Kanongata'a-Suisuiki AnahilaANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI (Labour): It is a privilege to stand and speak on this member's bill and I want to congratulate the member Ian McKelvie. I remember him from my first day on the members of Parliament training and induction programme.Paul Eagle: The old fulla.ANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI: Ha! The wise member. To speak on the Dog Control (Category 1 Offences) Amendment Bill as a justice of the peace I think I can speak with some insight into the level of expertise and training that justices of the peace go through to become a justice of the peace of the District Court. People here have spoken about many things but I think it's important to note that the people who become justices of the peace are people who have gone through a process of training to become a justice of the peace and then after that they are further developed. I want to acknowledge the work of the Auckland Justices of the Peace Association—I think my membership is still current. I want to acknowledge their work because they train the justices of the peace in what they do.There are two steps. One: to become a justice of the peace you follow on with training in terms of oaths and declarations and those duties that are required of the justices of the peace. Then secondly to be able to become a justice of the peace of the District Court the justice of the peace actually has to go through further training to be able to perform in the District Court and prior to that they had to go through swearing in in terms of being able to be called a justice of the peace of the District Court.Some of the things that are required by a justice of the peace of the District Court are actually to preside over traffic offences and to preside over issues of remand or bail so I think that they are quite capable of presiding over category 1 offences in terms of section 18 of the Dog Control Act where it talks about Wilful obstruction of [a] dog … officer or [a] … ranger". I've heard people here talk about the fact that it's a tiny small piece of legislation but really it's important because what it does is—the end result—if the majority of the offences are under category 1 it then frees up the District Court. I have an insight in terms of being someone that had worked at court which is that the judges are on a roster—the judges are on a roster.Paul Eagle: Were you in prison?ANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI: As a court clerk at the Youth Court Paul Eagle. So as a court clerk in the Youth Court in Manukau I know in that role that the judges go through a roster. What this bill will do is it will support the work of the judges to free them up so they're able to look at other matters like being rostered in the Family Court or being rostered in the District Court. So I want to commend the member in terms of this piece of legislation because it might look tiny for some people but the end result actually contributes a lot to our District Court.I want to maybe look at one of the categories in schedule 1 of the Act. The category looks at a possibility that a justice of the peace might look at—section 48(3) where one of the offences is "Failure to advise change of dog ownership". I know that Priyanca Radhakrishnan has a bitch called Gypsy and let's just say that we have a change of ownership and she gives Gypsy to me and I end up owning her bitch Gypsy. Then if she's neglected to inform that there has been a change of ownership—Chris Bishop: Righty-o. OK.ANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI: —then I think a justice of the peace as I have said previously—I've checked it with the Speaker thank you very much—a person who has undergone training by the Auckland Justices of the Peace Association is capable of presiding over a small offence like failure to inform a dog ownership change. I want to just say that only 29 offences weren't a category 1 offence—out of the 456 29 were not a category 1. But it makes sense. It makes common sense to do that. I've spoken in support of this and I want to again congratulate the member Ian McKelvie on the outcome that it adds to an important piece of legislation. I dedicate this to Priyanca Radhakrishnan's bitch Gypsy. Thank you."