SpeechHon ALFRED NGARO (National): Thank you Madam Chair. I would like to base my contribution my first contribution this evening on Supplementary Order Paper 321 in the name of the Hon Maggie Barry. This pertains in particular to new clause 18C. It is entitled Support person to assist vulnerable elderly person". I want to remind the House and in particular though I know that is in committee stage and part of the goal is to contribute to the member who's in charge of the bill—but the truth is and the reality is that actually part of this debate is also about convincing the opportunity to debate and deliberate of all colleagues in the House being as it's a conscience bill. So I'd like to remind colleagues of the fact that the reason that we're here and we're talking in particular to this Part—I want to talk to this Part in particular—is that there were almost 39000 submissions. In those submissions I want to acknowledge them and I want to be able to use and draw from some of those submissions in my contribution because in the second reading many of the statements that were made there were about if we go into the committee stage that we would also allow due diligence; we would give the time and the respect that had been afforded throughout the select committee process which came to an impasse where they were not able to come to a decision. So I want to be able to reflect and to use some of those contributions from those who made those submissions. As I say nearly 39000; 91.4 percent opposed to the bill—91.4 percent opposed to the bill. And I want to reiterate that because we do a disrespect to those people and the contributions I want to make in this part in particular will actually contribute to the points that I want to put across. This Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) particularly deals with "to assist vulnerable elderly persons" in this case. It talks about in 18C(1): "This section applies where a person who is eligible for assisted dying is aged 65 years or over." In 18C(3): "In addition to [those] other requirements of this Part a vulnerable elderly person must be offered the assistance of an independent support person who—(a) possesses in-depth knowledge of the cultures and practices within the community the vulnerable elderly person is from;". Many times we have heard not only in our communities but also too even in this House that vulnerable elderly people have been abused. I want to read from one of the submissions—again one of the 39000 submissions that came through. This is from a practising geriatrician who says this—and I quote—"In my practice as a geriatrician I frequently see cases of people entering residential care or making health decisions not because this is their preferred decision but because it is 'best for their family'. It is important for the committee to note that elder abuse is a) common in society b) frequently unreported and c) most often perpetrated by those closest to the individual. As such these familial reasons quoted for desire of hastened death are highly open to pressure and coercion which is unlikely to be documented". We know from Age Concern who also submitted and it goes to the point of this SOP that 75 percent of those that are reported in regards to elder abuse are from family members. This SOP also too in clause 18C(3) notes the fact of the importance of having knowledge of cultural practices. There are many times in the debates that were held in our communities—I remember in Porirua in particular the Pasifika community that were there they were outraged when supporters of this bill used a poll that said 63 percent of Pasifika people supported euthanasia. They were outraged to the point they became angry. They stated that this is not true this is not the fact this is not our culture. Our culture of care is to care for the dying and the sick. It's the aroha it's the love that they give throughout that process that takes them through to their point to their final days. So this point and this clause I think is critically important. We have such a diverse society in a community and I am concerned along with others—and I know it's not only in Pasifika communities; it's in Māori communities it's in other ethnic communities—that we could have a situation where (1) people are unaware of what their other options are and (2) it becomes a convenience as we've seen in other jurisdictions overseas. Belgium is a good case in point where there were cases where actually through non-consent people were euthanised. It doesn't get any more serious than this. I believe that there should be serious consideration to this SOP 321 in the name of the Hon Maggie Barry that there be support and assistance for the vulnerable and elderly person in particular for cultural issues in our communities."