Pugh MaureenMAUREEN PUGH (National): I'll have another go at speaking to my amendment and hopefully I've got the process right this time. My amendment refers to Part 3—right towards the end in the Miscellaneous" section—clause 166. It's the "Application of health and safety legislation etc". And my amendment to clause 166 amends subclause (2) on page 113: "The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and the Human Rights Act 1993 apply …". I request that the Minister gives consideration to also including the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act of 2000 and the reason for that is to give credibility to and acknowledgment of the role that the disability sector plays in the workplace and the care that is needed when employing people with disabilities in the workplace.Over the last few years New Zealand has made huge and very important progress internationally in how we think about our disabled people and how our disabled people live in this country. And as I said before we are a country that has been at the forefront of some of the changes in relating to disabled people. For example we were instrumental in passing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. There are 1.1 million people in this country who experience some form of disability. And we're also one of the few countries in the world to recognise sign language as an official language of our country. And that's demonstrated to us even in this House.I draw our attention too to New Zealander Robert Martin. Now Robert Martin is a living example of what can happen when a disabled person is given the opportunity to fully participate in his community and in a workplace. And he's begun work now as a member of the United Nations advisory committee on the rights of disabled people. Robert Martin was a baby who was put into an institution because he was handicapped. He was hidden away from the public. He was out of sight and out of mind. Robert has an intellectual disability but as an adult he has become a very strong advocate for the disabled community here in New Zealand and now throughout the world. And of course he's got the distinction of being the very first person with an intellectual disability to become a member of the United Nations committee. He's representing New Zealand in Geneva and advocating for disabled people around the world and I know there's a very proud member of Parliament here who has Robert in her electorate in Whanganui.Disabled people simply want the opportunity to participate and have a life like anyone else with their families and be part of a community and be part of a workplace and they also want choices. They want choices in how they live their lives and how they participate in a workforce. I'd just like to quote some stats here from the labour force participation rate. Disabled people participating in the labour force—25.2 percent; whereas non-disabled—72.6 percent. And I just want to acknowledge the work of the former Minister the Hon Nicky Wagner who did a huge amount of work in advocating for people with disabilities. I know the work that happened in Christchurch in getting 300 people into work in connecting them with businesses in Christchurch was a huge step forward and in fact it was so successful down there in Christchurch that it was oversubscribed—it actually got more people into work.So my amendment simply draws attention and asks for recognition of people with disabilities so that they can be fully integrated into the workforce. We know there's a lot of support and advocacy that is done for people with disabilities but we also want to make sure that they're well-supported as job seekers here in New Zealand. I thank you Madam Chair."