Pillay Lynne: Domestic Violence Amendment Bill Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 2) Bail Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Pillay Lynne: Domestic Violence Amendment Bill Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 2) Bail Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Readings 
[Sitting date: 20 October 2009. Volume:658;Page:7361. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour) 
: 
 Along with Simon Power I say it is actually a pleasure to stand and speak in the third reading of this legislation. Putting aside the issue of process and what occurred when Labour was in Government which pre-empted this debate I think there has been a complete meeting of minds and hearts over a matter that is very dear to all of us: the protection of women and families in their own homes. We know that if we do not have safety a community that is aware and safeguards for people who are in an unsafe position then we end up with some very very dysfunctional situations. We end up with a society and with communities that even if they are not directly affected by the senseless horrible acts of violence are affected emotionally by them. People are drawn in emotionally by the empathy that they feel for victims. I think that has been a key driver in terms of this legislation. 
I acknowledge again with regard to situations of domestic violence that I dream of the time—and I am sure others join me in this—when there is no need for this sort of legislation and for actions such as the issuing of police safety orders and protection orders because we have a safe society where everyone is valued and where it is accepted without argument that violence is unacceptable. I do not think it will be in any of our times in this House. We are not there yet. What is really important about this legislation is that there needs to be in a time of violence in a time of anxiety fear and anger—all of those things—a way to defuse the situation when the police arrive at the scene and a way to remove the offender from the scene. All too often in the past we have seen that it is usually the case that the women and children need to find somewhere else to go. They need to move. They need to uproot themselves and take themselves away from their homes to a safe environment. 
I think this bill takes a far more sensible commonsense approach. This is about us saying that people have the right to be safe in their homes and if there is a person there who is stopping that from happening and subjecting them to violence then that situation has to be fixed and fixed the way that is the least disruptive and the least heart-rending to the victim. That is why the police safety orders are very sensible. 
The members of the Justice and Electoral Committee all know that we spent quite some time on looking at whether the police safety orders should be for 3 days 5 days or more than that and at whether public holidays should be counted or weekends—all of those things. I am really proud that the committee considered those things very carefully and I acknowledge all the really careful advice that we had from officials. I think we can all put our hands on our hearts and know that a period of up to 5 days—and I stress “up to”—is the most sensible approach. What does that do? It certainly does not allow time for victims to be healed and move on in any real sense of the expression but it does allow them to be able to gather their thoughts from the horror of it all and in many instances to organise themselves to take moves to get the support that they need. That support could be a myriad of different things. It could be working with agencies who care for victims and who offer them a lot of advice. Obviously in a violent situation a victim who is looking at the interests of children is in a really vulnerable situation. It is very hard to actually think about what one should do in a very sensible methodical way. That is simply very very difficult. 
The period of 5 days provides a little time for victims to gather their thoughts and then to go through the due process. That may be going for a protection order but I would hope it would always entail having support from the agencies who work very hard to support victims in that situation. I think that the work they do is imperative for that to occur. It is about saying to victims that they are in a safe place for 5 days and they have the ability to ensure that they are always in a safe place. It may mean going through processes that their heads are not completely geared up to going through but if they do so they can be assured of a safe situation not just for 5 days but into the future. Victims need to be told that by the way agencies are also there to help them and assist them in rehabilitating themselves in getting to feel well in terms of their self-esteem and in ensuring their children are safe etc. I look upon the period of 5 days as the buying of time and not just time but safe time. It is a time of safety a time of being free not only from violence but from threats and from fear. It is a time for victims to gather their family support and the support of agencies to make very important decisions about where they go to from there. 
I think it is very timely that this measure is happening at the moment. I am really proud that we have seen a lot of campaigns in our communities. I acknowledge our community in Waitakere Violence Free Waitakere the council the mayor and every organisation that is absolutely committed to saying to people to our communities to our families and to people that violence in the home is not OK. Violence is not OK anyway but if there is any place where people should think they have the complete unfettered right to be safe and secure where else is it if not in their own home? I am really pleased that we are at this point now. I know that it will not be very long before this legislation is passed and that is very very good. I have acknowledged the staff who have worked on it. I have acknowledged in earlier speeches the role that the Minister in the chair the Hon Simon Power played and I am not going to go into that again because I think he is feeling quite overwhelmed by the accolades that he is receiving. 
I think there have been times when our society and when people in our history have not taken the issue of violence properly. I remember that when I was a child violence was not discussed openly. Often people thought there was a problem family or that things were happening. I feel really proud that we are now at a point whether it is within legislation or within our communities where we have lifted expectations to the extent where sometimes if victims in that situation are not able to say “It is not OK.” then a lot of other people are able to say “This is not OK. You are not safe and you deserve better than this. You deserve to have safety and security.” This legislation goes some way towards ensuring that. I look forward as the Minister said to further legislation being enacted in this area. It would have been good to do it in one package but that did not happen. Looking towards the future if there is urgency again which seems to be a bit of a common procedure— 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: Normalcy it is now. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: Normalcy! But I would urge the Government to recognise that this is an issue that warrants it pushing legislation through on as fast as possible. 
I am really happy to commend this legislation to the House. Thank you.