Lubeck MarjaMARJA LUBECK (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's an absolute pleasure to be able to take a call in the second reading of the Plant Variety Rights Bill. Now I was not a member of the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee which we normally refer to as the EDSI Committee for obvious reasons—superbly chaired by my colleague Jamie Strange—but I have learnt a lot from listening to the previous speakers and quite interesting facts such as are pertaining to for example potatoes like I heard from my colleague Naisi Chen.I just wanted to sort of go back to what this bill is actually about because we've heard a lot of facts and there are a lot of abbreviations mentioned in this bill that I will probably use myself but it's important that we remember that what this bill actually does. It repeals an old bill. I think my colleague Joseph Mooney the previous speaker said it was 30 years old. I can't quite recall but I think that's what he said—1987. Yeah it must be a bit older than 30 years. What it would implement then is a type of intellectual property right granted to breeders of new plant varieties. So it modernises that plant variety right or PVR regime to account for developments in the plant breeding industry. Also as we have heard quite extensively from my colleague Rachel Brooking on kaitiaki about the Crown's obligations on Te Tiriti o Waitangi as well as under the CPTPP the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership—it's those acronyms that get me trying to read through all the material. Of course meeting our obligations under the CPTPP opens the door wide open to progressive free trade for New Zealand's plant breeders and gives them certainty that their intellectual property rights will remain protected.Now the committee did a lot of work in their proposed amendments and made changes for example to clarify the bill's intention in clause 3 Purposes". Also where some submitters had argued that the definitions were too narrow the select committee agreed with that particular submission and made some amendments to clarify that the provision was not intended to limit the Crown's general obligations.Now it's really important to support this bill and obviously from the previous speeches it's clear that there's widespread agreement on this bill. New Zealand has a thriving plant breeding industry underpinned by a very strong and innovative research community. So what the changes will do is they will strengthen our local industry but at the same time they will make New Zealand a very attractive destination for foreign breeders that are looking to bring their investment abroad.But having the uniqueness that we have here in New Zealand brings with it also certain obligations and responsibilities. So in addition to supporting the plant breeding industry for the benefit of all New Zealanders we must also ensure that we do adhere to our obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. So the changes in this bill will give Māori a direct say in how kaitiaki relationships with our taonga plant species should be protected within the plant variety rights regime.The Government's goal is to create a productive sustainable and inclusive economy where the interests of both businesses as well as consumers are protected. I believe that is what this bill does and therefore I commend it to the House. Thank you Madam Speaker."