Mitchell MarkHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm very happy to stand and take a call on this the Lawyers and Conveyancers (Employed Lawyers Providing Free Legal Services) Amendment Bill. I didn't sit on the committee. I haven't sat on this bill. In fact I wasn't even in the House for the first reading of this bill but I had been listening to the debate in the House. I note that Kieran McAnulty got up and took us on a walk down memory lane and was very effusive about the bipartisan approach and the approach across the House of working on these member's bills. And actually I support that I agree with that. Louisa Wall is in the House and we were just talking on her bill earlier and that's the right thing to do. But in this case that spirit of cooperation wasn't embraced. And I'm sorry I know the speakers are standing up and they're trying to be authentic and genuine about the way they are approaching this bill but quite simply the author of the bill Chris Bishop came to the Justice Committee and he said I'm happy to look at amendments. I'm happy to look at changes to this bill." But unfortunately the Labour members on the committee would not embrace that. They wouldn't support it.The fact of the matter is when we're living in a country at the moment when you've got a massive pressure on people around costs of living and interest rates and things like that one of the biggest barriers to actually access our criminal justice system and legal advice is cost. Most people can't afford to go and get legal advice. You're not talking hundreds of dollars you're talking thousands and thousands of dollars and it's beyond the reach of most middle New Zealanders. It makes them stop and actually think and reappraise what their approach is and what they can do. There was a golden opportunity here for this House and for the select committee to actually support this bill to make the changes to it to make the amendments to allay the fears of the members opposite. And I acknowledge the last speaker Rachel Brooking who's a lawyer herself; I'm probably very sure—she's got a strong social conscience—that she's probably done some pro bono work and probably inadvertently she may have actually broken the law the way it stands. That's why this bill was brought to the House so that those areas could be dealt with. They're laughing but I'm sure—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Order! Order! The member will come back to the bill and please can we not make inferences about other people breaking the law or not breaking the law? Thank you. Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well I just I got nods Madam Speaker saying that yes she was engaged in pro bono work so—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): No. Order! Order! She is shaking her head. Please go back to the bill thank you.Hon MARK MITCHELL: So the reality is this and I want to take you back to one very good point here. And that was a submission made by the Community Law Centres—because they do an outstanding job and I've visited them myself all over the country and I want to acknowledge the incredible work that they do and the people that go and actually provide pro bono services through them—but the submission from the Community Law Centres o Aotearoa was instructive. It was the Community Law's recently established Te Ara Ture a pro bono clearing house connecting volunteer lawyers to people who need legal help. In their submission of 27 October 2021 they noted—in relation to Te Ara Ture—"The main part missing from Te Ara Ture's ambit is our ability to refer employed and in-house lawyers. Under the current regulatory framework Te Ara Ture can refer clients only to law firm principals or barristers acting on their own account. These people make up only 42 percent of the profession. Based on 2019 figures this means that 58 percent of lawyers for the profession—that's over 8000 lawyers—cannot participate in our programme." That was the whole purpose—that was one of the big drivers of him even putting this bill together and bringing it into the House: it is to make sure that those over 8000 lawyers were actually able to legally offer their services pro bono.So I'm sorry but for members opposite to stand and talk about and celebrate the bipartisan nature of dealing with and working on these member's bills—that wasn't used at all in this bill. To me it was probably a cheap shot against Chris Bishop—I don't know. But it was a good bill. We could have worked on it. Actually I'm on the Justice Committee now I know the members well it's a good committee. We could have worked across party and we could have actually made changes to this bill that would have had a material impact and effect on everyday Kiwis who often have the barrier of cost in terms of trying to access legal help and legal advice in our justice system.So I stand here proud to support the bill—I'm just very disappointed that it hasn't been supported from the other side. Thank you."