O'Connor GregGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): Thank you Madam Chair. This has been a very interesting debate tonight. It is passionate as it should be. We as a House are here to discuss and pass legislation on important matters of the day and something that has caused so many deaths in recent times—we probably won't discuss anything that is that important which brings me to the commencement date. CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): Good. GREG O'CONNOR: The Hon Nick Smith spoke very passionately about the need to get this legislation through as quickly as possible. What I fear—and just focusing purely on that as a commencement date because so much focus has been put on that—is that all of a sudden it's going to be some sort of a sinecure. It's going to be some sort of a cure-all where we could probably get that through by Christmas. We'll all go off to the Christmas break and we'll think Wow we've done this everything's fixed and we'll come back in the new year and the problem will be fixed." and we'll focus back on that commencement date as the day that the world changed and we've fixed it overnight. The world is not that simple. What I do fear is that if this legislation passes and the commencement date—we get that legislation passed and it sees its Royal assent before Christmas—we will actually blithely go on and ignore the real issue. The deaths will continue. In my experience—if you could just indulge me for a moment Madam Chair—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): No no there's no indulgence.GREG O'CONNOR: A small indulgence—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): No—no indulgence. GREG O'CONNOR: —one paper-thin little indulgence—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): No—no. GREG O'CONNOR: Thank you Madam Chair. I will go back to the commencement date because again this is so much of the focus of the debate and I think the Hon Dr Nick Smith has brought it to—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): That's because that's the clause we're on. GREG O'CONNOR: I am referring to the Hon Dr Nick Smith who spent five minutes talking about the commencement date. Again he built a full picture that this was going to be the moment—this was going to be the time that the world would change and that it would be fixed—and I think that would be a mistake. Look I respect that the Hon Dr Nick Smith has been around a long time. He's seen a lot of legislation come through this House that probably has attracted similar passionate speeches that it was going to cure all but I think that same experience will tell you that it didn't. So coming back to the commencement—and again the commencement is the focus of this debate because we cannot really go past it because everything—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): No we can't. GREG O'CONNOR: It is inherent—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): Not until we vote on it. GREG O'CONNOR: In fact I don't want to turn it—it is too serious an issue to actually be in any way amusing about it because the reality of it is that we must do something about this very serious issue. Again I go back to the passionate speech by the Hon Dr Nick Smith but that passion in that speech will not make an iota of difference any more than the passing of this legislation on this date—on this commencement date—which of course to remind anyone means it will come into force on the date on which it receives the Royal assent and that's a very important part that Royal assent. So coming back again to the mistake we would ever make in the commencement date commencement date commencement date—I've got to mention it because again the focus of the whole discussion has been about it—we cannot allow ourselves to be solely focused on that as being the cure-all and that that is going to be the time the moment that this issue was fixed. So there's been some excellent suggestions from some of my colleagues on this side of the Chamber about what we could actually do about that commencement date and whether we actually do perhaps the two years. Again as those of us were explaining I think perhaps the two-year period as a new commencement date—in fact two years after the date on which it receives the Royal assent may actually be the best time because that will give us the time to address and make sure we're not distracted because I think this commencement date could actually become an unnecessary an unfortunate and possibly a tragic distraction from what we really must do as a House. As a House and as members who come here we actually must focus on the issue not on the date. [Interruption] So again I hear that I'm not talking about the commencement date but it's the issue which is the most important. So the commencement—I'll come back to the commencement date not that I believe I've actually been that far from it. But again I do apologise Madam Chair that levity may have come into some of this but it's unfortunate because I would like to finish this by just saying could we please not focus on the commencement date but focus on the issue? Thank you Madam Chair. CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): I will call Kieran McAnulty but it just goes to show members you need to think very clearly when you do not support putting all the clauses and debating them as one. That's why we're focused on the date because we are debating it clause by clause. I know it's frustrating but that's what the House decided."