Auchinvole Chris: Summary Offences (Possession of Hand-held Lasers) Amendment Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeAuchinvole Chris: Summary Offences (Possession of Hand-held Lasers) Amendment Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 28 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18436. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National): As always it is a pleasure to follow on from Mr Prosser. He gave such an illuminating speech on this particular item like he did last time.Tim Macindoe: You little ray of sunshine you.CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: Oh thank you so much.Richard Prosser: Are you talking about me?CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: Indeed indeed. The Summary Offences (Possession of Hand-held Lasers) Amendment Bill is a very important bill. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak about it because it is so sensible in that it is a preventative impact bill.I well remember getting a phone call one morning some years ago when I was asked whether I could arrange for a member of staff to go around to my office in Motueka where a window had been broken and it presented a security risk. So I asked: “Oh blow. I wonder why they broke it?” and they said: “Oh we watched them.” I said: “You what?”. They said that they had watched them and that it was going to be eithermy office or the sports shop next door. The gentleman was apparently inebriated. They were pretty sure it was going to be a window that he went for and they watched him and he did it. So I said that if they were fairly sure he was going to do it it might have been prevented. They said: “Well sir we can’t go around arresting people just because of what we think can we?”.I think that preventative laws are a very good idea. Incidentally I asked whether there were any political implications in him smashing the window and they said: “No no he didn’t know it was your window. He just saw a reflection that he didn’t like and took to it.” As they said it was either my office or the sports shop next door.This bill will have a preventative impact and will make it an offence for a person to have in his or her possession a high-powered hand-held laser pointer in a public place without reasonable excuse. This bill also gives the police the power to confiscate lasers found in the possession of a person in a public place.We have had speakers say that you know it is a matter of common sense and surely we want to hang on to them so that people can use them to play with their cats and that sort of thing. Well we are talking about high-powered lasers but we are also talking about a very real situation. I was astonished to hear that one of our All Blacks had had lasers shone at his eyes when he was lining up to take a kick. Apparently it also happens in other sports where you get that sort of thing. People who live in Auckland will remember the period when people thought it was funny to drop things off the overhead bridges on the motorways and on to the cars because they could not be detected by the time the car was stopped and that sort of thing. So you cannot say that common sense will dominate a situation.National is committed to ensuring that the safety of New Zealanders using the transport system is not compromised. This bill ensures proper regulation of devices posing a threat to New Zealanders. It is a thoroughly sensible bill and it is a tribute to Dr Cam Calder that he has brought it forward. He was acquainted with the problem I think through professional pilots and he was determined to do something about it.We have heard people say that this should not really be a member’s bill. I think this is a classic case of a member being approached being advised being determined to do something about it and here we are on the second reading of the bill. It went through the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee—Simon O’Connor: Fine committee.CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: —a fine committee—admirably chaired by David Bennett. We have produced a few changes and recommendations. All in all this will be a successful bill. Thank you.