Macindoe Tim: Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill — Second Reading 
Macindoe Tim: Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6746] 
TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) 
: 
 With my arm in a sling I imagine I may look a little bit like a victim of domestic violence at this moment but I do not wish for one moment to make light of a very serious topic that touches on a disturbing feature of our society and perhaps even of our national identity. I sometimes worry that Alan Duff’s  
Once Were Warriors 
 is celebrated as a literary and cinematographic achievement in New Zealand without it being seen as the alarming reflection of the all-too-prevalent attitude that it was and is. Violence is not acceptable and too many New Zealanders live in fear of it. Yet a worrying aspect of our cultural identity often tolerates it and sometimes even encourages it in others. 
As others speakers have done I commend the officials and the Justice and Electoral Committee members who have worked hard on the bill. I also commend those who had the courage and the concern for others to make submissions on the bill. I did not have the privilege of hearing them but I always admire those who make the effort to submit to select committees especially when they do so on a topic so distasteful that for some I imagine it evoked awful memories and personal distress. 
As has been a feature of most of the new Government’s justice initiatives—and I am proud that there have been so many of them in our first 10 months in office—this bill again places the interests of victims at the forefront of our justice system with the ultimate aim of trying to reduce the number of victims in our society. I welcome the broad support for the bill that has been indicated by the speakers from various parties who have preceded me. 
It is sobering and dreadful to note that our police as we have heard from previous speakers are called to about 80000 domestic violence incidents each year. That figure in a country of just 4.5 million people defies belief and is truly horrific. It is a shocking and disgraceful statistic. I have no doubt that alcohol and drug abuse are closely linked to much of the problem so I am very pleased that this House will soon be turning its attention again to those matters too. I am holding public meetings on proposed liquor reforms in the Hamilton West electorate this month and I know that the police representatives who are speaking at those meetings will be tracing the link between alcohol abuse and domestic violence. 
For too many New Zealanders the most dangerous place they can be in is their own homes. In the last year for which statistics are available violence accounted for approximately 39 percent of homicides 42 percent of kidnappings and abductions 44 percent of grievous assaults and 64 percent of serious assaults. I pay a sincere tribute to those who work at the front line of this issue on a daily basis whether running women’s refuges or working for the Salvation Army the police the Child Youth and Family agency or one of the many other wonderful support groups and agencies in our society that are there to help in the most challenging and distressing of circumstances. I say “Kia kaha!” and offer my warm thanks to each and every one of them. 
I endorse the concerns and convictions of those who have spoken before me in this debate. As my colleagues Katrina Shanks and Hekia Parata noted earlier there are no easy solutions and a holistic approach is vital to make a real difference. But we can and must all play a part in saying no to domestic violence and in modelling the type of behaviour that impressionable young people need to see if they are not to go down the awful path of intimidation bashing and an absence of self-control that this issue throws so sharply into the national spotlight. Let us stand united in this House against this scourge. In passing this bill we will certainly be taking a significant step in that direction. 
Bill read a second time.