SpeechHARETE HIPANGO (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is a privilege for me to be able to rise to take a call on the third reading of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Amendment Bill. And I say that it's a privilege because having practised as a lawyer and also as a district inspector monitoring the mental health units for a number of years I would never have thought that I would be speaking in Parliament and having a voice to amendments and appropriate amendments to this bill. They're appropriate because the tangata whaiora the in-patients community-based but also in the detention units many of whom I know—and when I go home and I see some of those people amongst our community it is a privilege because I know that they're getting the appropriate care that they are required to have and it is a privilege that at some stage of the journey they were on I was able to help facilitate that. So as a member of Parliament I'm helping to facilitate that now with the passage of this bill into law at its third reading.A little bit of history in terms of the process. The first reading occurred on 6 April of this year the second reading on 28 September and here we are today on—is it 28 29 October? I've lost track of time—28 October.Chris Bishop: Through the looking glass.HARETE HIPANGO: And this bill came—through the looking glass before the Health Committee and the members there were dealing with 53 submissions; 15 of those had been heard. The bill has come about as a result of the inquiry which was reported back in November of 2018 He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction. The repeals that are recommended of certain provisions within this bill but also amendments have come about from that.When I addressed the House last on the second reading I recollected the memory that I had back in 2017 when the lead of this review Ron Paterson—and I mentioned that he was a former law professor of mine and he was a former commissioner for the health and disability sector. He came to Whanganui with the panel and I sat quietly at the back and I observed and I listened. There were a number of people who I had helped through their journey in my journey as a lawyer and a district inspector who were present at that review. So I sat and I listened and I reflected on some of the hardships and the afflictions that people continued to endure because of the imposition of the restraints and constraints of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act but also because of the lack of access to support in mental health. And so I reflect on what my colleague Matt Doocey has said. The Government came into power in 2017 and despite the aspirations the rhetoric the good intention there's been little effect—real quality practical effect. So may we see that that changes for the better.Coming back to the bill it addresses three core components in terms of the amendments that are proposed. The first is effectively addressing dispensing doing away with indefinite compulsory treatment orders. The making of a compulsory treatment order's on an application and that is heard before a judge. Often the judge will go to the mental health facility for the hearing of that and that requires that those persons who are not in-patients are based in the community are having to be transported. They either make their way themselves—and that's a difficulty for many of our people having access to the services because they don't have the means to access that either physically by way of vehicle or having the support of others alongside them in that journey.So the amendment that is proposed in this legislation is doing away with indefinite compulsory treatment orders. When a compulsory treatment order is made it's either on the basis that the person is going to be able to be positioned and looked after and live within the community and if they're not then detained within an in-patient unit. So there are two types of compulsory treatment orders. Irrespective of the nature of that it's required that there's a review every six months. The first review comes about after six months and then if that order is to be extended it will for another six months then it comes back for the second review.Once upon a time—still until this bill is passed into law—it used to be indefinite. And that indefinite element—again I've talked about the inability of people to access services. So it would often come about that the indefinite nature of the Act would be that people would be left under that compulsory treatment status and it was about how they were able to access the services that they were deserved of. The only time that that indefinite order would be done away with was if a lawyer who was on the journey with that particular patient and that's what I used to do would take instructions and give advice to apply to the court for what was called a section 76 review to do away with the indefinite nature of that order. This amendment now says that it's only in place for six months—for six months—and then for 12 months no longer an indefinite nature. That is quite a significant change for the tangata whaiora the people who have been under these orders because it was a stigma for them. They felt the burden of carrying that stigma of being an indefinite compulsory treatment patient.I move to the next element of significant amendments to this bill and that's to do with the use of audiovisual link technology where appropriate. Now I've talked about when we have patients who are community-based and they struggle not only with day-to-day living in the mental health affliction but they struggle with accessing or getting to the venues that they need for the service support and the treatment. The audiovisual link will facilitate those of our people in the community who are under compulsory treatment orders and support.But there are restrictions and limitations and it's important for members of the public and members of the House to know and to realise that this is a specialist area of law. This is a specialist area of practice and it requires special people serving in that area and our mental health judges are those people. The mental health judges—again when I practised appearing before the mental health judges there were often difficulties in having members of the community being brought to the mental health unit. The court hearings in the main would occur at the facilities where our people were being treated rather than the expectation of them being taken to a court house. So the judges would set up and go to the people where the need was to be met. The audiovisual link will only come about as a means to facilitate as is necessary for those in the community who have access to the technology the devices to be able to stream or to beam in. So this is about streamlining and to make it more efficient.The third element of the bill is to do with those of our patients our people who have been brought before the court on a criminal charge and because of the nature of their mental disorder and a finding by the criminal court to declare the level of cognition their mental capacity as being either unfit or declared insane—special patients with that status are placed into what is called a forensic unit. That is a special mental health unit for persons who have been charged with a criminal offence and detained especially in a forensic unit for that treatment. The third element is talking about the transportation of special patients from this forensic unit either to a parole board hearing or to the court where the criminal proceedings are before the court. Now I speak about the distinction because I worked as a criminal lawyer and I also worked as a mental health lawyer both very specialised areas of law but the two do interweave and interlap. This bill will address the transportation of special patients only and the requirement for the special transportation plan to do that and that there will be people who are specially trained to facilitate again access to justice.This is a bill that's been in the motions for way too long. The review occurred the recommendations have been made. There is more to come. I commend the bill to the House.