Simmonds PennyPENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill): Thank you Mr Speaker. I'm pleased to rise to speak in support of this Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Bill in this its third and final reading. In doing so like my colleague I acknowledge the medical professionals that have spoken and given considerable technical expertise in their speeches. Throughout the passage of this bill it has been noted that the changes are largely administrative changes and updating for all of the technology advances. Again I'd like to acknowledge the health professionals involved in the National Cervical Screening Programme and in particular the nurses who have had to put up with the constraints of the lack of use of technology in the screening programme. As many of us have said it's almost unbelievable that the fax is still being used for something as important as conveying information to health professionals who provide services in the cervical screening programme. When we think of the potential issues around the use of faxes—the privacy the lack of productivity as people stand around waiting—it's just incredible that we've still been imposing this on our health professionals. I do want to acknowledge though the submissions that came in that were obviously concerned about privacy issues—as they should be. It is really important to note that the relevant provisions of the Privacy Act 1993 the Health Information Privacy Code the health professionals regulatory constraints and the employment and contract law are unaltered by the amendment and that should give comfort to those who particularly submitted on the issues of privacy. As my colleague Dr Reti has already spoken about this bill picks up on the work that was initiated by the previous National-led Government and it's pleasing that this Labour Government has continued the work of the previous National Government on this bill when in so many other areas it would have been sensible to do that—and I think of the very topical areas such as mental health and roading initiatives where they chose not to do this. And so we compliment Minister Verrall on being much more open to that bipartisan approach. We have been looking at the benefits that the bill will bring to the cervical screening programme. And of course we've talked about the benefits of privacy increased speed of the information and also the futureproofing around IT upgrades and supporting the register and improvements to the screening programme through the use of technology over the coming years. But we also need to talk about those very real improvements that will come in we hope the very near future with the HPV testing and that is where we are likely to see real improvements in breaking down the barriers to accessibility. I'm very appreciative of the very fulsome history that Minister Verrall gave us on the National Cervical Screening Programme going right back to the catalyst for the inquiry The Unfortunate Experiment" a phrase actually coined by Professor David Skegg from Otago University. So while it was incredibly important for us to recognise and acknowledge the history behind this bill one of the most exciting and important parts is looking forward with this bill. I know that in my own region the rates of screening are less than 65 percent for both Māori and non-Māori woman in the eligible 20- to 69-year age range and really we should be looking at 75 percent or better. So certainly there is the hope that the HPV testing and indeed particularly the self-testing will improve those rates and that accessibility is going to be particularly welcomed. So National certainly supports this Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Bill at its third reading and we commend the bill to the House. Thank you."