Ngobi Terisa; McKelvie IanTERISA NGOBI (Labour—Ōtaki) (remote): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's an absolute privilege and honour to speak in the first reading of this bill tonight. Before I start can I also congratulate the member and my colleague Dr Deborah Russell on bringing this kaupapa—this really important kaupapa—to the Whare and starting that change that we know is needed in this space. While it seems like quite a small change in terms of the change to the Employment Relations Act amending section 114 of the principal Act to extend the period that the PG or the personal grievance may be brought to 12 months from the nine months where that personal grievance involves sexual harassment. It has big ramifications much bigger than just that simple change. You've heard many of the other speakers talk tonight around the difference in terms of sexual harassment as a PG especially for women but actually for anyone who has experience of sexual harassment at work it is about that power imbalance and it is about making sure that people who have experienced that have the sufficient time to process that. It's not that I think anyone who has ever experienced any kind of sexual harassment or sexual violence can truly process what that means for you. For everyone it's different and it certainly warrants the time to be able to not only seek the support that you need to work yourself through that traumatising experience but also the courage and support that you might need to report that and also take the personal grievance if you have the courage to do that. Unfortunately as other people who have spoken tonight have said that is not always the case—certainly with people who have experienced sexual harassment or sexual violence. So again although this is quite a small change it is a big change in terms of making sure that we give that ample time for people to be able to seek that support. I would also like to add that while it is a high proportion of wāhine or women that do where they can report the sexual harassment there are others as well. Other people mentioned tonight are the takatāpui or the rainbow whanaunga who also are prone to experiencing sexual harassment and other bad behaviours in the workplace but it is also men we know as well. So this is another bill I believe that goes to the bigger mahi that this Labour Party is doing and the Labour Government is doing in terms of making sure that workers are safe. No matter what that looks like workers are safe when they go to work and this is part of that bigger mahi we are doing with the fair pay agreements. We are making sure people have a voice. We certainly are making sure that women have a voice and that they feel encouraged that they will be listened to and that there's a process there for people to be able to take their voice and their concerns through to. It is really heartening to hear that others are supporting this across the House as well. We know not just as women but actually even those that are not you have your mothers and your sisters and your daughters—nobody wants to know that their loved one who happens to be a wahine or a takatāpui whānau goes to work and that they're feeling unsafe or they're feeling pressure like our colleague Arena Williams spoke of tonight around being pushed into a situation where they have no control over what that looks like for them. So again a small change but actually massive ramifications in terms of being able to support our people who need this space to be able to figure out where they're at process that trauma and then be able to make sure that they stand up for themselves and shift that power imbalance and remind people that this is not OK. I just want to thank Dr Deborah Russell again. This is a really good bill. This is something that is really at the core of what the Labour Government stands for and it's for that reason I commend the bill to the House. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): I call Dr Deborah Russell—some minutes in reply.