Kerekere ElizabethDr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green): Kia ora. It's a pleasure to rise in support of this bill the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Amendment Bill during Mental Health Awareness Week. Take time to kōrero. Mā te kōrero ka ora. I rise on behalf of our spokesperson for mental health Chlöe Swarbrick who is one of many holding it down for the rest of us in Tāmaki-makau-rau. Ngā mihi mahana ki a rātou katoa.This bill came through the Health Committee; so I was privy to the submissions made. And like many of the submitters we look forward to the Government implementing the recommendations made from its own inquiry into mental health and addiction in the report He Ara Oranga—in particular the full repeal and replacement of the Mental Health Act that the Government has committed to. We understand there's a huge job already going on with the full reform of the health system; so in the meantime this discrete piece of the work makes progress on some key areas.Our outdated mental health system has a legacy of pathologising particular people. We've seen this in the hearings for the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill and Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill where we are still experiencing the homophobia biphobia transphobia and interphobia that is the legacy of rainbow identities being misdiagnosed as mental disorders. It is not our diverse genders sexualities and sex characteristics that leads to anxiety depression self-harm and suicide; it is the discrimination against us. Rainbow groups such as Te Ngākau Kahukura OutLine InsideOUT RainbowYOUTH Gender Minorities Aotearoa and PATHA have all identified the rise in mental health concerns just in the last few weeks because of those hearings as anti-trans lobbyists use this national platform and their considerable privilege to deny the humanity of our takatāpui trans non-binary and intersex whānau and to spread hate and misinformation against some of the most marginalised people in our communities. Until we amend the Human Rights Act though and sort out some hate speech laws there's little to stop them doing so.Māori of course have always been a target and in specific ways as our spirituality and ability to communicate with our ancestors one of many parts of our culture was misdiagnosed as a mental disorder. Because of the disproportionate impact of institutional racism against tangata whenua He Ara Oranga acknowledged the importance of using Māori health models such as Te Whare Tapa Whā amongst many and reconceptualising mental health provision: Taha hinengaro our psychological and mental wellbeing; taha tinana our bodily integrity; taha whānau our relationships and connections to the families of both our birth and our choosing; and taha wairua our spirituality our interconnectedness with all things in the universe. None of these is separate; they are all intertwined.So mental health and wellbeing is impacted on by many factors: whether someone has a warm dry home that is accessible and affordable with security of tenure; whether they have enough income to live in dignity with food security; whether they are free from violence and harm; whether they have access to the healthcare and support that they need when they need it. The mental health system cannot create mental wellbeing for our people by itself; it must work with other Government and community organisations must work with whānau hapū iwi Māori collectives and providers. It should not be up to the police to be part of the front line in dealing with the crisis of mental health. Someone who is suicidal should not have to spend the night in jail because there is nowhere else for them to go.So number one: this bill eliminates as my colleagues have said indefinite treatment orders by requiring the courts to review an order at the end of 12 months. Māori are currently four times more likely to be placed under this Act than non-Māori and three times more likely to be under these indefinite orders. So this one thing alone will have a huge huge impact on us.Number two: minimising the risk of harm when special patients are being transported. This is really really important for making sure that the least restrictive option is used to prevent harm and protect people who are involved in this process and we support this with the expectation that staff are properly trained in de-escalation and control and restraint techniques to do this properly and also to identify if transport can't be done safely that there are alternatives.So of course number three: if COVID did anything it showed us how much of our lives can actually be done online. This enables consultations and assessments to be done online but also for whānau to join because they can't always be there in person for lots of different reasons. So that makes part of that participation more accessible. So we really support the COVID sunset clause being removed. We do agree with our colleagues who have earlier said that this needs to be monitored. Kanohi ki te kanohi face to face is always the preference—always—and so it's really important for transparency that it is recorded why in any circumstance that face to face is not used and why audiovisual link is used for the best interests of those patients.Finally number four: improves the administrative efficiency of the Act because if we must have laws it seems a very low bar that we would want them to be efficient.So in conclusion we look forward to the overhaul of the entire mental health and addictions Act and in the meantime this is progress and we commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.