Fenton Darien: Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFenton Darien: Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 07 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12465. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DARIEN FENTON (Labour):Well done Mr Assistant Speaker. Thank you very much.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Kia orana.DARIEN FENTON: Kia orana kia orana. It is a great pleasure to rise and speak in support of this bill the Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill but I thought I should start by correcting the member Melissa Lee who spoke prior to me about the nature of this bill. It is a private bill; it is not a balloted bill so it did not come from the ballot. It is a private bill which is being sponsored by Louisa Wall on behalf of Rowen Sullivan. In fact private bills are very rare. They have hardly been used in my time in Parliament. I have been here since 2005 and there have been no private bills. Sometimes people get confused and call members’ bills private members’ bills but there have been no private bills. So once again Louisa Wall is making history in this Parliament by bringing something that we rarely see in Parliament and I know that she has been moved to do so by the story of Rowen and her family.Can I say that I completely understand just what it would feel like not to be able to have both your parents’ names on your birth certificate. I do not want to diminish in any way the story of Rowen and her parents but I can think of other examples where this could have happened to people—for example children who have been adopted and find out later who their birth parents are. What a difference that can be for people—understanding who they are and understanding what their identity is. This bill is about confirming identity. It is not going to have any practical outcomes as the previous member was querying. It is an outcome that confirms the real identity of somebody’s two parents and as such it is a very very important bill.There is no other way that Rowen can have both her parents’ names—Diane and Doreen—recorded on her birth certificate. There is no other legislative or administrative means. It seems incredibly unfair that she can have only one of her parents on her birth certificate and I can understand in those circumstances how sad and awful that must have been particularly given that one of her parents was ill and then died and how much pain this woman has been through in this. Can I also say that if Rowen had been born today of course her parents could be married. Well from 19 August they could get married and both of them would be recorded on the birth certificate but that cannot occur because as I said Diane sadly died in 2010.This bill will allow Rowen to have both her parents’ names recorded on her formal birth certificate which is the only formal document that records her birth and that is the other special thing about this. We get only one birth certificate. That is the only piece of documentation that says who you are and who your parents are and that sets out the basis of your identity. As such it is very very important.So again I want to say how wonderful it is that Louisa has sponsored this bill particularly as she did mention it during her speech on the marriage equality legislation. She has clearly formed a friendship and a relationship with Rowen and felt moved to sponsor this bill on her behalf. I again congratulate her on doing that. I am supporting this bill going to the Government Administration Committee and I look forward to hearing about the discussions at the select committee.