Macindoe TimHon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): Kia orana Madam Assistant Speaker. Tēnā tātou katoa e Te Whare. Could I begin just by saying for the benefit of those who may have been watching on television that the speech of the Hon Peeni Henare was not speech 12 of 12—or indeed if it was this is now speech 13 of 12. It is my understanding that I am the tail-end Charlie in this second reading debate and sadly as it would appear I'm actually the tail-end Charlie for the consideration of this—Hamish Walker: Best saved till last.Hon TIM MACINDOE: Thank you Mr Walker. What a perceptive young man you are. You will go far. But sadly this would appear to be the end of the debate altogether because it has become clear that New Zealand First has changed its position and while the numbers originally were for the bill to pass that is no longer the case.So let me start on a positive note by congratulating my excellent colleague Harete Hipango the MP for Whanganui for her success in having had her bill not only drawn from the ballot but getting through its first reading being referred to a select committee and returning to the House for a second reading. That's a very rare achievement for an Opposition member of Parliament. For her to have done that in just outside her first year is particularly remarkable. One of her colleagues who is now in his 11th year hasn't ever got anywhere near that and is feeling insanely jealous. But anyway I do share her disappointment at the change of heart of the New Zealand First Party because it would appear that the bill is about to be stopped in its tracks.I want to acknowledge Clayton Mitchell who spoke around about four weeks ago when we began the second reading debate. I think he made a reasonably valiant attempt to explain his party's flip-flop but I came to the conclusion that even though he was trying to suggest it was from a point of principle it really struck me that it was far more likely to be as a result of coalition discipline and that his party was being pulled into line. As the Hon Alfred Ngaro who is a former Minister for the voluntary sector noted when he spoke at the start of the second reading debate this was a bill that originated in the community sector. It would do well for the Hon Peeni Henare who is now in that role to reflect on that fact. Mr Ngaro was a fine and widely respected Minister for the voluntary sector and it is extremely disappointing therefore given the origins of this bill that it seems set to be defeated.I'm not going to speak for a long time because clearly the die is cast. But the Government's decision to vote down this bill is an attack on our voluntary sector. There is no question that volunteering is an essential element of our society. I'm sure that all members of the House would acknowledge how utterly dependent we are on voluntary efforts in a whole range of organisations and provisions of services the length and breadth of this country. I acknowledge and thank every one of them for the fine job that they do. Probably most New Zealanders at some stage in their lives have had an opportunity to do some volunteering and it's hugely rewarding. New Zealand has more than 97000 non-profit organisations which contribute 2.6 percent to GDP and that number increases to 4.9 percent—virtually 5 percent—of GDP when you take into account the volunteer labour contribution and is similar to the contribution of the entire construction industry. That's how significant it is.So for the Government to be showing a lack of concern for those volunteers and suggesting that they will at some stage in the near future—which seems to be drifting into the never-never—undertake a review of their own which might or might not lead to something similar to protect those volunteers who are in organisations where they just work a limited number of hours—and after all it's only a small group who are in this category—shows that actually they don't really care. They pretend to care but they don't really care about the sector. This was a bill that would have really enhanced and respected the work of those volunteers in our community sector. I am very disappointed it's being voted down. I urge New Zealand First maybe to have one more think in the 30 seconds before they vote. I won't hold my breath about that but let's hope that one day this is a measure that will come back to the House and will be enacted.