Bridges SimonHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition): I don't think I have spoken on a bill in this House this term. As leader of the Opposition—Hon Dr David Clark: Lazy.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: As leader of the—well we'll get to lazy very soon because this is probably the laziest Minister with the laziest bill we've ever seen. But I wanted to come down today and speak on this bill as leader of the National Party to state our position incredibly clearly for the people of New Zealand for the Kiwis out there who are watching and who have concern for this issue.I want the people of New Zealand to be crystal clear. We have compassion on this side of the House. It's not something that's simply for that side of the House—that they think they have in their righteous virtue-signalling way. We have it over here too. We believe as a party to an individual member—55 members of Parliament on this side of the House—in medicinal cannabis. I personally have met in my electorate office in Tauranga constituents who are terminally ill who want the ability legally to get medicinal cannabis through appropriate channels to deal with the pain that they have. I understand it. I get it. I have huge compassion for them.Indeed Dr Shane Reti out of his own pocket—and can I say what a remarkable piece of work it is. He went offshore. He went to the United States. He sought out best practice on these issues and he got them. He put forward and I'll go through it shortly the several things that we believe a scheme for medicinal cannabis must to be remotely responsible have in this land of ours. But I can only assume that through lazy petty politics that side of the House wouldn't go with it. They literally put their hands over their eyes and passed this skeleton of a law that is grossly irresponsible. I fear and there is nothing the Minister of Health has said today that tells me otherwise that what in fact this bill is is decriminalisation of cannabis by stealth in this Parliament today.The Minister is sitting there he's looking down he doesn't want to listen to this but not a single thing he has said in this House over the passage of this bill says anything otherwise: that when this bill passes when it is signed off by the Governor-General loose-leaf cannabis will be able to be smoked in public in New Zealand. What do you call that? He's shaking his head. That Minister has been asked these questions. He's had the ability every single time he's spoken to answer the basic questions and he hasn't done that. In fact he's all but confirmed it. I say to him: what will the police do when they're outside a school and someone under this legislation is smoking cannabis? What will they do? Chlöe Swarbrick's shaking her head. I'll tell you what they'll do. I don't reckon they'll do much at all actually because today that's what this Parliament arguably—but certainly there's been nothing to allay our concerns—has lazily and irresponsibly done in this House.I also want to be clear about this point: on this side of the House we are all up for a debate on the merits of decriminalisation of cannabis in this country. I think it's a debate that New Zealand actually probably wants to have. They want to discuss the issues they want to understand what it means they want to weigh those issues and they want after that debate has been had—not before it—to have a referendum on the subject. But now with this bill I fear that the Minister with no details and zero answers to basic questions on a responsible medicinal cannabis scheme has ensured that the debate will be after the fact. The debate will be after we've had the issue come before this Parliament and dealt with by stealth—too late not democratic.I've already mentioned Dr Shane Reti. He's done the work. He has gone through and in a schema of several things ensured that his scheme proposed in Supplementary Order Papers in this House would ensure medicinal cannabis products will be approved in the same way a medicine is approved by Medsafe—no loose-leaf cannabis products approved. Where's any of that in the bill? It's just not there. Medical practitioners will decide who should have access to a medicinal cannabis card which will certify them to buy medicinal cannabis products. Where's anything about anything remotely approaching that? It's not there Dr David Clark. David Clark put his hands over his eyes and peaked through took it to Cabinet and didn't deal with the hard questions.Dr Shane Reti ensured that medicinal cannabis products will be pharmacist-only medicine and that cultivators and manufacturers must be licensed for commercial production. Licence holders and staff would be vetted to ensure that they're fit and proper persons. There would be a licensing regime that would create a safe market for medicinal cannabis products. Cultivators and manufacturers would not be able to be located within 5 kilometres of residential land or within a kilometre of sensitive sites such as schools and wāhi tapu. There would be no advertising of medicinal cannabis products and the Ministry of Health would be reviewing this every five years. They are sensible additions. Actually even if they weren't sensible—but they are—at least there would be some flesh on the bones of a law about cannabis that people could look at and I say in this case have best practice. None of that is there. None of it is there and that simply leaves questions in terms of every single part of this.Can you imagine while I'm on it—the bare bones of a law with no detail on it—the Cabinet discussion that day when Dr Clark went to Cabinet? It's really emblematic of how this Government runs. Let's say it was the Rt Hon Winston Peters—awake at that time—asking How does a terminally ill New Zealander get hold of medicinal cannabis?" No answers. "That's their problem." probably said David Clark.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I'd ask the member to use the correct title: the Hon Dr David Clark.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: The Hon Dr David Clark. Great question—no answers to the basic parts of this.So I just have some basic questions on this. Here's the question: when someone comes to a school to pick up their kids and they have a bag of loose leaf and they smoke some of it where in this bill is that now illegal or unlawful or not part of the thing?Hon Shane Jones: Scaremongering.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: No no. Basic questions—basic questions on this. How does it interact with the smoke-free legislation? Where does it come from? There is no answer to that. I suggest it probably comes from the house closest to the powerline with the shoes thrown over the top of it. That's all that's there. And I say on behalf of this side of the House that we're all for medicinal cannabis—we believe in it and that's the party position. On decriminalisation there'll be people who have a vast range of views. I'm against it; others won't be. But the reality is here today that without the questions answered I fear we've got decriminalisation by stealth.I say to Shane Jones in my final few moments in this House: what did New Zealand First get in return? I know he agrees that this bill will do nothing to "get the nephs off the couch". In fact it very much legitimises the long-term intergenerational systemic problems that he agrees with this side of the House on. What has been gotten? Was it the piffling industrial changes that made no difference? Was it some other such deal that we haven't heard? Nationalisation of ports I hear someone say. Shame on the House for passing this terrible unsafe dangerous bill."