Rurawhe AdrianADRIAN RURAWHE (Labour—Te Tai Hauāuru): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare otirā tēnā tātou katoa. First of all can I acknowledge the Minister of Internal Affairs the Hon Peter Dunne and just say that where others have failed he has now succeeded. It is a pleasure for me to stand on behalf of the Labour Party in support of this bill. I also want to recognise the Minister who has brought to the attention of the House that today is International Firefighters' Day. I also join with the Minister in sending my aroha and condolences to the family of Steve Askin as well.I think it is also appropriate to acknowledge the officials who assisted the Government Administration Committee with good concise and timely advice which was appreciated. I subbed in on to the Government Administration Committee for this bill and I want to acknowledge all of the members of the Government Administration Committee as well for the collegial way in which this bill was dealt with.As the Minister has pointed out this particular bill repeals the Fire Service Act 1975 and there are also the two reviews that took place. This system that we have had for decades has largely been unchanged since the 1940s and today we have the pleasure of passing this piece of legislation. It has been a long process and this is a very detailed piece of legislation. The committee—and I had the pleasure of being on there as I said—scrutinised this piece of work. I want to acknowledge the I think over 100 submitters and their submissions. I think their submissions have highlighted things that the committee went on to make recommendations on to make this a better bill. I think there are a number of things that I would like to highlight.First of all speaking to the levy system—and we heard many submissions on this—I just want to highlight some of those things that were brought to our attention. I acknowledge what the Minister is saying around the levy system. There is probably never going to be the absolute perfect system that everyone is going to agree with but I think this one for its purposes comes close. So I want to acknowledge that. I think that the issues that a number of the insurance companies and the Insurance Council brought to our attention were listened to—for example ensuring that not only the insurance companies but also insurance brokers and policyholders for the avoidance of payment of levies were brought into this as well because at first it did not seem that they were. So I think that is just one example where the submitters have made a valid point. It was heard by the select committee and amendments have been made to this bill. So I want to acknowledge their contribution.In the same vein we had a number of submissions from museums and I think they were often passionate and they were often giving very real situations that they could find themselves in and I want to acknowledge them also because I think their contributions made this a better bill.I cannot help but refer to volunteers. I come from a very small community. We have a volunteer service in our small community and this bill aims to improve the support for volunteers and bring them into direct relationship with the new Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ). I think it is a very good thing to have the support of the new FENZ organisation not only for its own sake but for the sake of the small communities that it serves or all communities that it serves. Often the volunteer fire service is at the heart of the community. I think that our smaller communities—whether they be urban or rural—deserve to be supported and I fully endorse the support of voluntary firefighters.There was a lot of discussion around the local advisory committee and that is another way to ensure that the voice of the entire community is heard. Each community has its own distinct way of operating and I think it is important that the diverse voices are heard all throughout the services that are provided.Both the Minister and I have used the word service" quite often and I do want to make one comment around that purely because of the number of firefighters and service people who make a huge commitment not only in their professional lives but in their personal lives as well in the service of our country. I think it is worthwhile noting that their service is appreciated and that not only is it appreciated; the word "service" may not now be in the name of the organisation but it is my sincere hope that the whole concept of service continues and continues to be appreciated by the wider New Zealand public. I am certain that that will happen.I also want to talk—as I say I come from a small community—about the heart and core of our economy really the primary sector. One of the things that was submitted was around using fire as a land management tool. Again I thank the officials because whilst there were provisions in the original draft of the bill I think what has been accepted by the Committee of the whole House makes the use of fire as a land management tool that much more explicitly clear. It also provides that FENZ provides guidance around the safe use of fire as a land management tool. I commend that also.I want to acknowledge the many people in the gallery today particularly those who have made a huge contribution to this whole process leading up to today the third reading of this bill. Without any further delay we need to pass this bill as soon as possible and I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora."