about the laws in that area but these are some of the controversial complex issues that a future Parliament will have to address. 
The issue of adoption often gets reduced to simply an issue of gay adoption. I accept that is one issue that will probably need to be broached and looked at with some seriousness but what I am trying to say in this contribution is that the issues are much more than that and modernisation of all of the legislation will be required. 
With those few thoughts it is good to see this legislation will pass today. It is worthy legislation that really does advance things in a number of respects in relation to domestic violence the care of children and the adoption laws in this country.