Mitchell Mark; O'Connor GregHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa): Thank you Madam Speaker. Look it is a real honour. I asked if I could take a call while reading this bill because there was a lot of pressure on calls last week and I deferred so that I could have the opportunity to speak this week. I want to acknowledge some of the contributions—Shanan Arena and Ginny—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! Full names—order! Full names.Hon MARK MITCHELL: Sorry. Arena Williams Shanan Halbert Ginny Andersen and of course the Minister Michael Wood who said it was appropriate for us to share some of our memories as well. I'll put my hand up and say that I remember the exact time and place that I heard of the passing of our Queen. It caught me immediately with a lump in my throat and tears welling in my eyes because she had been a constant in my life as she had been in all of our lives. I think that we talk a lot about the sacrifice that she made but do we actually stop and reflect on the size of that sacrifice when all of us in this House with our passion and our desire for public service and to serve our own country—and the privilege to have to do that also comes with the scrutiny and the feeling sometimes that we're living in a fishbowl where we get to look out; everyone gets to look in. But the level of scrutiny that we have to endure as part of our job is minuscule it's tiny it's insignificant in terms of the massive global stage that our Queen was on and the level of scrutiny and attention that was given to everything that she did from the time that she became our monarch as a young mum with children right through to her death when it was obvious that she was unwell and she was frail and she was still performing her duties as our monarch right up until those last two days when she met with the new incoming Prime Minister.And if we just think about the weight of the public service all of us in here may be here for five or 10 years maybe 15 or 20. She served for over 70 years. She did that for us for over 70 years. And she carried that incredible burden because although she would have seen it as a massive privilege and she clearly understood the responsibility that she had in terms of leadership I have no doubt at all that it was also a huge burden and she did that with grace and she did it with strength and intelligence. If ever there was a leader that the other leaders could look up to and aspire to be like it was Queen Elizabeth. I never met the Queen. I would have loved to have met her. It would have been a huge honour. I would have been completely star-struck if she had spoken to me. I would have probably very quickly forgotten the words or even heard the words. It would have just been a huge honour to have been in her presence. But I was given the huge honour in 2002 when she visited New Zealand with the Prince and during her visit—it was four or five days; it was in February—she stayed at Huka Lodge in Taupō and I was included in her protection team. It was my job to patrol on foot with my police dog Trent the outer perimeter of Huka Lodge. It was a huge honour for me and I was extremely proud to have been given the opportunity to protect and guard our Queen. But Prince Philip was very famous and well-known for the fact that he liked to look out and see whether or not he could spot any of the perimeter security and we were told and briefed when we started to make sure to do the best that you can to not be visible. I can understand that because they want to have a sense of privacy as well. But the prince was very good at spotting the security. So I went to great lengths to make sure that I wasn't spotted. But I forgot about the fact that I had retired my first dog Czar who was very dark and very black and sort of blended in with the night. My new dog was coloured more like a corgi. He was a sort of orange—a lovely orange—colour with sort of a black back. Anyway the prince spotted my dog and in the debrief after they'd left I was told that I wasn't in trouble for that because the Queen was quite delighted that there was a long-legged corgi guarding her while she was in Huka Lodge. But you can imagine from that time forward every time I arrived at a job it was Oh here's Mitchell with his corgi." That was my only real sort of contact or as close as I ever got to the Queen. But I did want to share another story that was very relevant to our family and that was during the Second World War. The Queen served during the Second World War. She became a mechanic and she also drove an ambulance. And when I lost my grandmother I still felt very connected to my grandmother through the Queen because my grandmother had also driven an ambulance during the Second World War in London during the bombings. And there was one time on 30 September 1940 where a German Messerschmitt 109 had come spiralling out of the air—he'd been involved in a dogfight above London during the bombing of London and he came down and there was a young Kiwi who was a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot a Hurricane pilot at the time that saw the Messerschmitt coming down realised that it was going to crash land tried to anticipate where that was going to happen and drove quietly to the scene. Well the 109 actually crash landed in Windsor Great Park which is effectively Windsor Castle's front lawn. So it crashed on the front lawn of the castle and the pilot in the Messerschmitt had actually pulled his canopy back. And when the plane landed it actually hit some of those big poles that they had to try and stop that happening and he was flung out and landed on the ground. The young flying officer rushed up to him disarmed him and put him under arrest and put him in the back of his car and took him to one of the RAF depots. But very quickly who should emerge from the castle? Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret came out to inspect the Messerschmitt that had crashed on their front lawn. Maureen Pugh: Probably doesn't happen every day.Hon MARK MITCHELL: No that doesn't happen every day does it? No you're dead right. So the Messerschmitt was actually taken. It was it was displayed in Windsor Park Village and it was used to actually raise funds to buy more Spitfires for the war effort.The reason why that story is so significant for my family is that the young flying officer that day that rushed over and arrested the German pilot was my grandfather. It was Thomas Francis Gill and he was 23 years old Kiwi born and bred but he was flying hurricanes in the RAF at the time. It was reported in the papers and there was a later book written about that as well. My grandmother like the Queen it was always a lot more fun driving in the car with her than it was with Pop because Gran having been an ambulance driver had retained all those skills and thought she was still an ambulance driver in London even when they returned back to New Zealand later. And I'm sure that if you ever had a ride in the Land Rover with the Queen you'd have the same sense of excitement—she also having been an ambulance driver in London. So I just wanted to share a couple of small anecdotes—because we all have them. I mean even Ginny Andersen referred to the fact as a young woman she was out on the street waving the flag. We've all had those moments in some way shape or form where the Queen has touched our lives and I think that it's important that we do take a day to honour her and remember her. I'm sure that all of us in this House will be at a memorial service somewhere in the country spending that day honouring the Queen. Like my colleague and friend Scott Simpson said we do understand that there's a financial cost to this and I'm sorry and I hope that that that can be recovered extremely quickly. But I think that it is important to remember a woman that gave up over 70 years of her life to lead all of us and make an extraordinary sacrifice that I don't think we'll ever see anyone ever make again. Thank you Mr Speaker.Angela Roberts: Mr Speaker?DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes. Now what's the member's name? It's—Hon Member: Angela Roberts.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Angela Roberts thank you. Excuse me."