Xu-Nan LawrenceDr LAWRENCE XU-NAN (Green): Mr Speaker thank you. The Green Party unequivocally oppose this bill. Let's begin with the report from the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee. We have heard from other speakers saying that they have spoken to a wide variety of people without any particular substance but what we do know for sure is that nearly all of the submissions we received at the select committee opposed this bill. That is incredibly significant considering the reason why we have select committees the reason why we have this democratic process where the people of Aotearoa are able to participate in our decision making and also guide the legislature in our decision making.But just to highlight some of the reasons for their opposition: first of all from an international protocol perspective we as Aotearoa New Zealand have an obligation under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees—the Refugee Convention—and the 1967 Protocol. We also have an obligation under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which we have sought to uphold. This bill does nothing for our international obligations.Also when it comes to something like this—and again I think this is something that members and people and the public sometimes get wrong: there's a clear difference between what is a migrant what is a refugee what is an asylum seeker and who is also at the hands of human trafficking. These are separate things. They are not the same and have been equated as the same through sheer ignorance of some of the members. SPEAKER: Look that's not a reference you can make.Dr LAWRENCE XU-NAN: OK I—SPEAKER: So back it up and apologise to the House for that.Dr LAWRENCE XU-NAN: I apologise. I will take that back. I do apologise to the House for that. This is not something that I think should be equated. Another angle for this is around the treatment of vulnerable people. Those people who are here on asylum-seeking status are here because they are often at risk in their home country. We're looking at people who have already suffered trauma: children women disabled those from the rainbow communities. They are here in those circumstances and like it was said by the previous speaker Tākuta Ferris we have not been able to extend the manaakitanga to these people who are already fearing for their lives. In the full independent inquiry into asylum seekers a few years ago it was said that the asylum seekers are being held and have been held by successive Governments in Mt Eden prison a maximum security and criminal prison and the absolute isolation and trauma of having to escape a war or really serious prosecution—particularly for example gay men from Iran who would have been executed are being placed in an environment where they are again suffering additional trauma.Let's be clear: this bill is a technical solution for something that potentially may happen in Aotearoa but what it does highlight is the underlying issue that we have underfunded our immigration system. We have underfunded Immigration New Zealand and we have underfunded the court system to be able to uphold each individual person's human rights in Aotearoa regardless of their status. So in this particular case if we're able to just resource those sectors properly and they're able to do the work that they need to do we have a win-win situation where we can uphold these people and their mana at the same time as being able to fulfil the efficiency and the requirement within the existing legislation. We do not think that this legislation will go any further in helping those who are seeking a safe and permanent home in Aotearoa and with that again the Green Party unequivocally oppose this bill.