O'Connor DamienHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. It's indeed an honour to be in Parliament and from time to time one feels very proud to be a Kiwi and to be in Parliament. I'm proud in spite of the terrible tragedy that this country has faced in the way we as Kiwis have reacted to that. I want to acknowledge the Muslim community and the terrible loss to not just the 50 families who lost loved ones but those who are of course affected by injury.Can I say that I'm proud of the way that we rejected the attempt through that terrible tragedy to brand this country as a place where kindness is not at the forefront and where bigotry and prejudice and hate are considered to be part of our society. I'm proud that we rejected that and are moving forward in a way that says we want to be an inclusive society and we will be an inclusive society regardless of race ethnicity or religious belief.I'm also very proud to be part of a Parliament that has committed to change in the pace that we need to make it. That hasn't always been the case particularly around the world when it's come to similar situations. I'd like to acknowledge all members of Parliament who have committed to change law that we know is necessary to create a safer place in our country. As a representative for the rural communities and sectors in New Zealand I am particularly proud with the response from people across New Zealand—with very few exceptions I have to say—by way of email all of them supportive of the changes that this Parliament is considering through this piece of legislation. Rural people do use guns. Guns are used to kill. Most if not all rural people use them in the way that they were intended: for pest control for humane animal welfare issues and also for recreational hunting. Nothing that we are changing here will make a change to the way that those decent New Zealanders have utilised guns.But we must take from those few people who will choose from time to time to be completely unreasonable irrational and indeed descriptive in words that I won't use in this Parliament. They are not the Kiwis whom this Parliament should represent or should work to uphold rights for. We are here to represent the vast majority of New Zealanders who want to respect the rights of each and every one of us regardless of our race our creed our religious beliefs or our pastimes or recreation. But what we are moving to do—and I acknowledge the work of my colleague Stuart Nash. I acknowledge the work of the Prime Minister. I must acknowledge her incredible leadership international leadership that provides New Zealand with an opportunity to lead the world in better gun control.What we are asking is that military-style semi-automatic guns be taken out of circulation. We are leaving in place guns for pest control. We're leaving in place guns for recreational hunting and for appropriate animal welfare use. On the farms most of those uses will be covered by 10-shot .22 calibre guns or five-shot shotguns. I'd say to some people that if you can't hit something or achieve your goal with either of those two types of weapons then perhaps you should give up and give up your firearms licence.Can I just say look there are issues legitimate issues around pest control in some private land that farmers are asking questions about: whether they should be or are able to have access. Wallabies are a new pest to this country but they do need to be controlled and those people in the rural communities are asking—and they will ask of the select committee—how can they legitimately have access for rightful pest control purposes to the firearms that we are otherwise banning. I trust the select committee process as I trust this Parliament to work through this legislation and to deliver to New Zealand a safer more humane place—a place of kindness that doesn't ban the utilisation of guns but bans the utilisation of dangerous weapons that were designed to do nothing more than kill unnecessarily. This Parliament should be applauded for what we are doing—each and every member of it—in bringing this piece of legislation into the House and I ask that the select committee deal with it swiftly and bring it back so that we can pass it into law.