Pugh MaureenMAUREEN PUGH (National): Thank you very much Madam Speaker.Hon Members: Madam Chair.MAUREEN PUGH: Sorry—Madam Chair. Back in 2017 the then National-led Government initiated and passed the Children Young Persons and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Bill and it truly was a transformational piece of work—transformational in the way that it deals with our at-risk young people: young people in the youth services and in State care. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Children the Hon Tracey Martin for her support of that legislation and for the long-term direction of travel of Oranga Tamariki. As we canvassed in the Social Services and Community Committee this morning it is that continuation of that work that is going to give Oranga Tamariki the longevity that it deserves that it will survive beyond electoral cycles and I think that is most important for the young people in New Zealand.The Social Services and Community Committee as always worked really hard on this bill. Given as we've heard that we have had a shortened time period to work in we do hope that we've examined it very thoroughly and ended up with the detail that we have here in front of us tonight because we certainly don't want to be coming back and revisiting the legislation.I turn my attention to Part 1—in particular to the new sections inserted by clause 4G in the bill which refer to managing related charges. For clarity the related charges are those charges which are charged in relation to the Schedule 1 offences—and thank you for your explanation of those Minister. As we heard those are the charges at the more serious end of the spectrum the ones that will attract 14-plus years of imprisonment. Those charges are automatically heard in the District Court or the High Court for a 17-year-old whereas the non - Schedule 1A offences for a 17-year-old will be dealt with in the Youth Court. Of course those non - Schedule 1 offences are those of a less serious nature.Under this new section 276AA the court will be determining whether those non - Schedule 1A charges are related to the Schedule 1A charges for the purposes of determining where those charges will be heard—which court they will be heard in. So if they're deemed to be related charges then all of the charges will be heard in the adult court. This makes good sense because what it does is it provides one pathway for the system—we're not duplicating witnesses; we're not duplicating court time. So that makes good sense.But my question Minister is: if the court determines that those related non - Schedule 1A charges are to be heard at the same time in conjunction with the Schedule 1A charge in the adult court will the defendant have the right of appeal about whether those charges are related? I anticipate that there could be some debate within the court system about whether they are technically related. Relating to the same issue Minister: what will be those thresholds that will determine whether those non - Schedule 1A charges are in fact related to the Schedule 1 charge?Basically those are my two questions to the Minister. I do think this is a critical opportunity for us to get this right for a very vulnerable part of our population and for those people who this legislation serves. I do take note that the Government members have not even devoted their time to taking call at this committee stage and I do believe it warrants attention from all members of this House to ensure that we have it right for these young people. Thank you very much.