Sabin Mike: Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSabin Mike: Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 23 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19377. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MIKE SABIN (National—Northland):I am very pleased to be able to take my last call on this bill the Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill and I will join with all others in this happy moment this happy-fest to congratulate Dr Cam Calder on his fine valedictory speech today but more so on his outstanding contribution to New Zealand to the community of Manurewa and to us as a caucus team. You will be sadly missed my friend. I am saying that only because if I need a diagnosis of something on the cheap I will obviously be coming to see you.Hon Michael Woodhouse: He was an expert on prostate cancer.MIKE SABIN: Was he? Well I will withdraw that request.In all seriousness can I just acknowledge Dr Calder for getting a member’s bill across the line. When it comes down to it when parliamentarians come and go there are very few who will get the honour of being a Minister. I guess that in that position certainly the legacy that Ministers leave is the ability to really be in charge of the legislative agenda and many laws are made or taken away and so forth.The other vehicle for parliamentarians in the main is the member’s bill and many members’ bills are in the ballot. Some have merit and probably many do not but the fact of the matter is that to get a member’s bill drawn from the ballot is pure luck. To actually succeed in getting a member’s bill passed into law is about skill determination and having an absolute understanding of what this place is about and what the community needs in terms of legislation.Members’ bills face exactly the same scrutiny as any Government bill so the point I want to make on that is that although Dr Calder’s effort on this laser bill is something that most people will not stay awake at night wondering about it is a very important piece of legislation. He should be commended for the fact that he has been a parliamentarian who has successfully brought a member’s bill through this House and has been successful in getting it passed. So I just offer my congratulations on that score.Surprisingly enough we had some quite robust debate on the bill and a lot of discussion on a number of the facets of the bill. One of the main ones was whether it should be about high-power laser pointers or just about hand-held lasers. [Interruption] Yes so there was a lot of discussion on that and on where that should land. I certainly raised the analogy of when we have the unlawful possession of a knife for example—so the possession of a knife in a public place without a reasonable excuse—where the offence is not determined by the length of the knife but it is simply that the knife is in the possession of a person without reasonable excuse.I sort of felt that Dr Calder’s point in terms of the same rule applying to a laser pointer was actually very valid. But as we progressed and looked in more detail at the implications for all those university professors out there and all those teachers and people who frequent the land of the hand-held laser it was clearly determined that with this being a preventative piece of legislation it should fall squarely in the area of high-power laser pointers which would ultimately cause the most damage. If Dr Calder can just remind me is it 60 miles that the laser could reach?Dr Cam Calder: Yes.MIKE SABIN: It is an astonishing distance. So Dr Calder gracefully accepted the advice of the officials and I actually think it has landed in a very sensible space on that. The point is that it was last year I think when there were more laser strikes on aircraft than ever before. The Civil Aviation Authority—if I am correct; I am not exactly sure—Dr Cam Calder: That’s correct.MIKE SABIN: Yes the Civil Aviation Authority reported that there were more laser strikes than ever before in the last year and there has certainly been in excess of 100 strikes a year in recent years which is phenomenal. When you see how these things reflect in a cockpit it literally blinds the pilots. It is horrendously dangerous which is why I think that over a number of years now we have actually seen hand-held lasers used in warring countries to literally bring down aircraft. We have seen them used against rescue helicopters and a police helicopter.It defies belief why some idiots out there would think that that is a fun or an interesting thing to do or would even consider doing something as stupid as that. Possibly it is because they do not know of the impact of them—that they can be so effective at literally blinding the pilots or bewildering them—but I think that many have come to that conclusion because there has been a lot of publicity on this for a number of years. So one can only assume that they are actually doing it knowing full well that they could bring about a pretty significant outcome. We have seen them doing it at vehicles from overpasses and so forth. Dr Calder pointed out that we have even seen them used at the Football World Cup and they have certainly been used at rugby matches and so forth.There are some serious idiots out there and this law is about those serious idiots and about saying that actually this is not on and that there will be a consequence to doing it. This bill will make it an offence to be in possession of a high-power laser pointer without reasonable excuse and so it should be. So it is a preventative thing rather than a punitive move and that is why there is a 28-day period I guess. It is to get some education out there and to get the police in the right space in terms of them using this bill as a deterrent. Prevention will always be better than cure and my goodness me if there was ever a commercial aircraft taken down heaven forbid.So in that sense this bill is in many ways about preventing the loss of life. Although we have trifled and we have had a bit of fun Dr Calder I think it is fair to say that the reason this House is supporting this bill is that it is just good practical common sense. It is not the New Zealand First variety of common sense of course because that is just sort of sloganized populism stuff. This is the real common sense that New Zealanders actually know and understand not the one that you just paint on a sticker and that means that that is what we must have.In any event the bill is practical it is common sense and it is preventative and I think in that sense it certainly has deserved the support of the House. It has had the support of the House. I think that Dr Calder should be commended for the fact that he has been willing to concede some points in this bill to ensure that it was a bill that was fit for purpose right across the House and with the officials and so forth. I think the Labour Party certainly raised some concerns and said that it should apply to high-power laser pointers. I think that Iain Lees-Galloway famously said in the House that he actually uses a laser pointer at home to play with his pussy. I was not quite sure where he was going with that one. I mean I usually use a ball of wool or something like that but fine play with your pussy with a laser pointer—fair enough. We all have our different ways of entertaining the cat. Although we did trifle with that the reality is that a low-power laser or one under 1 milliwatt is it—Dr Cam Calder: Under 1 milliwatt.MIKE SABIN: It is under 1 milliwatt. You know if it is good enough for Iain Lees-Galloway to play with his pussy it is probably not likely to cause the sort of damage that a high-power laser pointer would and I think that is why we have—Moana Mackey: Grow up.MIKE SABIN: I am fully grown I think. I was supposed to be a lot taller of course but something went wrong along the way.So can I just join the House in commending Dr Calder for this piece of legislation. It will ultimately be something that does save lives. In all seriousness I think that the member should be commended for that and I wish him very well in his life beyond politics. He will be remembered well here and will be a friend to us all for a long time. Thank you.