Ngarewa-Packer DebbieDEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Kia ora. I stand to speak to the Victims of Sexual Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill and the Victims of Family Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill and I emphasise the necessity of the trigger warning before I start the kōrero. There is no duty no responsibility more important to me as a mama a whaea and a nan than to protect our tamariki and our whānau. Te Paati Māori must do and we will all do what we can to protect our tamariki from predators and those who protect predators. There is no good reason why a child under 12 years old should be questioned in a courtroom about whether they wanted or asked for or even enjoyed a sexual activity. There is no way a child under 12 can consent to a sexual activity and anyone who suggests that is not worth listening to.The changes to name suppression law in this will also support whānau particularly young people to protect them from the stories becoming public without their consent. This is a common-sense approach and name suppression should protect victims more than it does perpetrators. We should never protect predators more than victims no matter what their backgrounds and affiliations. So we acknowledge these bills; we acknowledge our Government—that these bills will strengthen safeguards to enhance protection for victims of sexual violence and family violence and seek to ensure that the court process is aligned with the victims' needs while preserving the fairness and indeed the integrity of the court system.So again to be clear we acknowledge the amendments reduce the risk of child victims of sexual violence being questioned about consent to sexual activity. This means that the tamariki are no longer going to be subjected to questions in the court which are deplorable. Victims can be disempowered by the lack of streamlined processes and we've seen that they don't come readily forward because of the way that the system has previously been designed.What we want to also acknowledge is that complainants need to know that their privacy or indeed their intent to speak out about the experience is completely at their determination. So we acknowledge that the amendments will help to ensure that the court system responds appropriately and efficiently.We know Māori are disproportionately affected by sexual violence—particularly wāhine Māori who are more likely to become assault victims than anyone else in Aotearoa. So these changes will likely enable more Māori to come forward and get justice.We know that to protect our w'akapapa—our mokopuna Māori are twice as likely to experience abuse as non-Māori tamariki. This bill will help protect our mokopuna who are abused by reducing the risk that they will have to be questioned in court. We know too that we must do more to detraumatise and to stop violence as a society.The changes in this bill are important to help reduce the trauma that contributes to Aotearoa's low prosecution and conviction rates for sexual violence. It helps give effect to the Sexual Violence Legislation Act 2021 and to Te Aorerekura the national strategy and action plan which has done so much mahi. We must continue to make a strong stand in support of stamping out sexual abuse and family violence in Aotearoa and supporting these bills aligns with that kaupapa. We stand in support. Kia ora rā.