Tamihere John: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
Tamihere John: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
[Volume:620;Page:15698] 
Hon JOHN TAMIHERE (Minister of Youth Affairs) 
: 
 It is pleasing to note that all parties in this House will support the first reading of this bill and commend it being referred to the select committee. The purpose of the bill is to ensure that the Misuse of Drugs Act does exactly what its objective is—that is to prevent the misuse of drugs. Whilst we can have a debate around the detail of that it is pleasing that all parties will support this bill. 
I regret the stance taken by a number of members in some of their observations. Whenever Muriel Newman stands up in this House I feel like running for the Prozac bottle—although I have never taken it. She is the most depressing person to listen to in this House. In Maori terms there is a thing called aahua and when people have aahua they bubble there is an effervescence about them and there is a spirit in them. But every time Muriel Newman walks down to this House one really wonders why she gets out of bed in the morning. She can always see the most ugly evil venal and vile things in the world. That is all that particular party can talk about. No wonder it is tracking at around 2 percent! 
Also I disagree absolutely with the comments made by the Green member Nandor Tanczos. The reality is that it does not matter whether it is P today; it will be something in another 2 3 4 or 5 years whether it is called L Z or Y. Our police force as one part of combating drug abuse in our country needs to be empowered to do the job properly. This Government has acted accordingly not just in regard to this legislation but on a whole matrix of issues with regard to the misuse of drugs. It voted $19.6 million for a hunt-and-kill unit in the New Zealand Police. As that unit starts to bite in it must start to attack gang networks gang distribution lines and gang production lines. Long may the Black Power and the Mongrel Mob be members of the new Maori Party! 
We must toughen up our ability to hunt down the people who visit the type of mayhem hurt and carnage on our streets that our health and social services always end up having to pick up. We can no longer continue to tolerate the flower of New Zealand youth being burnt and blasphemed in this particular way and this legislation goes a long way to ensure that the police have the authority and power to move very quickly against those who are storing the precursors and using them in a production capacity. It also allows them to hunt and trace very quickly those who run the distribution networks and so on. So I commend it. 
I would like to acknowledge and thank the Hon Jim Anderton for championing issues relevant to alcohol and drug abuse and alcohol and drug suicide amongst our youth population. In conclusion I would like to invite “Tony Vile” not to conduct himself in his normal naughty venal little way and not to just be a wonderful consort and support to Madam Newman. I commend the bill to the select committee. I know that it will give this legislation careful and considered thought and report back a bill that we should all be proud of supporting.