Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to speak in this third reading of the Minors (Court Consent to Relationships) Legislation Bill. For those that may have just started watching this yes absolutely peace has broken out in Parliament. It doesn't happen too often. But for those of you who may have just started watching or listening this is a members' day and the members' day bill process is often I think derided at times in the public area but I think today is a wonderful example of the impact that a member's bill can have. I want to talk about a number of those impacts.The first is of course when a member of Parliament—list or electorate—raises an issue brings the voice of a group to Parliament and that is the job of each and every one of us in this House. There will be many many MPs who never ever have the opportunity to have a member's bill pulled from the ballot. But I want to start by paying a tribute to Dr Jackie Blue who was responsible for initially bringing that voice to Parliament in the drafting of this legislation. The unfortunate reality of the ballot when you have perhaps a one-in-eighty chance of getting a member's bill pulled is that her work sat in the ballot for many years. I'm really pleased that Jo Hayes was the member in charge of the bill when it did get its lucky day. We do talk about the luck of the draw but at the end of the day the legislation that we will pass here in its third reading today will have a massive impact on a very vulnerable group of young New Zealanders.So in terms of this member's bill I think there are a number of things that are quite unique about it and quite special. One has been mentioned before but I want to bring that back to the House's attention in terms of the support by the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians group. Too often what the public see of this House is not peace—it's everything but—and there are occasions like this where through the patience of a member who has passed the baton to another in this instance their patience and their perseverance mean that they are able to bring about real change.The difference in this one has been the unanimous support that has been very significantly led and championed by the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians. It's not a group that most members of the public are probably even aware of but there are a number of cross-parliamentary groups whose focus on issues that are agreed on as opposed to issues where we don't agree don't often make the light of day but this is one fantastic example and Jo Hayes I want to congratulate you on bringing this to the House. It does take a huge amount of work in shepherding a member's bill through the Parliament and I would say this is my 10th year in Parliament there have been very very few that have had the unanimous support of the House so that in itself deserves to be on the record.One of the other comments that a number of speakers before me have talked about is bringing what has been a very hidden issue to the surface. Members before me have talked about the fact that New Zealand has quite a despicable record in terms of family violence and I can't think of any greater level of coercion that would occur within a family than parents forcing a 16- or 17-year-old to marry to enter into what is seen to be a lifelong commitment with no freedom attached. As many members before me have reflected on their own families and I think of my daughter approaching the age of 15; it's quite hard to reflect on the fact that unfortunately—although fortunately small in number—in this country we do have parents that would force their children into marriage.One of the challenges in this legislation was looking at how many young people are affected by this legislation. It's very hard to put a number on it. The very fact that the New Zealand Parliament has a members' bill process and has the ability for what may be seen by some as a small group of New Zealanders—but they absolutely deserve the protection of our laws like every other New Zealander. So whether it's an issue that affects 10 or 100 or tens of thousands 16- or 17-year-olds a year they deserve the time of this House and I'm very pleased and very honoured to be able to say that we are delivering for them today because we are delivering protection that will change the course of their future and what better use of parliamentary time than to do that?The other thing that I want so speak about is the fact that we've seen a significant amount of work in the family violence space and we made progress under our time. I'm pleased that the current Government is also picking up the baton and running hard with it because New Zealanders need them to. There's one particular request that I do want to put on the record and that is the fact that the family and whānau violence legislation very much influenced by Jo Hayes' work put into that legislation that it would be an offence—so coercion to marry was listed as an offence—which is yet another piece of the protections that we think are necessary. This isn't a day for politics; this is a day for Parliament agreeing on an issue that absolutely protects a number of young—mostly women but men as well—16- and 17-year-olds.The other thing that I want to put on record is the importance of New Zealand being an early adopter of this sort of legislation. So yes I understand that there are similar laws in Australia but I reflect on the 11th Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting that I attended in Apia Samoa in 2016. This was an issue that was debated by the countries present and just as New Zealand led the way 125 years ago giving women the right to vote this Parliament does have a responsibility in leading the way in legislation that does advance women that does advance gender equality that does advance not just the interests but very fundamental rights of young New Zealanders.So this is a proud day for Jo Hayes for Jackie Blue but for this Parliament. I think it is a day that we very tangibly see the importance of the work we do the importance of our cross-parliamentary groups that do mean we are able to sometimes traverse areas that have been controversial. I don't think there was much controversy in this one but to be able to be here today and to pass legislation that means 16- and 17-year-olds will have protection from parents that may have attempted to force them into marriage by requiring the approval of the Family Court I think is indeed a proud day actually for each and every one of us but more importantly history-making for young New Zealanders who will bear the benefit of it. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.