O'Rourke DenisDENIS O'ROURKE (NZ First): New Zealand First fully supports the motion for an apology and I would like to thank Minister Adams for being willing to give it on behalf of the whole Parliament and also for the way in which she expressed it. New Zealand First also supports the bill in its entirety.Convictions for homosexual offences except for those involving minors under 16 and except for those involving genuine public order offences were based on bad law—law that was contrary to natural reason law that was contrary to natural law. They were evil laws with tragic effects for those who suffered the convictions under them. Those laws and the convictions pursuant to them were and still are an utter disgrace and they were a fundamental and extreme breach of human rights. That is now of course confirmed under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Therefore the apology is very well-deserved and grossly overdue but as the Minister said it is never too late to apologise and today we are seeing that happening. But it is of course too late to avoid the massive damage caused by those evil laws. By the apology and through this bill we will address at least some of that but certainly not all of it.The bill itself is very welcome because it enables an application for expungement through the Secretary for Justice by an eligible person not only for a living person but also—and I think this is very important—by the personal representative of a deceased person. I think that post-mortem expungement is just as important—in fact maybe even in some ways more important—as that on behalf of living persons. The basis of the test for expungement is that the conduct constituting the offence would not constitute an offence under the law of New Zealand right now today. I think that is the appropriate way to deal with it.I want to mention what I think are the three main values for this bill and what it achieves. The first is this: it reconfirms the freedom of people to lawfully express their sexuality and to be free from prejudice and legal sanction for doing so—it reconfirms that.Secondly it avoids the huge disadvantage of a person suffering such a conviction from being required to disclose that conviction for employment purposes and other such purposes and of course there is the whole issue of criminal history checks as well. A conviction of this kind as we know can hugely limit a person's opportunities for employment and I think it is worth just reading out clause 9(5): Any criminal record of the expunged conviction or the non-disclosure of any criminal record of the expunged conviction is not a proper ground for—(a) refusing the convicted person any appointment post status or privilege; or (b) revoking any appointment status or privilege held by the convicted person or dismissing the convicted person from any post." I think that sums it up very well indeed.The third of those values that I spoke of is this and it is the most important one of all: it restores self-esteem and enhances the mental health and the self-worth of the people who suffered those terrible convictions. As we all know many suicides will have resulted from that and I hope that finally we will see an end of that sort of tragic consequence of those evil laws.What the bill itself actually does—for those who are not aware—is if a person's application is approved under the scheme then firstly the person's criminal record will be amended to ensure the conviction does not appear on a criminal history check for any purpose in New Zealand. Secondly the person will be entitled to declare that they have no conviction. I think that is incredibly important. It is an absolute right and it will be law in New Zealand when this bill passes. So for all practical purposes within New Zealand those convictions will be treated as if the person had never been convicted at all—the best-possible result.The expungement scheme will apply to only specified repealed offences and those are listed in clause 5(2). The scheme will not apply of course to people convicted of public order offences or those involving participants who were under the age of 16 years and that is obviously appropriate. The Secretary for Justice will have responsibility for determining the applications for the expungement of the specified offences and they will do that in a very simple way on the basis of papers provided without the need for an oral hearing except where there are exceptional circumstances and then an oral hearing could be held. But normally you would not expect that an oral hearing would be necessary and it is good to see that that can be avoided. It is also good to see that under clause 13 any person who unlawfully discloses any expunged offence commits an offence and may be liable to a fine of up to $20000. That sort of sanction would be well-deserved if that actually happened.So it is a very good bill one that New Zealand First fully supports and I want to reiterate also New Zealand First's full support and appreciation for the apology made by the Minister. I do hope that with the passing of this legislation a whole chapter—a whole sad chapter—of New Zealand's history can finally be put behind us and that the people who are directly affected will now feel that they can get rid of that stigma and any record of the offences which they should never have been convicted of in the first place. The passing of this bill will be a proud day for this Parliament and a proud day for New Zealand. I look forward to the final reading when it eventually comes through. Thank you."