Warren-Clark AngieANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour): Thank you. On this momentous day I am honoured to take a call on this very important member's bill the Domestic Violence—Victims' Protection Bill. I've spoken at both the second reading and the committee stage of the bill and I'm humbled again to rise and add my voice to this kaupapa. This bill provides a fundamental shift to the domestic violence landscape and it's long overdue. I'd like to thank the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice Jan Logie for her successful shepherding of this bill through the House and for her ongoing commitment to the families affected by violence.Today I'm truly blessed to participate in this debate and to celebrate the hard work of many years of lobbying conversations harrowing stories and determination to see a real significant change to the plight of victims of violence. So I thank you Jan Logie for the voiceless for the hurt for the courageous for the wild and wilful who stand up and say No more." to family violence but who needed a champion in this House to take action. Thank you for being our champion. I thank the good members across this House who have stood shoulder to shoulder with Jan Logie to support this bill. In particular I would like to acknowledge the Hon Andrew Little Minister of Justice for his solid support of this bill because violence is not just an issue for us women or the sisterhood. Domestic violence is a problem and it's all of our problem and men need to walk in partnership to support the change we need in this country. We cannot make change without good men standing up and saying violence is not OK.Gee I feel sorry for the Opposition today—all you good women who I know in your hearts want to support this bill. I can feel it. I can see it and it must be really hard to toe the line—the party line. It must be heart-breaking for those of you who stood in this House a year ago and supported this bill. I feel for you. We're still sisters in arms and I feel for you. I'd like to thank the members of the Justice Committee in both the 51st and 52nd Parliaments the 167 submitters the oral evidence of 35 submitters and the officials across many areas of the Government who addressed matters asked of them. Very quickly I acknowledge the gallery today filled with colleagues here to see the passing of this bill. Tēnā koutou.I now turn to the bill the Domestic Violence—Victims' Protection Bill which amends the Employment Relations Act the Holidays Act and the Human Rights Act. This bill fundamentally addresses the needs of victims of violence who are working in paid employment to have domestic violence leave of up to 10 days. This is the amendment to the Holidays Act and this entitlement becomes available after six months but it doesn't accumulate or carry over annually. So it is quite limited in its entitlement. This leave is similar to bereavement leave provisions in that it's an additional entitlement to be used if needed. However just like bereavement leave we hope we never have to use this leave because in order to get this entitlement a person needs to be a victim of domestic violence and who wants that? One in three women in this country is a victim of domestic violence—who wants the entitlement to this leave? Approximately 41 percent of domestic violence victims are in paid employment and the Snively/Public Service Association report noted that domestic violence costs us millions in lost productivity per year. The cost of replacement of staff is prohibitive. The loss of productivity to a small or medium sized business is actually more expensive than paying leave to help an employee seek help. I quote from that report: "Employment is a key pathway out of domestic violence. The body of research about domestic violence over the past 30 years finds conclusively that staying in employment is critical to reducing the effects of violence. Security of employment enables those affected by domestic violence to maintain domestic and economic stability in this way assisting them to find a pathway out of violence and to successfully re-build their lives. Employers have the potential of productivity gains from implementing workplace protections … There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that as well as the potential for breaking the cycle of domestic violence the introduction of workplace protections for people affected by domestic violence both saves employers costs (recruitment retention re-training health and safety) and increases productivity." So when I hear the Opposition say that this bill will adversely affect small and medium businesses I say "Read the research read the submissions." Having a staff member who is a victim of violence already affects the business's bottom line. This bill actually supports employers to keep good staff to help those staff live without violence and to come back to work able to focus on work and not the constant terror shame and the walking on eggshells that victims of violence feel. This bill enables business to help support their valuable employees and thus help the bottom line.This bill also addresses the option of flexible work arrangements which means that a victim is able to negotiate—or someone on their behalf can negotiate—flexibility in the workplace. This is important because sometimes it's dangerous to be in the workplace. It's important because as the member Jan Logie has said the perpetrator is likely to know the routine of that person and he is likely to use that opportunity to further abuse the victim. So it's incredibly useful to have some flexibility available for victims.We in the House and across all of Aotearoa know what massive numbers of victims and perpetrators of violence we have in this community. We know that New Zealand has the highest rate of violence in the OECD. We know that people mainly women and children die every year from that violence. Actually they don't die; they are murdered. We know 50 percent of the workload of New Zealand police is spent responding to family harm. I personally know what it is like to live with the effects of domestic violence. All of us here in this House of Representatives acknowledge the damage done to our population. We need to act and support change within our society. We need to support these women to get to a place of safety. We need to support the victims of domestic violence. I commend this bill to the House."