Simpson Scott: Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSimpson Scott: Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 19 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:16123. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): It is a pleasure indeed to stand in support of the Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill which as my colleagueJami-Lee Ross has just mentioned looks like it will have unanimity across the House. That in itself is a rare and wonderful thing. The speeches tonight I think have been generous meaningful and from the heart. I have been incredibly impressed with the personal stories of individual members but also impressed with the story on the basis of which this bill has been brought to the House by its sponsor Louisa Wall.I want to congratulate the member Louisa Wall on bringing yet another piece of legislation to the House. As a backbench MP of very short duration in this House I am in awe of her ability to bring this sort of stuff to the House in a way that is I think unifying and useful to us as a Parliament and to us as a democracy in New Zealand.Following the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act of last year same-sex couples are of course able to marry and therefore they are now able to jointly apply to adopt children. Had that been the case for Diane Sullivan and Doreen Shields and they had been able to legally marry then of course they would have been able to adoptRowen. If that had occurred then this bill would not be required.In a previous life before coming to this Parliament I had the great privilege and pleasure to be the chief executive officer of a children’s charity called Make-A-Wish. So for about 3 years I was a professional wish-granter. That let me tell you is a terrific thing to be able to do. In my maiden speech to this House I mentioned that one of the challenges I saw for myself in this House was to be able to in some way bring the job skills and transfer of knowledge from my role as a professional wish-granter into this Chamber.Tonight I have a small sense of having achieved a little bit of that by being a participant in this debate and indeed by having been a member of this House as we pass the second reading of this bill. I mentioned also when I was speaking in my maiden speech about being a professional wish-granter for Make-A-Wish that one should never underestimate the power of some magic the power of a wish and the power of small things small deeds and small actions to have an enormously important impact upon the lives of individuals. Tonight I think we are as I say having a small sense of that.This is a member’s bill. I am grateful to my colleague the memberJami-Lee Ross for giving us a little bit of history about members’ bills because indeed the House would be sitting under extended urgency very frequently if the old rules still applied.I want to thank the members of the Government Administration Committee who have considered the bill. The committee is chaired by the Hon Ruth Dyson. I of course did not have an opportunity to sit on the committee when considering the bill but I was particularly taken by speeches made earlier on in the debate from members who did participate in the consideration of the bill after its first reading. I note with interest that they have made a number of modest but significant and important changes.The Government Administration Committee has made a number of recommendations and one of them is to change the title of the bill. That seems entirely appropriate given the circumstances and the unique features of the situation that exists relating toRowen’s situation. The title of the bill as introduced the Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill was likely to have been interpreted as a little bit misleading. So the suggested change is one that I support.I think that the committee has yet again shown its willingness and ability to get its head around difficult issues. Previously the committee has had to consider issues of very major significance to a great number of people. On this occasion it has been considering a difficult but problematic issue for just one family and in particular one individual. Living as we do in a small precious intimate democracy I say it is a great pleasure to see Parliament working as it should to achieve this piece of legislation. I thoroughly commend it to the House.