McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour): Today's a great day because we get to pass a law that should have been passed a long time ago but we also get to demonstrate to the New Zealand public that at times this House can work together. Now I am a very proud product of a farming family—on both sides actually—and I'm very proud to come from the rural area of Wairarapa. I am no stranger to the issue of livestock rustling so I do remember when I spoke in favour of this when the issue was first raised in front of the House when Ian McKelvie brought forward his member's bill to us all last year. We did vote in favour of it because it is very clear that this is an issue that is facing rural communities. Federated Farmers estimate that livestock rustling costs our rural communities $120 million a year and it is also estimated that one in four farmers have suffered from livestock rustling at some stage in their life. Now we all know farmers probably many and it is quite phenomenal to think that 25 percent of our farmers have suffered from livestock rustling. So good on Ian McKelvie whom I've got to know quite well over the last few months whom I consider to be a gentleman not only because we play on the same parliamentary cricket team and I'm standing there on the cricket pitch and I'm fielding the area in front of me and the area behind me—he's such a gentleman that he lets me field the area behind him as well. The thing is that we work together on the cricket pitch and we work together in Parliament and this bill contains the inclusion of two crimes: the theft of livestock or other animal carrying a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment and of course the unlawful entry to land used for agricultural purposes where the offender intends to steal livestock or act unlawfully against specified things such as buildings or machinery on that land. That offence carries 10 years' imprisonment.This is actually an improvement of what was originally proposed. Unfortunately for Mr McKelvie when he brought his member's bill to the Primary Production Committee the advice that we got at the committee was that this was not workable. I don't blame Mr McKelvie for that; it was just the way that it was. The rules of Parliament said that we couldn't make the changes to it that we wanted to. Submitter after submitter after submitter said that we just simply needed to include a crime of livestock theft into the Crimes Act and we would achieve what Mr McKelvie wanted to achieve but unfortunately because of the rules of the way that they were we couldn't continue—we couldn't progress. The options that were in front of us were that we bring it to the House—because that was the advice—and it gets voted down or that the bill be withdrawn and then it goes back to the luck of the draw into the ballot.I had a bit of a thought and I was only new and I wasn't all that confident but I thought why don't we try and include this in a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) into the Crimes Amendment Bill? I did it on the quiet because I didn't want to make a fool of myself at the select committee. I got really excited. I drew it up and I went to the people that give us advice and I said Can we do it?" And they said no because the Crimes Amendment Bill is about withdrawing things; it's not about including things. If there was a provision within it that included the inclusion of a new law a new crime then we could've but it didn't so we couldn't. However if we got the approval from every party in the House then we could do it.I put this to Ian McKelvie. He thought it was a great idea and both of us went to the Minister of Justice and put it to him. It was ultimately his call—it's his bill. He didn't have to approve it but he did. So not only do I want to acknowledge Ian McKelvie; I want to acknowledge the justice Minister Andrew Little for seeing that this was an issue and seeing that in a roundabout way we could include this as a law into this bill which in a few minutes time hopefully will likely pass.And so what it says to rural communities and anybody out there that's watching and listening at home is that with issues that are important to rural communities the parties are working together. I know members opposite like Barbara Kuriger Ian McKelvie Hamish Walker Lawrence Yule and all those over there that live and represent rural areas will celebrate this fact as well because back home people see this House arguing and bickering and carrying on and too little do we celebrate the times that we come together and actually work together to achieve something that's important to this country. This is an example of that. I'm pleased to be a part of it. It was an honour to work alongside Ian McKelvie and I'm very pleased that Andrew Little the justice Minister allowed us to do it. I very strongly commend this bill to the House.Bill read a third time."