Bond RiaRIA BOND (NZ First): I want to take this opportunity to actually thank the Health Committee which put a lot of work into ensuring that this bill would help to fit with the very purpose that this bill's intention was actually implemented for. I did not sit on the Health Committee on this particular bill but I can actually see through the recommendations made that a lot of these recommendations are actually common-sense recommendations that can only be helpful to the practitioners the professionals and actually the end-users who are the patients and whānau. I also want to echo what previous members have said in the Committee with the questions that they have asked the Minister and I do look forward to the duration of this bill through the Committee stage and to having those answers given and provided by the Minister.I want to also just point out that New Zealand First is in fact supporting this bill. Like previous members have said I want to add to the fact that there comes a time in life for compulsory assessment and treatment for individuals with severe substance addiction who are totally unable to make decisions about their own treatment. This bill New Zealand First believes addresses this problem that members of our communities face in dealing with their loved ones who are going through an addiction like this. For whatever reason they have become addicted what they face along with whānau is a real challenge and we see that in today's world which is very different from that of the likes of my parents; with the degree of drugs that are being used in our community and society we have to ensure that the legislation that we are bringing through is fit for the modern-day life that we now face and that our children face in the future.It is a good bill. It is good that the bill is repealing the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1996. This is well past its use-by date. We in this House must acknowledge as I said that addictions have changed over the last 50 years and so has the way that we treat people with addictions. The current legislation does present some real challenges not just for family and friends but also for health practitioners when we as a society are dealing with the growing scale of drugs and the problems that we have here in New Zealand.Family members right around New Zealand become distressed when they are left out of the decision-making process when dealing with the simplicity of actually simply wanting to protect the ones whom they love when they cannot make the choice themselves. New Zealand First agrees that the criteria for compulsory addiction treatment in clause 7 appear to be robust. These provisions target individuals who have impaired informed decision-making choices and will require compulsory treatment. This means that there must be appropriate treatment provided and available to individuals simply because it is actually quite vital that a patient's condition is correctly monitored and that it is reviewed. If the clinician believes that the criteria for compulsory treatment of any of the patients they are dealing with no longer apply then the patient will be released and the after-care plan which is critical for the patient's success can only be a positive outcome.This wraparound support helps the individual not only actually deal with the secondary effect which is the addiction itself but also helps actually deal with the primary cause of an addiction. We know from feedback from submitters—there were 39 submitters and there were 15 heard orally—that the challenge that is faced is in terms of making sure that we are not only addressing legislation to help with the addiction and substance issues but also making sure that we are wrapping services around the patients so that they can actually cope with the day-to-day life of going back out into society and are able to reintegrate into their community.I do want to say too that clause 4 of this bill defines who an approved provider is: (a) a person who is certified under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001 to provide some mental health services;". The recommendations by the Health Committee for amending clause 4 for us really were common sense and we were really pleased to see through the commentary and through feedback that this bill in fact will help alleviate the current challenges that practitioners and whānau do have with trying to ensure that the people whom they love actually get the services and help that they need. So New Zealand First supports this bill."