Hayes JoanneJOANNE HAYES (National): I just want to say that that member Stuart Nash needs to understand that the particular case he was talking about in his kōrero is actually still before the courts.Tracey Martin: No it's not.JOANNE HAYES: Yes it is.Stuart Nash: No he's been tried—JOANNE HAYES: Yes it is and I am not doing a yes-no-yes-no" across the House today. I just want to say that I am very proud—I am very proud—to belong to a Government that as Minister Adams said actually tackles all the hard stuff the hard stuff around family violence and sexual violence. The overhaul of the legislation is because we have recognised that it has been really really difficult for some of those victims. We have recognised that and that is why we are overhauling it. That is why we are going at it and we are looking at all the various ways that we need to overhaul that particular piece of legislation. Last year I met with a group of family violence support providers in Christchurch—Aviva; He Waka Tapu based out in Christchurch East; Te Runanga o Nga Maata Waka; Shine; the Mental Health Education and Resource Centre; and the Christchurch police—to discuss exactly the things around the issues that we are facing with family violence. They came up with some amazing insights for me to bring back and add to the rest of the information that was being collected around the points to get to here today and the announcement that was made yesterday. Those were around protection orders and police orders and most of all around the areas of women and children not being used as punching bags by partners who have no respect for them at all. That was what it was all about—it was about protecting those women and children from those terrible outcomes. Point three of the announcement yesterday talked about the strangulation of women. Women are the most prevalent group that suffers from strangulation by their partners. Just yesterday the research has shown that women who suffer strangulation by their partners are seven times more likely to die at their hands and that has got to stop. Part and parcel of that particular point was also as Minister Upston talked about around the coercion of marriage. As part and parcel of my Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill we discussed that. We discussed the age of marriage and the consent for young people to be married at 18 in that particular bill. [Interruption] Yes it is a cross-party bill and I know that it is a bill that when it does come to this House will actually have a very smooth ride through the House. In this particular bill the coercion of marriage being made against the law and being placed into legislation will actually enhance my marriage bill. It will actually bring along something that I heard about when I was overseas and talking with members of Parliament from Australia around the way that they deal with child marriage in their country. This piece of legislation is actually coming up to where the Australians and other countries have got to with legislation around child marriage. When I start to look at some of the information that has come out over the announcement yesterday I see Dr Jackie Blue who is the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner. She made a comment to do with the overhaul of this piece of legislation. She said "I'm particularly pleased to see that coercion to marry will now be an offence under legislation" which is what we have been pushing for and this is what this bill is doing. So many things are going to be improved for women and children. I do not see that there is anything in any of our lives that should allow one person to beat the hell out of somebody else just because they think that they can and get away with it. It has got to stop. It has got to stop. Every single one of us—this is not just about Parliament and MPs doing things and placing these orders into legislation; this is a community issue and it is a community problem. It is all of our responsibility to reduce and to eliminate family violence and sexual violence. It is our responsibility to look after our babies our children our women and those few men who also suffer family violence and sexual violence. When I stand here and I say that I am proud of this Government I am proud of this Government. I am proud because it has taken the big step and said: "We are going to take care of this and make sure that the legislation that we have put in to do with eliminating family violence and sexual violence—we are going to make legislation that will actually address the situation and empower the police to be able to uphold that law around that." Thank you."