Pillay Lynne: Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Pillay Lynne: Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 02 September 2008. Volume:649;Page:18328. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) 
: 
 I am very proud as the chair of the Justice and Electoral Committee to speak in support of the Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Bill. I speak in support of the bill not because we did a great amount of work on it but because we made a conscious decision—well the majority of us did—that this bill needed to turn around in the select committee very very quickly. We did that because we knew that New Zealand had taken a real leadership role in terms of rights for disabled people and it was really important in terms of the very tight time frame that this bill went through. 
I was really proud that when the bill came to the committee a decision was made by a majority of the committee that we would not go through the usual submission process but that we would progress the bill as quickly as possible. We did that because we were confident that all that work had gone in beforehand. Sadly that position was not supported by the National Party but fortunately Labour and the Greens had enough members on the committee to make that happen. I am really proud that that happened. 
I also want to say in respect of the submissions process that we asked people to come and give submissions within something like a week. People did that and they gave the most compelling fantastic submissions so that we ended up with unanimous support for the bill to go forward. Why? So that when the time was right which was very very close—we are talking about next month are we not Minister in terms of the United Nations? 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: Yes. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: So when the time was right New Zealand would be there playing its full part it would be taking a leadership role and it would be able to participate fully so that ratification could take place and the bill would be able to go through. One could say we took a punt but we did not. We knew that we had the support in the sector of every person who had put so many years into this work and we knew that that was the right thing to do. So the turn-round was very quick. 
I note from the select committee report—and I heard Dr Hutchison talk about it just now—that there were views that a realistic appraisal of the financial implications of this bill was not considered. I say that is absolute nonsense. The Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Bill sits alongside and builds on what this Government holds dear and that is the right for disabled people in this country to participate fully. It was never about financial implications. The good sound advice we were given was that there would not be detrimental financial implications. It was good sound advice. It was not just a whim or an emotional thing; it was good advice for doing the right thing. 
I note from the Justice and Electoral Committee’s report and this is the reason I talk about the National Party’s minority view—which is a strange thing perhaps for a Government member to do—that it acknowledges those people who did the work. When the National Party members talked about the financial implications they had concerns about their final words in their minority report were: “Despite these shortcomings National is moved by the sincerity and strong calls by the disability sector that supporting this bill will help their lives and others elsewhere around the globe.” 
I say in this House that I am really pleased and proud that we had a truncated process and that the bill went through but I think the full tribute should be paid to the members of the sector for their courage and for their sheer hard work which moved us to a position where we had a unanimous decision from the select committee. I am very proud to commend this bill to the House.