Brown Peter: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Brown Peter: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
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PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 By crikey I am quick off the block today! I say to my colleague that I will not be speaking for the full 10 minutes. I am deputising for my New Zealand First colleague Ron Mark who has very sound and sensible views on the issue. 
New Zealand First will support the Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill. If this is what the fairer sex wants then who are we to deny them that? 
As an ex - merchant navy officer I can say that my time at sea was spent in an all-male domain. When I became manager of a stevedoring company I saw the transition as young women came in as cadets and then became officers. It was not trouble-free; it was not an easy transition. But I understand that it is working quite well now and I suggest the armed forces will be much the same. 
Last night I asked my colleague Ron Mark why he thought women want to become part of the combat troops and fight on the front line as this bill will give them the right to do. He said women in the armed forces will learn quite a lot. I asked him whether he could be a bit more specific. He said they will learn how to handle and throw a grenade in order to blow people to pieces. They will learn that in detail. They will learn all about landmines which also blow people to pieces but more frequently just blow limbs from people and leave them incapacitated for the rest of their lives. Further still he said they will learn how to work with comrades and the effect of comrades being killed in action or partially blown apart is a lesson that will come home to them. 
Women in the armed forces will also learn how to be part of a bayonet unit operation and charge down a hill. My colleague Ron Mark actually singled out Jill Pettis as a good example. He said he could imagine Jill Pettis armed with a rifle with a bayonet on the end charging down the hill confronting the enemy and ramming the bayonet between the ribs of the enemy. I do not know why he singled out Jill. I think he must see that she has a natural skill. But he pointed out another lesson that will have to be learnt: that sometimes the bayonet gets stuck in the ribs. 
Jill Pettis 
: But I might be a chef! 
PETER BROWN 
: Well Jill Pettis might be a chef but Ron Mark has singled her out as an ideal candidate for bayonet training. 
Ron Mark wants me to point out in the House that sometimes the bayonet gets stuck in the ribs. I asked what a person with a bayonet does then with the next guy coming at one. Ron said the lesson one has to learn is to fire two quick shots twist the bayonet—he described it in detail—and pull it out. Then one is ready for the next guy. This is what the women will learn in detail and they will practise it until they are exceedingly competent. 
Being in the military is a tough job. It is certainly a tough job for soldiers when they are in a conflict. Ron said that is probably the hardest lesson of all. I asked him what he would say to ladies who want to get involved in the armed services and become part of the combat troops. He simply said he would say: “Congratulations ladies you have now got what you wanted.”