Logie JanJAN LOGIE (Green): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. It's also with great pleasure that I rise to speak to this the second reading of the Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Bill. I want to share the views and the sentiment that is being expressed in the House tonight of the importance of this bill and also acknowledge the origins of this and the fact that I think it's also a victory for the parliamentary process and democracy in itself.We've had quite a few years of members of the LGBTIQ community calling for the expungement of homosexual convictions and that seemed to be falling on unhearing ears. Then a young person Wiremu Demchick put together a petition—and got over 2000 signatures—which was presented to Parliament asking for an apology for those who were convicted of homosexual crimes and for this legislation. Through that process the view of the Government changed to the point that we now have unanimous support in this House for the apology previously and now this legislation to expunge those convictions. And it is a wonderful thing to see that working effectively.I too just want to echo some of the sentiments that were in the submissions noting that while the primary purpose of this bill is to seek to reduce prejudice stigma and all other negative effects arising from the conviction for a historical homosexual offence—this legislation which is so significant to those men and their families because lives were ruined and ended early as a result of the prejudice that was created by our laws—the impact has also been wider and the significance of this legislation is wider. And I would also like to quote from the submission from Ted Greensmith-West which Grant Robertson previously referenced as well where he was saying that as a younger queer man for him the primary purpose of this bill was that it was an opportunity to recognise and address the wrongs of the past to remember and recognise the sacrifice of these brave gay and bisexual men and to pave the path forwards so that as a society and as a Parliament we never make the same mistakes again.For me there're a lot of things in that short statement. It's about recognising the harm and the wrongs and how profound they were but also recognising that journey of sacrifice for those men many of whom got those convictions from being brave enough to push against that prejudice and try to still express themselves in a way that created a crack that opened up to enable the later homosexual law reform which enabled people like me and others to stand in this House—stand in our identity proudly. That was an extraordinary sacrifice that so many of us have benefited from. It also speaks to the point that has previously been made: that we still have a long way to go to remove prejudice and discrimination in totality from our law books and from our society. Too many members of the LGBTQIA+ community particularly trans and intersex people still suffer very severe discrimination and their lives too all too often end early because of that discrimination. So this piece of legislation is significant. It places our history in front of us to enable us to make choices about how we will move forward and that is a challenge to us as well as a moment to celebrate how far we've come.I also want to pick up on some points made in a submission from the Otago University Students' Association queer support group in Dunedin where they talk about this legislation telling people that the illegality of homosexuality was a thing of the past and that some wrongs can be righted not reversed but righted." and that "Diversity is important and needs to be celebrated and not shunned". I think that calls us to action still. They also made a point later on in their submission that I think is worth repeating where they spoke about being young people talking to older gay men that had experienced this legislation and about living in the environment of this legislation. This person had spoken to an older man who talked about when he was stopped by police when he used the public toilets because he was indecently exposing himself to other men in the toilets—when he was only using the bathroom. I think that story for me speaks to how pervasive the impact of that law was. It was not just the harm that was done to the men who ended up convicted and living lives stigmatised by the conviction and spending time in prison for being who they were but the environment that was created for many—if not many many—who had to live in a way that was unnatural to them to be able to try to protect themselves from that prejudiced law. That man had spoken as well about how he married a woman at 23 as many of his friends did because that was what you did. That was what you had to do to hide and protect yourselves and obviously that would have had a profound impact on his life as well as the lives of the women that these men married and their families. So there is much for us to fix and it is great to have this legislation in the House to be able to enable the expungement of those deeply wrong convictions. I would like just to touch on some of the points in the work that was done in the Justice Committee to make sure that it better reflected the intent of this House to ensure that it would address the issue for people travelling internationally not just provide that expungement in New Zealand. Also there was the change from "criminal records" to "official records" so that it's similar to the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act and affects a wider set of records and thus is better protection and a more complete—I guess it enables a better implementation of the intent of the legislation. I also too want to finish on the point about the call for compensation and I hope to see wider discussion of that either in this House through the debate on this bill or within Government. I know that there were different views presented in select committee with some men and people saying that was not the point of this. The point was to make it clear that this law was wrong and to expunge those convictions; it wasn't about money. I would though point out that in one of the submissions the example was given of recent international precedent in Germany where compensation has been provided. Men were expected to receive about NZ$4760 in compensation for their convictions plus $2380 for every year they spent in prison. It's not huge. It's doable. We can do this."