McKelvie IanIAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitīkei): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's an interesting topic and a very interesting discussion this afternoon and I've listened with great interest to a lot of the comments. I just want to go back to the very first meeting that I ever attended as a candidate for this Parliament. The very first question I was asked in a public meeting in the Taihape Area School—which you'll know well Mr Speaker and which is going to be rebuilt again already—was what's my view on abortion and I'm going to answer that today in exactly the same manner that I answered it then. We are privileged in life as politicians as people who represent our communities. We see all sorts of things—some very sad some very good. Some of the saddest things I've seen in life have related to this very topic and the reason that I support this piece of legislation and anything we can do to make it easier for women to make choices in their own lives.You see many sad things in life. Some of the saddest I've seen result from incest from women being raped some even by their fathers. Those women particularly as Mrs Tolley said who live in isolated parts of New Zealand struggle seriously to get any kind of service. Those children who are then born as a result of that action often in life become statistics. I think you can see nothing sadder than that in life. So those reasons are the reasons that I support this legislation. I also strongly support the better provision of health services to those women who require abortion and this type of treatment. I think their safety and wellbeing is paramount. I listened with interest to Joanne Hayes when she talked about the welfare of those women who receive these services and I think it's most important that as the select committee works its way through this bill it looks at that question.The other question I would very much like the select committee to visit—and I'm sure it will—is the 20-week period and whether that's the right time or not. As David Parker said it may not be the place of this Parliament to prescribe a time because the world changes so quickly. I think it probably is our role to prescribe a time but I also think that it's very important that we get the discussion during the course of that select committee right and that we do our very best for those people who require this type of service.I respect the people who oppose this bill. They have their right to oppose that but I also think that many people who require this type of service have no choice in life and we are going to provide that choice. Many of us have a choice in life. We have a free choice. We are very fortunate but there are many many people—and a lot of them live in my electorate—who have no choice in life unless we provide that choice for them. This bill will make that choice easier and hopefully the services that wrap around as a result of the bill will also make that choice much easier for them. Again Anne Tolley spoke about the difficulty of accessing service in remote rural New Zealand. It is hugely difficult and there are often families that can't afford any of those services and that's the reason they get to the point they get to.So with those few words I think that we should move on. I congratulate the Minister of Justice on bringing this very difficult issue to the House. It's interesting that there'll be a number of people in this House who weren't born when this was last discussed seriously in this House and I think that's a challenge for us all. As I said I respect all of those who have replied to us and the massive amount of mail that we've had in the last few weeks about this topic but I also think that those people who are opposed to this should remember that those people who support this have the same rights in life. They have a right to choose not to access these services; the other people must have a right to access these services. I respect the debate we've had in this House. I think it's amazingly practical and constructive and I support this bill as it moves to the select committee. Thank you.