Penk ChrisCHRIS PENK (National—Kaipara ki Mahurangi): Thank you very much Madam Chair. We come to the committee of the whole House stage having already debated as a House the second reading of the Annie Oxborough Birth Parents Registration Bill of course and I don't intend to repeat my comments for that. But I do want to start by acknowledging those who made contributions in that second reading and again reiterating my thanks to those who did so also at the first reading those who engaged through the select committee process and those who also reached out to Annie Oxborough and engaged and our college and friend Glen Bennett is among them and I thank him for that. I do just want to add Madam Chair as you've allowed me to make a couple of introductory remarks before I field any questions from colleagues of the committee just to state clearly for the record that of course the debate and indeed the passage of this bill should it proceed is not intended as any disrespect on those who have been involved in the adoption process. On the contrary I'm very well aware that there have been many positive stories of adoption. Every experience is different and as I noted in my second reading remarks there are different circumstances and of course Annie Oxborough's family represents one such experience but of course it's not a universal experience and it possibly goes without saying but I don't want to risk such an omission to indicate any lack of respect for those who have done the right thing in many cases and done extremely well by others.The only other introductory remark is just to acknowledge a couple of the comments that were made at the second reading. We heard colleagues share quite personal stories of their own families and their own lives and their own adoption in some cases and also that point that was made well by others following my own attempt to bring to light the idea that we have on the one hand an impractical step whereby one person or at least one family is affected by a bill that is taking up the time and energy of the House and of course it would be impractical for so many potential applicants to come to this place and be treated in the same way by the same mechanism. Of course we have the ability in this House at a future date no doubt for a future Government to examine the question more broadly and come up with something that will be satisfactory across a range of different situations. My only other reflection—and I know I said I had only one more and I've now got one more to one more which makes two more—is just that I was grateful as members I think on my right had mentioned that Annie is really the instigator of the bill. I'm merely the voice through which she has been able to bring it to this place in a procedural sense and of course we have all had the weighty responsibility of telling her story through our ability to speak in this House. So she lobbied her local MP and it was adopted not so much as a matter of party policy but in terms of colleagues of mine in my political party seeing the merit in supporting the proposal—other parties likewise and again I thank them for that and the House as a majority for doing likewise. On a personal note it's funny because I came to this place thinking that as a lawyer I was able to help one client at a time but couldn't influence the law as a whole whereas as a policy maker and as a politician one gets to influence policy and help many more people than one at a time and here I am after nearly six years and this is the closest I've got to passing a bill and it's only helping one person—but it's helping and she's no less important for that. On that reflective note as the process and philosophically regarding what it is I hope we're about to achieve I'm grateful again for the engagement that we've had so far and look forward to the committee of the whole House stage.