Lee MelissaMELISSA LEE (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise in support of the Employment Relations (Extended Time for Personal Grievance for Sexual Harassment) Amendment Bill. I'd like first of all to acknowledge and commend the work of the select committee the Education and Workforce Committee who have actually done a very good job. I can't imagine the select committee process where lots of victims might have actually come and spoken about their personal experiences. And often I know when members actually hear their stories it can be quite an emotional time so well done to all of the members who were in that select committee. Although I'm not part of the select committee it is an absolute pleasure to actually rise to support this because I think 90 days is probably not a long enough time in my opinion to deal with a situation when someone—whether actually male or female—has been sexually harassed. I think it's not just the domain of the woman. The majority of the harassed people tends to be women but men also get sexually harassed in a workplace. And I think the member who just took his seat Ibrahim Omer actually makes a very relevant point in terms of people who come from different cultures. They process information differently because they're coming from a culture that is very different—often not just talking back to elders talking back to people who are in a higher status perhaps bosses or even a male-gendered person who may be doing these kinds of acts to both males and females. The cultural context actually means that they may not be able to speak up or they're disempowered from speaking up. And their understanding in the New Zealand context of their ability to make a complaint or that there are in fact rules in New Zealand to actually help them is actually not properly educated. I think we probably need to do more education in this space so that people feel empowered to make that kind of complaint. I think extending that period of time to a year at least is a way forward so people can actually process that information. I think when victims first experience sexual harassment often it comes as a bit of a shock. I think understanding that they've just been harassed is also a realisation or a shock and I think coming to terms with that is actually something that takes a bit of time because often some victims do not even recognise the fact that that's harassment because in their culture often it's the norm. It's the norm so they don't actually see it as harassment and then when they realise that it's actually harassment and something that they need to bring to the authorities or even complain about it does actually take time. It also comes with the whole thing of shame—Did I or did they in fact cause the problem in the first place?" because often victims are made to feel ashamed when they get victimised and they don't feel empowered because of that shame—the guilt that it has actually happened to them. They have no one to talk to and the whole trauma of that experience can be quite a huge thing for them to deal with. I'm not a psychologist nor am I an expert in these fields but I think often there's the denial involved as well; they want to pretend that it never happened because they need to get on with work and they have to go to work every day to make ends meet for their family. They have to earn a living for their family and complaining about a person who is actually an employer or who is actually higher status and may have actually created the situation may not be tenable. I think this is a good bill and I commend the work of Dr Deborah Russell who has brought this bill to the House and the work that the select committee has produced so that all of us can actually participate in the process in this House. I commend this bill to the House."