Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Madam Speaker tēnā koe. E ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. I'm pleased to take a call on the Protection for First Responders and Prison Officers Bill. Firstly can I congratulate the member who is sponsoring the bill Darroch Ball for his success in getting it drawn.Labour will be supporting this bill to select committee. As the bill talks about further protection of first responders and prison officers can I too add my word of condolences on behalf of the people of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti for the tragedy that has unfolded in Whakaari / White Island. I want to acknowledge the sad passing of those that have lost their lives and those families still waiting to hear from ones unidentified. I want to also acknowledge the response from the Government and local members like yourself Madam Speaker. I also want to acknowledge the recent flooding in the South Island—the West Coast—and the gallant work of our first responders in these tragedies that we've seen around the country.As we head in towards the festive season we hear numerous accounts of harm coming to our first responders like ambulance drivers like our police like our prison officers. So as we head into the festive season it's in acknowledgment of the work that first responders do that I stand in support of this bill.It does amend the Crimes Act. First of all it is to ensure that for those that may come to harm in the execution of their duty—be they prison officers be they ambulance drivers—we are giving them maximum protection under our law. So this bill attempts to amend the Crimes Act.It also attempts to insert a new section 85A in the Sentencing Act. So the amendments through this bill are to both the Crimes Act and the Sentencing Act and also some minor technical changes in the Summary Offences Act. So this is a bill clearly enabling better protection for our first responders. I believe that there is an issue here to be addressed and this is why Labour is supporting it to select committee so we can hear first-hand from the first responders that do a mighty job on behalf of all our communities in keeping ourselves safe.In looking at the transcripts of the introduction of the bill and previous speakers I see it's had a long gestation when it first got read in this House. I'm not too sure as to the reason why it has taken this long but in reading former members' contributions to this bill it appears that some of the speakers probably got off slightly on a different tangent rather than the bill itself. It does talk about the amendments to the respective bills and maybe members that are going to follow on from me can make a contribution as to why they feel that this is an important bill. This is around protecting our emergency service workers wherever they are. Like I said it attempts to amend three pieces of legislation. We on this side want to ensure that all our communities are safe and no less safe than those that respond to tragedy and emergencies like we have currently in this country.It's important that we make sure that our legislation is up to date is relevant and has taken in any past learnings to ensure that those at the forefront of emergencies or tragedies aren't abused—like I made mention of earlier as we go into the festive season when there may be elements of too much alcohol consumed that quite likely plays out for many of our first responders. So we want to make sure that the law gives them the protection and access to a deterrent not just for festive seasons—as we head into Christmas—but for all occasions that the safety of those first responders is protected and remedied if required under law.So the Protection of First Responders and Prison Officers Bill as introduced by New Zealand First's Darroch Ball I think is a bill that I am keen to have come to our very hard-working Justice Committee. I'm looking forward to this bill hopefully passing through the House and coming to our select committee so we can hear from those first responders directly to ensure that the legislation as it is now under the three Acts of the Summary Offences Act the Crimes Act and the Sentencing Act—Tim van de Molen: Time's up. Hon MEKA WHAITIRI: —does give the protection needed for our first responders. I commend this bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: It's Christmas I did allow it.