van de Molen Tim; Williams PotoTIM VAN DE MOLEN (National—Waikato): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. So look it's a privilege to take a call on the second reading now of this Military Justice Legislation Amendment Bill following on from the call I took in the first reading. It's great to have seen this progress and the recommendations we have received off the back of that. Fundamentally we're talking about alignment—looking to align more closely the military justice system with the New Zealand civilian criminal justice system.There's a number of aspects in this that have already been touched on tonight that are in need of an update because there has been disparity between these two different justice systems. I would like to acknowledge of course that there are some unique aspects of the military justice system that are not applicable in a civilian setting. One quick example that springs to mind is UAD" as it's called in the army—an unauthorised discharge—where a weapon is inadvertently discharged during the course of any operations or training without the intent to have done so. Now of course that ranges on a spectrum and within that this would not necessarily be one of the most serious offences but is an example of something that is specifically unique to a military environment. And of course there are numerous examples of how that can happen whether it is inadvertent through an inability to conduct the correct drills with your weapon system or through perhaps a miscarriage of that weapon system throughout the training procedures you're in. These things can happen from time to time and that is an appropriate element that needs to be captured in the military justice setting but of course is not applicable to the civilian or mainstream criminal justice setting.Now before I carry on I would also like to acknowledge the fine members of the New Zealand Defence Force: those men and women who every day put on their uniform and perform their duties to the best of their ability on behalf of our country. I'd also like to echo the comments made by Chris Penk highlighting that whilst we're talking here tonight about amendments to this military justice legislation it by no means suggests or indicates there is a high level of use for this particular piece of legislation. Indeed it captures those very few scenarios that we have to have an appropriate set of laws in place for but by and large the conduct within our defence forces is exemplary and so I'd like to commend them on that as well as their service.There are a couple of key aspects that I want to highlight in particular and one is the victim's rights. And we've heard extensively about that from the previous speaker Golriz Ghahraman from the Green Party. That's a really important aspect and we need to make these updates to bring these into line with civilian law and provide better support for those victims or confidence around knowledge or information in particular. One of the reasons I think that is of particular importance is that any victim needs to be supported of course but in this system typically victims—and I'm a very passionate supporter of the defence forces and anyone who has committed to being a part of that I believe is going above and beyond in their service whether they get offshore or not and should indeed be extended additional victims' rights to ensure that they are being supported in every manner possible given what they have done or offered to do for their country. So it's great to see some improvements being made in that space. Onus of proof as well of course: an important change here to make sure that we are bringing that into line. Changing that onus of proof from the defence to the prosecution is an important and relevant change to make across these pieces of legislation as well.Another aspect I do want to touch on which hasn't been widely traversed tonight is fitness to stand trial and that for me is one particular area that we I think are still learning a lot more about. When you look at some of the mental wellness issues that have presented over time in military settings and in any manner of settings as well it's important to note that we have perhaps not had an appropriate or advanced understanding of those issues to the level that we might desire or have now if we were to reflect on some of those decisions made previously. So this is a great way to acknowledge that we do need to take greater account of those particular impacts that are not necessarily visible on the victims or the perpetrators of these crimes as well. So that's one area I'd just like to finish on and I commend this bill. Thank you.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I understand this is a split call. Dr Liz Craig—five minutes."