SpeechHARETE HIPANGO (National): First of all my acknowledgment to Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki. Ngā mihi nui ki a koe tuahine mō tō mahi mō tō manawa tēnā koe. [I strongly congratulate you sister for your work for your dedication. I acknowledge you.]I've acknowledged the member for the work that she has put into this which comes from her heart. It was quite profound for me to sit and listen to the members in this House because I wasn't present on the Justice Committee when this came before it for the decision to support the bill with a few significant amendments. The profound element may I share is that as members of Parliament we're here to represent the communities that we come from and the investment that they have in us to do so. So the member has well invested in this bill for the constituent that you have represented so steadfastly. Reflecting on the purpose as to why we are here for a third reading I'm always mindful of the members of the public who are listening in. As members of Parliament we listen to each other time and time again but for those who may be tuning in for this third reading it's a summing-up debate on the bill in its final form and the vote at the end of the debate is the final vote in the House to either pass the bill or reject it. The kōrero this evening this afternoon is clearly well in support of this bill and so as it passes through its third reading it will then go on for receiving the Royal assent for it to come and be enacted into law. Mr Speaker in addressing you I'm also mindful of addressing and extending the courtesy to the member Miss Kanongata'a-Suisuiki because this is the member's bill as I say that's been invested in from the heart. Having returned to Parliament—and I am the last speaker for the National Party on the list and have returned as the latest on the list for the National Party—I won't take the full 10 minutes of this but listening to the kōrero this afternoon my ear has tuned in and my lens also as a lawyer has tuned in to the definition of a disabled person". There have been a number of members in the House both former lawyers—we still think and we still speak and we still look at the letter of the law through our legal lens—but also non-lawyers laypeople. That's the representative nature of this House and what we have to contribute there. So I was particularly interested in the definition of "disabled person" because when I looked at the bill initially and then I turned to the District Court Act 2016 there was no clear definition around that. And then the Justice Committee's report to the House obviously extended considerable time to that by making a comparison with a definition under the Human Rights Act. I refer—and it's been mentioned in the debate today—to section 21(1)(h) of the Human Rights Act. It there talks about the prohibited elements of prejudice and discrimination. In that though it outlines from one to I think six points there the detail of that. The full extent of that definition has not been captured in this bill but what I'm leading on to is that the recommendation for the amendment by the select committee to the definition of "disabled person" was so that it aligns with the Human Rights Act but also aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. So the definition under the Human Rights Act is way more expansive in scope than what is encompassed under this amendment to the District Court Act. But in saying that it captures the intent of ensuring that those "disabled persons" align with those captured under the United Nations convention. It's beyond more than someone who is just physically disabled. It looks at the impairment or the loss or the abnormality of the anatomical functioning which is the disability but it also captures under the United Nations convention—which I would consider this amendment does as well because it's aligned to that—psychological disability or impairment and intellectual disability or impairment. Now I'm bringing this back to the days before many of us here in this House when the Hon Dame Tariana Turia was the Minister for Disability Issues and it was recommended that the first representative we had from Aotearoa New Zealand for our disabled community was a man called Robert Martin now Sir Robert Martin who had been recognised for the contributions that he had made in this space of disabled persons' rights on a global scale at the United Nations. SPEAKER: Order! I'm going to bring the member back to the bill now.HARETE HIPANGO: Yes yes Mr Speaker. What my point is is that the disabled rights element that's been built into this law and the amendment is cognisant on a global scheme. That is just saying that we are up there in the world in recognising the importance and the place of our disabled persons within the community and the importance of course in their role should they be before the court and required as the judgment debtor to pay the bill in the capacity not only as the disabled person but if they happen to be the caregiver as well. So I commend the member for bringing this before the House. I commend the members of the select committee for the diligence and the due diligence that has been given to this and in commending that for this third reading the National Party supports this passage to the Royal assent. Tēnā koe e te tuahine."