Simmonds Penny; Dean JacquiPENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill): Thank you Madam Speaker. Well it is an absolute pleasure to be standing here today to speak in support of the Human Rights (Disability Assist Dogs Non-Discrimination) Amendment Bill in this first reading. I want to acknowledge the heartfelt introduction of it by Jan Logie and I also want to acknowledge Ricardo Menéndez March and of course Mojo Mathers who first introduced this in 2015. Certainly it must also be acknowledged that this was inspired by the late Murray Whittington and his assistance dog Frodo. So it's really important that we appropriately acknowledge all those people.This is a very easy bill to support because it has that purpose of ensuring that all persons who need assistance from dogs are protected from discrimination on the basis of their disability by that simple act of changing the words guide dog" to "disability assist dog" and then aligning the definition of "disability assist dog" with the Dog Control Act 1996. It's really a small amendment a small change in the legislation but it will make a big difference to those that are affected by it.I want to acknowledge as Angie Warren-Clark the speaker before me did those organisations who train an assist dog and it's really important for members of the public to know that these are dogs that are specifically trained by organisations that are listed in Schedule 5 of the Dog Control Act. So they are organisations that are reputable and do a wonderful job of training these dogs. There's around eight of them but within those organisations there's hundreds of people and hundreds of families that take dogs in as puppies to train them for these roles and you will often see them out training in the public. What an incredible selfless act that is—to take a puppy into your home into your family and spend a number of months or sometimes years training that dog knowing you're going to be handing it on to someone else. But what an incredible privilege to do that knowing what a difference you're going to make in someone's life.It's really important that we acknowledge that we've gone further than just the guide dogs—that dogs are used as hearing dogs mobility dogs epilepsy dogs assistance dogs medical alert dogs and those who are trained to do specific tasks. They are not pets and they are not just companion dogs or emotional support dogs as important as those dogs are and we see that in a number of different ways but they are beyond that. They are highly trained to specifically support people who are living with disabilities to live a better life a more accessible life. So it is a small amendment but with a much bigger aim. I note that Mojo Mathers launched this on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities with the aim to create a more inclusive and accessible New Zealand and I would have to say that we haven't got there. I agree with Jan Logie when she has said that we haven't got anywhere near there. The COVID situation has stripped bare a number of the covers of how we deal with people with disabilities. When we had a situation of almost 70 percent of the general population that had been vaccinated for COVID at that same time only 37 percent of people with disabilities had been vaccinated. Arguably those who had the most compromised health were left vulnerable. So we do not have an inclusive or an accessible New Zealand yet and COVID has stripped bare that situation. Those people who have not had their COVID vaccinations have been held back—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The member's time has expired.Penny Simmonds: Oh Madam Speaker I think I may have had 10 minutes. Point of order I think—[Assistant Speaker raises five fingers] Five."