Hobbs Marian: Crimes (Drug Rape) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Hobbs Marian: Crimes (Drug Rape) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 I rise to commend my colleague Dianne Yates not only for presenting this bill to the House but also for the work that has gone on beforehand. My other colleague Ruth Dyson made the comment that to make a bill effective in the House particularly when it is a private member’s bill an extraordinary amount of community work must be done to network with people—not only with the police the community and social work agencies but with MPs from all around the House. Dianne Yates has done that. 
As a parent I have been very concerned about this notion of drug rape for some time. My poor blessed daughter barely goes out the door than—about every 3 months—I am asking her not what bars she goes to but what she does when she gets up to dance or to go to the loo and where she leaves the alcohol behind afterwards. I ask all of those sorts of questions because I am really concerned about this issue. 
What I have become very aware of is that this is not just a teenage female issue. First of all this can happen to young men and also to older women. I think it is a popular assumption that we will put the problem in wee boxes and say that it is for the wee partygoers going out and having their fun. It is a bit like the myth about “stranger danger”—it is something that goes right through our communities. 
In a past life I can remember when conferences were things that happened once a year. They were highly exciting and the adrenalin was up. Now conferences occur once a week in God knows how many places and the adrenalin is not quite so high when one addresses them. But when it was really exciting to go to Palmerston North—sorry Palmerston North—for a conference with colleagues one could be carried away with the friendship. What I became aware of today is that conferences attended by middle-aged professional people are equally places where someone can suffer from having his or her drink spiked by someone who has always had a bit of a crush on that person and decides to move at that particular moment. That is a very sobering thought. It takes the issue well away from teenagers drinking in bars and really livens it up. 
The issue that was brought to us today was the problem of consent. I recognise that this is something that will really have to be teased out in the select committee. It is the issue of people being in situations where they do not know what has happened to them because they have been drugged or their drinks spiked. They do not know whether consent has been given or not. They are not in a position to actually give that consent. 
I thought I heard the ACT member say very clearly that there was a danger of a grey area. What worried me about what that member was saying was that he seemed to assume that it was normal behaviour for a person to offer someone enough drinks that he or she would think that that person was a pretty good sort of guy and would end up going to bed with him. I think there has to be an absolute end to that sort of culture and that is what I was reacting to. I do not mind going to bed with—well excuse me— 
Rodney Hide 
: What about the poor guy? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: That is exactly right. I do not mind people choosing to go to bed with someone but they should do it honestly not because they have been persuaded by drink—on a grey line or otherwise. That is what concerned me because for too long in our culture it has not been the actual persuasion of: “I’m a really interesting person I like you and I love you.” it has been: “I’m a really interesting person but I really haven’t got the courage to do this to you so I’ll get you drunk.” That is the kind of culture that leads to people using drugs as a means of securing their particular ends. 
The other thing I became aware of today is that this problem results not only in rape but also in other long-term physical damage that has nothing to do with actual rape. People are being left as I think my colleague across the floor said with broken limbs or effects on their memory or neurological damage because of the kinds of drugs used—drugs that one would never have chosen to take in one’s life. I think that is equally important when we consider this issue. 
The “no-one believes me” syndrome is an absolutely heart-rending thing and it reminds me very much of young children. Again I think back to the speech made by the ACT member. For too many young people it has always been that no one has believed them when they have complained about child abuse. Here we have a similar situation whereby people who have had their drink or food spiked have woken up and found that no one believes them. That is not good enough and I therefore support this bill and my colleague’s excellent work.