Hudson Brett; Rurawhe AdrianBRETT HUDSON (National): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I rise in support of this the Arms (Prohibited Firearms Magazines and Parts) Amendment Bill. I particularly want to begin by commending the members of the Finance and Expenditure Committee who have worked so diligently under quite challenging circumstances not simply because of the circumstances that preceded and brought about this amendment but the challenges of seeking to scrutinise such important legislation in such a compressed time frame. No matter how much the effort of officials and members there is a simple reality that trying to do what amounts to the same amount of work under such a shortened time frame carries with it quite a number of risks particularly that fewer voices can be heard less consideration can be given to fewer items of consideration and a real risk although not a guaranteed outcome that what the committee reports back may be suboptimal both in its extent and in its effect. Time will tell as it always does in these shortened proceedings as to how well the committee has done in shaping that bill and getting it back with the right form and content. But I would acknowledge that while it should be not only an exception but an extremely rare exception that a select committee will scrutinise a bill in a week or less these were indeed extremely exceptional circumstances that brought this bill about. Those horrific and tragic events on 15 March which some have said have changed our nation haven't necessarily changed our nation in all in a bad way. One of the consequences of it has been what I perceive to be unprecedented coming together across communities across the length and breadth of this country as Kiwis are looking to help each other and importantly looking to understand each other better. The challenge is that if we can maintain that into the future we come out of this a much stronger and better society. But it also brought Parliament together and brought Parliament together in the knowledge that certain privileges particularly around firearms ownership were no longer tenable; that the public were very clear in their view and wish for change—and a reminder that we make and amend laws under their consent and it was appropriate that we came together and took very expedited action in this area. So I certainly do not quibble that the select committee had to operate under those trying circumstances but I do reiterate that there is a real risk that what we are debating now is not as good as it could have been had the committee had a longer period of time to deal with it. But it certainly did do all that it could do in the time it had. I had the good fortune of spending a couple of hours on the committee last Friday but I certainly wouldn't emphasise my role at all. The members who sat on that committee for most of the last week deserve the kudos and the congratulations and acknowledgment for the effort they put in on the balance the output that we have now before us. They made every attempt to understand and make sure that the bill would give effect to the desire to limit the access—to fundamentally ban but then through some limited exemptions limit the access—to military-style semi-automatics assault-type semi-automatics and those firearms magazines and parts associated with them that have no place in New Zealand after the events of 15 March. While we have some concerns we certainly do agree and we'll continue to support the bill in this its second reading. But there are concerns and the chief one I would mention is that we are removing a privilege to own certain firearms—they will be prohibited; it will be unlawful to own them after the amnesty period—but the people that currently own them for lawful purposes are having to give up that privilege not knowing what compensation they may or may not receive for them. Whether it will be a fair value or a set value what perhaps will come of the parts what if the part can only be used with a prohibited firearm what if it can be used with another but the owner may feel it's of much less value to them if they if they can no longer use it with that now prohibited item—these are issues that they deserve to know and it's really regrettable that the committee was unable to get that information. But still I commend this bill to the House. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): This is a split call—five minutes.