Hayes JoMINORS (COURT CONSENT TO RELATIONSHIPS) LEGISLATION BILLThird ReadingJO HAYES (National): I move That the Minors (Court Consent to Relationships) Legislation Bill be now read a third time.It is with much privilege and pride and humbleness that I stand here today to take the first call in the third reading of the Minors (Court Consent to Relationships) Legislation Bill. It has been a long time coming from its inception by Dr Jackie Blue who is sitting up in the gallery today. It was her hard work that got the bill put into the biscuit tin. Over the years since 2010 through to 2017 we waited for this bill to be drawn. It was drawn and I was the most fortunate member of Parliament to have my name on this bill.I want to thank Dr Jackie Blue for the work that she has done and for her commitment to ensuring the safety of young girls and young boys that have come here to New Zealand to make New Zealand their home and for women overall throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. I also want to acknowledge the Shakti women's refuge in Auckland and their researcher back in 2010 Priyanca Radhakrishnan who is now a member of Parliament for Labour. I want to thank them for bringing the young girls' forced marriage issue to the table and to Dr Blue. I want to acknowledge the 30 submitters that came to the Justice Committee and put forward their submissions on this bill and also the advisers parliamentary counsel and most importantly I want to thank the Justice Committee. For a bill that we thought would go through a fairly smooth process we had our ups and downs but together we got this bill through to today.My biggest thanks go to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians—Hon Member: Woo hoo!JO HAYES: —who have—yeah!—stood by this bill with Dr Blue being one of the very first chairs of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians. They have continued to stand by the passage of this bill through to tonight. And to all of the parties in the House: this is an amazing evening tonight as we bring through the House this piece of legislation.So as I said we had some ups and downs and changes within the bill. Just a couple of the main provisions as to why the bill went from its former name of Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill—it was because we altered a couple of other Acts as well. So the main provisions of this bill replace sections 18 to 21 of the Marriage Act 1955 to require consent to the marriage from a Family Court judge. I am reading this Mr Assistant Speaker because it's right that I should read this to get it correct. The application must be considered through a Family Court hearing and must hear from the applicant of the 16- or 17-year-old themselves and their parents so far as is reasonably practicable. Applicants and witnesses may be represented by a lawyer. No members of the public or media may be present. The court can hear any evidence even if it would otherwise be inadmissible in a court of law.Secondly the bill also amends section 46C(3) of the Care of Children Act 2004. The amendments ensure the right in section 46C(3) for a child to seek review of their parent's or guardian's decision or refusal to give consent. It does not apply for consent to civil unions or entry into de facto relationships and that's why this bill's name was changed to its current name.My contribution will be brief because there are so many others that would like to also add their contributions to it. But as I said today is a celebration for all women not just parliamentarians. It signals that once again women take back through legislation their right to choose whom they wish to love and spend the rest of their lives with without force or pressure. It provides a legal mechanism whereby a Family Court judge makes the final decision on whether the marriage can go ahead. It falls in a most poignant year really where we in Aotearoa New Zealand celebrate 125 years of women's suffrage. That is really important especially for this bill that's coming through where women gained the right to vote.I came to Parliament so I could make a difference for the constituency of New Zealand to help shape legislation for this country and today I am privileged to stand in the House and say that through this my very first member's bill this process for me has begun.I close my speech—as I said it was going to be short sharp sweet and to the point—with this somewhat altered whakataukī. I just want to acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues and their support and I mean all of our parliamentary colleagues. So what I have done with the whakataukī is I have added some threads to this whakataukī so it incorporates all of us. The threads include all the colours of the political parties of this House. So with the forbearance of this House and with iwi Māori who wrote this whakataukī I just want to go through it: mā kahurangi mā whero mā pango mā kākāriki mā kōwhai ka oti ai te mahi—with blue red black green and yellow threads our work has been done. I commend this bill to the House. Tēnā koutou katoa.