O'Connor Simon: Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Connor Simon: Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 23 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19377. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tāmaki):I am really pleased to take a call on the third reading of the Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill and to shine a little light on Dr Cam Calder. In fact I have been shocked during the course of this bill. I have learnt two things: first and foremost tonight I have learnt you can deliver a valedictory speech and then return to the House and give a speech. I have almost been as shocked as I was in the Committee stage when I found out that Mike Sabin was a police officer.Mike Sabin: Really?SIMON O’CONNOR: Yeah I am still recovering from that.Hon Member: What’s his family background?SIMON O’CONNOR: Yeah exactly. Quelle horreur! I do remember actually in speaking in defence of what the last speaker was accusing this side of that we actually saw it as relatively important to draw out the important consequences of this bill. I remember that Committee stage well. In fact my father was here at that time. I suspect he is listening in again. He certainly sent his best regards to you Cam as you delivered your valedictory.This is an important bill. I think the member opposite Darien Fenton addressed it well when she referred quickly but quite appropriately to what has happened with flight MH17—not so much the particular nature of how that airliner was downed but the fact that the bringing down of an aircraft by whatever means is a major incident.Dr Calder right at the start indicated just the sheer number of times that this problem with lasers is reported by New Zealand pilots but importantly noted that a lot of the reports go to other airlines as is appropriate. This is a problem. It has taken Dr Cam Calder to see that issue to engage with the community and those experts in the field and to take the time and effort to draft this bill bring it to the House guide it through the House and bring it now here to the third reading where—well looking at the clock at the moment—it will I assume pass unanimously tonight. I think it is an excellent legacy for Cam. Again an earlier member alluded that not many members of this House have the opportunity to even have a member’s bill to get one drawn out and then if it is drawn out to have it concluded in the House. So Cam I think that is yet another achievement that you have brought here.I say “yet another” because this bill a good bill sits alongside an enormous amount of other work that Cam has done. I want to quickly highlight two of those elements. The first of course is as a hard-working MP in the heart of Manurewa. As someone who briefly worked alongside you Cam I saw day after day that hard work. It has now translated into something like this bill here around the summary offences. I think you will be missed Cam from this caucus from this House and by the people of Manurewa. I will miss you mate—that has to be said. The other side though is this Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill. It is not the only contribution you have made. Obviously as the chair of the Education and Science Committee you are bringing to a closure the cross-party inquiry into parental engagement in schools. I think that is fantastic as well. But this bill is important and I am really pleased that everyone basically is supporting it.The misuse of lasers is a problem. I was talking to police officers a few months’ back when I had the privilege of going out with them on patrol. They were indicating that even those on an eagle helicopter were getting blinded. We had in a public meeting in Tāmaki a few weeks after that some people from the Airline Pilots’ Association noting the trouble that it was causing them. We in the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee have taken quite a bit of time to go through this bill and I think that was reflected in the Committee stage.I just want to touch on as we hit this third reading some of the elements that the Committee of the whole House considered. The first is around the name of the bill. I think actually it was the Hon Kate Wilkinson earlier who in her valedictory indicated that words are important and good wording leads to good ideas. We have changed the name of this bill retitling it by using the words “high-power laser pointers”. Initially the bill title mentioned hand-held lasers and we thought that it was actually just a bit too specific. Lasers do not necessarily have to be hand held.This was a bill whose title we thought we could broaden out. The changed title which talks about high-power lasers accurately reflects the types of lasers that it can control. We had a lot of debate in the Committee stage around what those types of lasers were and a few constituents actually were emailing me at the time—obviously there is everything from military use to those interested in astronomy.One of the things I know Cam rightly pushed for and pushed back against was around the whole question of the commencement date. Once this bill gets the Royal assent should it come into immediate effect? Others said we should push it out for weeks or months. I think Dr Calder we came to a good agreement that we would allow this legislation to come into effect 28 days after it receives the Royal assent. I would suggest that there is an element of sort of natural justice in the way you have to give people an opportunity to understand the law and integrate it.The seizure of lasers was something that was particularly brought to my attention in a public meeting by a representative of the New Zealand Airline Pilots’ Association who it had turned out was actually a constituent of mine so it was doubly good and who was wondering about the seizure of these lasers. She was querying why there were not particular elements or provisions in the bill about this. We considered this and the reason it is not specifically there is that we are able to draw on the search and seizure legislation which this Government has proudly already pushed through so we were able to use that. I think that is an illustration not only of this Government but of the House understanding the import of existing legislation and how we use that moving forward.The last area as you would expect was around the whole definition of what a hand-held laser or a high-power laser device is. We took a long time considering this. We wanted clarity not only for the public but obviously for the police and the courts. They are ultimately the ones that need to manage this. We basically went down the line. I have to read it here specifically. It is the Customs Import Prohibition (High-power Laser Pointers) Order 2013. So this is an existing law on the statute books a regulatory power given—and I have forgotten the exact name of the official but they define what a laser is.One of the big elements of that is that a pointer needs to have an output of greater than 1 milliwatt but I think Dr Calder in his speeches throughout all stages has noted that even the smaller powered lasers can have an impact but we have felt that it is the right way to go by defining this as a power output greater than 1 milliwatt. And what is important here—and those who have heard me talk on various elements of legislation would note this—is consistency. So this Act in the name of Dr Cam Calder will use the same structure as that customs import prohibition. [Bell rung] Although that was a bell that rang this is ultimately a bill about lights and I want to end as I began which is—Scott Simpson: Bells and whistles!SIMON O’CONNOR: No no bells and whistles unfortunately. That might be a member’s bill for the honourable member for Coromandel. I think actually banning whistles in the likes of Mission Bay late at night would go down very well with my constituents. But I turn back to Cam Calder who has sponsored this bill created this bill and drawn it through the House. Cam I think it is absolutely fantastic that even post-valedictory you get the opportunity to speak in this House and may I join with other colleagues who have spoken in thanking you for your service to Crown and country and for being just a bloody good mate.