Street Maryan: Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Street Maryan: Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 27 June 2012. Volume:681;Page:3468. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 It gives me great pleasure to speak to the Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill. What does not give me great pleasure is the lack of intellectual honesty that we have seen coming from the fatuous speeches from the other side. They make light of something that has the potential if not proven already to cause deformity and to be carcinogenic—to cause cancers. For this Parliament not to take this seriously should make all of those members opposite hold their heads down at the moment—and they are except for two and so they should. 
I have never heard such offensive trivia coming from the members opposite and they turn that into an art form usually. But right now we have been debating a bill that asks for a very precautionary approach to be taken to an issue about which there are serious international concerns. I ask members opposite whether they have never ever in their lives learnt something that made them do things differently. Have they never once had the occasion to be informed about something which then conferred upon them a sense of responsibility to do something? What these disappointing contributions from the National members are causing me to get angry about is the fact that knowledge brings responsibility. There is evidence. There is sufficient evidence— 
Hon Members 
: Where? 
Hon MARYAN STREET 
: Let us see. The United Nations Environment Programme has found that depleted uranium munitions have the potential to contaminate soils and groundwater. Uranium is a known carcinogen. It induces birth defects. Dust particles from depleted uranium weapons contain high proportions of uranium. 
I do not know what all the science is about when it comes to depleted uranium. The New Zealand First speaker who spoke before me Richard Prosser clearly knows more about this area than I do but I am willing to learn which is more than can be said about any of the National contributors to this debate. Not only have I never heard a single serious word come out of the mouth of the Hon Simon Bridges but I have not heard— 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: I haven’t spoken on the bill yet. 
Hon MARYAN STREET 
: Exactly my point—exactly my point Mr Bridges. Thank you for confirming what I just said. So can I just say that in the course of learning about agent orange some decades ago we came to do things differently. We did not know about the effects of agent orange in the 1960s but we do know the effects of agent orange now and we have done work to compensate people for their suffering as a result of that. 
 The fact that we do not have all the information about the effects of depleted uranium does not absolve anybody in this House from the responsibility of looking into it if it has the potential to harm human beings. Why is that lot over there denying the opportunity for a moderate bill to go for examination to the select committee? Take some responsibility. This is not party politics here. This is about whether or not when one knows something one can finally do something about it. When one knows something does one take responsibility for it? 
My frustration here is that the lemmings on the other side will simply play politics with any good idea that comes from anybody who is not of their party. Any good idea that comes from somebody who is not of their party they will shoot down in principle—and the only principle is that it does not come from their party. This is a shocking performance. If something has the potential to harm human beings why does any member on that side of the House refuse to do anything about it? That lack of responsibility that kind of attitude is the sort of attitude that we would not wish to pass on to our children. I want my daughter to be responsible when she learns about things. The example from members opposite will never make that happen for their children. What we have seen tonight is a complete travesty.