Macindoe TimHon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): Thank you Madam Chair. Kia orana. I wonder if you would indulge me just for 20 seconds Madam Chair as a Waikato member of Parliament to acknowledge that today the House stood to honour the memory of two Waikato members of Parliament the Hon Katherine O'Regan and Tony Steel who both died last week. I had the privilege of attending Katherine O'Regan's funeral in Te Awamutu this afternoon as did many former members of this House and some current ones. It was a beautiful service. Her memory was clearly upheld in a very appropriate way and I know that she commanded respect across this House. I thank members opposite for the kind comments that they have made. I want to say how proud she would have been today of her extended family and as I say it was a great privilege to be there. Madam Chair thank you for that.I have to say that as we return our consideration to Part 1 of this bill it's been fascinating to see so many members opposite including Ministers and an under-secretary all clamouring to take a call on this particular bill. I can only speculate as to why that might be but it is of course a very significant and important measure. It should be noted that it was a measure introduced by the Hon Gerry Brownlee when he was a senior Minister in the previous Government. Others have already noted that it was something that was derided by one of the parties in this House but it is good to see that there is a great deal of consensus around it.Could I commend the Minister who is currently in the chair the Hon Tracey Martin for her willingness to engage so fully in this debate and to take the call on a couple of occasions now. I know that she has been ably assisted by some officials as is often the case when people are in the position she is but it is an important aspect of committee debates in this House that members are able to ask questions and wherever possible the Minister does his or her level best to answer them. So could I say to Mrs Martin who inferred to me recently that I had gone off her Christmas card list that I hope that by genuinely praising her for what she has endeavoured to do over the last 20 minutes or so maybe I'll get back on to it because in the grand scheme of things I would much rather be onside with her then offside with her.But I also want to commend the member just to my right the member for Tāmaki Simon O'Connor who does an excellent job in chairing our Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee and who has steered this bill to this point—yes he's getting his credit card out and I have to say I'd prefer cash; I'm not so sure about the member's card. But he has done an excellent job as the chair of this committee in steering this bill through the stages it's gone through. The submissions were broadly supportive but also helpful and I think that he has guided us as have the officials who have assisted the committee to bring back a bill that is even more fit for purpose and as I've said is a very significant measure on an international security issue that all like-minded countries need to ensure we are responding to appropriately. The brokering of weapons is something that if mishandled or if inadequately controlled could have devastating consequences both in this country and abroad. So I am glad that members have understood its significance and have worked hard to ensure that we are playing our part as responsible global citizens.As I've mentioned several Ministers and members have already asked questions and I imagine that the Minister in the chair will continue to try to answer some of those. It would be interesting to hear from her why her colleague the former deputy leader for New Zealand First took such a disparaging view of this bill and as was mentioned earlier spoke of the peaceniks in the other parties loving their opportunity to dance around the maypole and sing Kumbaya" because that frankly is a totally inappropriate remark to make about such a significant issue and perhaps less facetiously he had said just nine months ago that this bill isn't necessary. Well quite clearly now members of this House have concluded that it is and as we move into later parts in this committee stage of the debate we'll look in more detail at some of its specific provisions. But here as we look at the purpose of the bill in Part 1 it would be interesting to know why that was the view of the New Zealand First Party before the election and what has caused them to change their heart now."