Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): I'm pleased to rise and speak in support of the third reading of the Human Rights (Disability Assist Dogs Non-Discrimination) Amendment Bill. I'm sad to say that the speaker who's just resumed her seat Dr Emily Henderson has missed one of the fundamental parts of this piece of legislation which is that many disabilities are invisible to the eye. There will be people in this House who have disabilities but they are not a public disability a visible disability that you can see each and every day. It does not mean that their life is any less difficult and that they have any less barriers than others. Actually this bill is about the invisible barriers and that's why this bill moves away from just guide dogs where people who are visually impaired have guide dogs to a range of other disabilities. So it is really unfortunate that the member who spoke before me missed the fundamental part of why this bill is so important. I want to acknowledge the work that my colleague Penny Simmonds has done in shepherding this bill through the Parliament from the National Party's perspective in her efforts to make sure that we are—and it's a great bill. We're supporting it. As always though the committee of the whole House stage is the opportunity to seek further improvement and I commend my colleague for doing so. As a new MP sometimes that process can be challenging. But I want to pay tribute to Mojo Mathers who was the first sponsor of this bill and I commend Ricardo Menéndez March for shepherding it through its final stages. It is a significant achievement in this House to have a piece of legislation that is in your name go through all stages and one that is well supported by the House. So I want to congratulate the member for that.I want to just bring to life some of the challenges and why this bill was so necessary. I have a constituent whom I've had a number of dealings with who has a hearing impairment and so he has an assistance dog. He has had run-ins in the community on multiple occasions and it's been incredibly traumatic for him and his family because he's not visually impaired and it's not a guide dog that he requires; he has a hearing assist dog. I want to quote one of the articles that was put in our local paper because of people directly discriminating against him and refusing him entry to local businesses and local organisations and saying he could enter but his dog couldn't and they lacked any understanding of how important it was for him to have a hearing assist dog. So I want to shout out to Roger Drower and his dog Harper. I was with him and his family recently at the Anzac service in Tokoroa and these are his words about why it is important Everyone knows about guide dogs. They've been around forever. But hearing dogs work with people with an invisible disability. You don't necessarily see hearing aids so people can come across as a little bit rude but often it's just because they haven't heard you." Drower said that if people have questions all they need to do is ask. He is just one of many examples; he is trying to go about his life and enter a local cafe with his family. I think it's fair to say now that more in the community have got to know him and his advocacy in education about assist dogs other than guide dogs has been important. So I was really pleased when this member's bill came before our select committee because as we were working through it and listening to the submissions I could hear his voice and I could hear the complaints and the struggles that he had had getting through his everyday life.The range of disabilities that dogs can provide assistance with is so much more varied and I'm the parent of a child with type 1 diabetes which is of course classified as a disability but it's not one that you can physically see. There are dogs that can detect significant changes in blood glucose levels and I remember as a parent the number of sleepless nights worried about whether or not my child would go low in the middle of the night and I wouldn't know. The fact that we're able to have dogs that are able to detect significant changes like this is important. As we have an increase in the number of people who have mental health challenges dogs are often used as companions to provide companionship and support in a way that's very definitely not visible.The other example that I would like to bring to this House is an example of assistance dogs that I have been fortunate to see while they're being trained. It was actually in one of our correctional facilities one of our prisons in New Zealand and the prisoners as part of their work training were training dogs to provide assistance to people in the community. They were simple things like undoing locks unlatching cupboard doors being able to—not undo shoe laces—do very small tasks for a person who has a disability in their hands or low motor skills. So while we have had people in prison they've been providing an important service by training some of these disability assist dogs.I think it is really important to put on the record the very practical examples of why this bill will make an enormous difference in the lives of many New Zealanders who have perhaps what we would classify as invisible disabilities and the fact that the dogs' owners have rights that cannot be discriminated against as their rights are protected in law. And this is exactly what this bill does. It extends the name so it's not just about guide dogs. It's very much about moving with the times but in a very practical sensible way. As we know these disability assist dogs provide an invaluable service to many New Zealanders and it enhances their ability to live life fully. I am pleased that one of the things the speaker before me did mention was enabling good lives which is absolutely something that the previous National Government started to ensure that many New Zealanders living with disabilities are able to be more in charge of their lives and the assistance and the support they need comes for many in the form of a disability dog.I do want to thank the members of the Social Services and Communities Committee who were involved in this. Although it looked like a straightforward piece of legislation there's always a few areas where we're perhaps not fully in agreement on which is why it's appropriate to bring a Supplementary Order Paper in the committee stage of the bill which as I said my colleague Penny Simmonds did very ably. This protection against discrimination is important. It is a necessary protection to ensure that people with disabilities can go about their lives and to ensure that they are not restricted in their movement either in housing or in public transport. It's about accessing services in their communities and recreational activities so they are able to go about their normal lives. And if I think about Roger one of the things it means for him—and people like him—is the ability not to rely so significantly on his wife and children because Harper provides him with that ability to have greater independence.This is another piece of legislation that is supported across the Parliament. I have to say as we approach Mother's Day that I do hope we have the spirit of collegiality and support across the Parliament for my three-day post-natal stay bill which I now have support for from every party other than Labour. So come on Labour pay attention; we're all working well together in this House and if there was ever a time to support mums and babies it's now as we approach Mother's Day."