Severin ToniTONI SEVERIN (ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's my pleasure to rise on behalf of the ACT Party as the disabilities spokesperson on the third reading of this fantastic bill the Human Rights (Disability Assist Dogs Non-Discrimination) Amendment Bill. This bill makes a change in the Human Rights Act changing guide dog" to "disability assist dog". We have had many trained dogs in the disability community. As spoken before we have hearing dogs we have mobility dogs and we have epilepsy dogs. Anybody who has epilepsy can have some amazing seizures and having a dog around them can just make a huge huge difference.However there are still a few things in this that are not quite done yet. There are at least some considerations in other bills and legalisation that needs to be changed and the Government will have to probably review these using the statutory use to change the terms like "guide dogs" "companion dogs" and "hearing dogs" and to update these bills so that they are in line with the Human Rights Act.But also the lovely 75 submitters—I was unfortunate not to sit on and listen to all the submissions because I'm not on the select committee. However I did read the transcripts and also the review that came from the committee that many still raised issues that weren't in scope of this bill. I'd like to just point out some of those. A lot of it was also around identifying disability assist dogs. Most people see the guide dogs with their coats but not all of them have the lovely coats that you see. For a lot of people if they're not educated and don't understand what these dogs are then yes they may perceive them to be a pet which is not fair. However unless we educate what is out there in the different forms of dogs then how can we expect people to understand what is allowed and what's not allowed? But also the biggest thing of all these dogs are working dogs. They are not pets—and also us as the public who love dogs I've also got to remember they're out in the community doing a job. Yes we love to pat them but we've also got to realise that we have to ask the owners first. But that should go no doubt with any dog. But most of all these dogs are here to help their human and of course the dogs we all know own their human not the other way around. Now the biggest thing of all also is that we have eight great organisations that train these dogs and great trainers out there. However again we have a shortage of dogs for those that need them here in New Zealand. So if there is a way down the track that we can identify more people that can train these dogs and be certified it would be fantastic because you know we have the Assistance Dogs New Zealand hearing dogs of the Deaf people of New Zealand K9 Medical Detection New Zealand Canine Service Medical Detection Mobility Assistance Dogs Trust the New Zealand Epilepsy Assist Dog Trust Perfect Partners Assistance Dogs Trust and the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind Inc. I mean these guys do a great job and have given many many people access and a new lease on life within their community. But we always need more. So if there is a way that we can encourage more and make sure that they meet the regulations and standards all the more to help those people in the community to become more able. Also the other thing that the submitters brought up was also as I said the education. And that's also within identification and education. As we have spoken with rentals a lot of people don't allow pets in rentals because they have this perception that dogs or cats will wreck their place. But if there is a forum to educate the public or have some form of identification that their animal is there to assist them in their life then it should make it easier. Also we need to make sure that these people have a house to live in and also that their animals are safe within the confines of that house. So most of this—I come back to: we need to educate New Zealanders. We need to educate all New Zealanders because as we all know there are many different cultures and so within those many cultures sometimes they don't have the assist dogs that we have here in New Zealand and other parts of the world. Now the thing is as we said this bill is only just a start. There is definitely more to be done with this bill. I look forward as the ACT spokesperson for disabilities to seeing what will be coming through to help our people with disabilities and to make their life a lot more easier than what it is sometimes today. For the ACT Party I would like to commend this bill to the House and I look forward to seeing what the future brings within this space. Thank you."