Laban Luamanuvao Winnie: Volunteers Employment Protection Amendment Bill Defence Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Readings 
Laban Luamanuvao Winnie: Volunteers Employment Protection Amendment Bill Defence Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Readings 
[Volume:616;Page:11964] 
LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN (Labour—Mana) 
: 
 Kia ora talofa lava and warm Pacific greetings. I am proud to stand as the deputy chair of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee to participate in the debate on the third readings of the Volunteers Employment Protection Amendment Bill and the Defence Amendment Bill (No 2). I want to express our appreciation and thanks to the officials the Minister of Defence the Ministry of Defence and the New Zealand Defence Force for their hard work and intelligent advice. I also acknowledge the input of Brigadier Tim Brewer who appeared before the select committee and advised us in a personal capacity. The committee enjoyed good robust and informed debate under the very able chairmanship of the Hon Peter Dunne. We received submissions from groups such as Business New Zealand the New Zealand Law Society and the Council of Trade Unions. We received and considered 13 submissions from individuals and groups and heard five submissions. The legislation enabled input from all the key stakeholders and arrived at a positive outcome for all. We support the legislation. 
Dr Wayne Mapp introduced the original bill on 17 August 2000 and we thank him. The Minister of Defence the Hon Mark Burton released Supplementary Order Paper 66 on 18 March 2003. That was referred to the select committee for consideration with the bill. 
The main purpose of the legislation is to protect the employment of volunteers in the Territorial Force and to support employers. The Volunteers Employment Protection Act of 1973 has become increasingly out of date. It does not provide protection of employment to operations that do not occur at a time of war or emergency. An example is the Territorial Force personnel who were deployed in significant numbers to Timor-Leste—formerly East Timor—and whose contribution was vital to the operation. They were not protected by the Act. 
I want to refer to two provisions of the legislation that address this issue which include the setting up of a council known as the Territorial Forces Employer Support Council. Before I speak specifically to those parts of the legislation I would like to contextualise and support the wonderful work of our volunteers—our Kiwis our taonga and our territorial forces who have made a tremendous contribution to and impact on peacekeeping. We will all recall the pictures we saw on television in New Zealand of the children from Timor-Leste who always greeted our Kiwi territorials with warmth and a smile by saying: “Kia ora Kiwi”. Our volunteers and territorial forces were instrumental in rebuilding trust and healing those families and communities. The East Timorese people did not trust people in uniforms because of their horrific past experience. Our wonderful Kiwis and New Zealanders were ordinary Kiwis who sang waiata participated in rebuilding projects and worked very hard at all levels in the lives of those children those families and those communities in East Timor. They came grounded from their own communities in New Zealand with a tremendous motivation to help serve and work with the Timor-Leste peoples and communities. 
Our people were received with much warmth and affection by the people of Timor-Leste. Those volunteers and territorial forces are our heroes. They are our Kiwis who through their wonderful work and commitment facilitated hope and contributed to the economic social and cultural lives of the people. They healed those communities—and if a community feels good it walks tall and continues to make a major contribution to nation-building. 
This legislation aims to protect the employment of our Territorial Force soldiers in the future while they are deployed in situations of national interest like in Timor-Leste. It provides for protection of employment when a situation of national interest is declared. It applies to every employee who is a member of the Territorial Force or reserve forces and to other persons. This legislation protects them. It also requires the appointment of a Territorial Forces Employer Support Council to promote service in the Territorial Force and to advise the Minister of Defence on matters related to those forces. 
Our select committee was very impressed by a similar very successful entity in Australia. Mr Mark McGowan the Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Reserves Support Council in Australia shared with us in an open and frank discussion the establishment and experience of the Australian council. 
He emphasised the important role the council plays not only in promoting service in the Territorial Force but also in establishing and facilitating an ongoing flexible partnership and lines of communication between the Defence Force the community and business. Mr McGowan informed us that in Australia that process of collaboration has been very successful. The legislation also provides for the Minister to appoint a council to be called the Territorial Forces Employer Support Council. That council would have the role to promote service in the Territorial Force and to advise the Minister on matters related to the Territorial Force and its functions. Regional committees will also be established and they will complement our Government’s regional economic development programme. They will provide the day-to-day interface between Territorial Force personnel and employers in the region. 
Our volunteers protect New Zealand’s interests overseas. We should protect their interests at home. I commend this legislation to the House and ask all parties to support its third reading.