Potaka TamaTAMA POTAKA (National—Hamilton West): Tēnā koe e te Māngai e te Whare taukumekume nei. He rangi whakamiharo tēnei. Maringa nui au ki te kōrero mō tēnei pire arā te Family Court (Family Court Associates) Legislation Bill. Te tuahine Minita Kiritapu tuki roa o te māipi ture me te māngai mō te tangata kia ora. [Thank you Madam Speaker. This is an amazing day. I am fortunate to speak on this bill the Family Court (Family Court Associates) Legislation Bill. To my sister Minister Kiritapu mouthpiece of the legislative taiaha and spokesperson for humanity hello there.]Improving outcomes for people participating in the Family Court proceedings—children whānau and of course the judges—is critical. The judges in particular are often overwhelmed by many challenges sheer workload multiple expectations—particularly to keep criminals out of prison—and demands to attend various invitations to well-provisioned hui and speaking engagements throughout the country and offshore. Establishing a new type of judicial officer to take on some of this mahi carried out by the judges should make it easier to efficiently progress diverse lower-level matters. We hope to see this legislation better enable core values of our party: strong whānau strong families strong communities and personal security. As a result e tautoko ana te Pāti Nāhinara haki kahurangi nei i tō te pire anga whakamua i tēnei wā [the blue flag National Party supports the progress of the bill at this stage.] We will support the bill at this stage. Now amending various pieces of family law legislation reminds me of spending quality time about 500 metres from here sitting quietly under the careful and often monotone instruction of our family law lecturer Bill Atkin. The Minister of Justice herself and also the Hon Duncan Webb would both recall the dulcet vibes of Bill Atkin and the entire teaching cohort of our alma mater and the significant munificence given for freedom of expression therein. Sure this bill is a mechanism to combat unacceptable court delays and wait-lists which have increased significantly over the past few years. But establishing more roles like establishing more bureaucracy will not necessarily address the root causes of the issues: an inefficient court system that's sometimes focused on unusual priorities as my colleague Mark Mitchell understands. The bill seeks to reduce waiting times. We would implore for various reasons—or take as I'd like to describe them—that there are systemic issues within the courts—e.g. technology utilisation and I won't go into how inefficient Māori Land Online has been over the many years that it's been in force—the lack of evidence regarding the expected or intended effect on courts' processing times and the time it will take to recruit train induct and take on board Family Court Associates. Recruiting these associate candidates with suitable experience will also be difficult due to the limited pool of qualified candidates. Everyone seems to be getting into judicial positions these days. I actually acknowledge the new judges Tahana and Williams at this time and also there is limited space at the courts for Family Court Associates and judges to do work at the same time. So there will be some capital expenditure costs associated with these great bright ideas. However my late-night murmurings and rumblings are exhausted and I'd boldly recommend to cautiously proceed so we can see some light through the select committee process and members therein can paddle this waka forward so it doesn't come foul in choppy oral seas or the whirlpool of verbal posturing that sometimes takes place in this Whare and also in select committees. So I hark back to the kōrero of one of our most well-known leaders and Business Hall of Fame admittees Te Puea Hērangi Mahia te mahi hei painga mō te iwi."—if it's good for the people get on with it. Kia ora tātou."