Mark RonHon RON MARK (Minister of Defence): Thank you Mr Speaker. Well I will not take too much of the House's time. I just want to rise and endorse the comments in particular of the Hon Michael Woodhouse when he highlighted the manner in which the committee went about its business in a very collegial manner. I've got to say that in my experience in the House this is not uncommon. I think we do need to sometimes just acknowledge that the select committees are the powerhouses of the work that gets done. And it's work such as this select committee has done chaired by the very able and capable Louisa Wall that has highlighted and brought to the attention of the Minister the eight amendments that clearly made improvements to the bill and that produced a piece of work that is going to enhance the wellbeing and the health of communities throughout New Zealand. We—particularly those of us who have been on local government—will never forget the very difficult times that were endured in Havelock North when Lawrence Yule was the mayor at that time. I think he might have been an MP but he had been the mayor up there that prior to that. Over 5000 people fell ill and it resulted in the deaths of three people. It was an incident of great significance and concern hence the inquiry and then from that the legislation that we are now progressing through the House.I think we're sometimes a little blasé. I know when I'm out walking or running I think nothing of dropping down into the Kaipatangata Stream on my climb up to the top of Mount Dick putting my water bottle in filling it up and quenching my thirst. And when I come back down from Mount Dick I fill up that water bottle again and carry on without so much as paying as any attention or mind to what might be in the stream further up from where I filled my bottle.SPEAKER: What about the people who take the water further downstream and you've put your hands in it?Hon RON MARK: Ha ha! I think we do take for granted that we live pretty much in a safe country and despite all of what we read in the papers about our dirty waterways—something that we aim to address—there are still places where we go and we can take our water. But it sometimes gives us a false sense of security. That we are in this legislation removing requirements for the Ministry of Health to consult for three years and Gazette changes for two years before making any changes to drinking-water standards I guess in itself says that the legislation was long overdue for a bit of a look-see and some amendments. Clarifying that water safety plans must include timetables to implement measures that mitigate risks to drinking water—it all seems rather common sense all seems quite logical. It's tragic that it has taken the deaths of three New Zealanders and over 5000 people becoming ill to get us to focus our minds and our attention.I've got to say at home we have our own private water supply—rainwater off the roof. I said in the first reading that my partner Christine got ill in the first month of us living there. We went under the house and found that there was only one filter and it was a filter that you'd normally find on a swimming pool and it was certainly inadequate. Christine was sick for quite some time as a result. We installed a $2500 filtration plant with a 20 micron filter backed up with a 1 micron filter backed up with ultraviolet and I've got to tell you that rainwater filled it in such a way that's absolutely pristine and beautifully soft. And Christine has not been sick once since then. That's what we do and we spend about $475 a year changing out filters and UV lamps but that's what we do for ourselves to ensure that our water quality on our lifestyle block is safe for our grandchildren when they visit safe for our whānau safe for our guests—anybody who comes to our home and who drinks. I've got to say actually that same water ends up being the water that we water our roses in our gardens with. So even the gardens and the roses benefit from purified water.I do know when I was the Mayor of Carterton that we often had discussions and debates about the quality of water and we had to acknowledge that over half of the people in our district had their own private water supplies and sometimes we worried. This legislation pertains to the public water supply and I know the Minister has other work in progress and we'll look forward to progressing that through the House. But I'll just conclude by congratulating the committee on excellent work on very constructive amendments that have added to the quality of the legislation and congratulate them particularly in the very collegial way in which they have worked through this legislation in committee. Thank you.