SpeechSARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill): I too join in the line-up of people here today who are very pleased to be speaking in support of this bill the Domestic Violence—Victims' Protection Bill in its first reading—to see it through to the select committee stage and to have some honest conversation about how we move forward in protecting the majority of women who are subject to domestic violence and those men in the workplace. I am pleased that Ms Jan Logie has referred this bill to the Justice and Electoral Committee. I think that our committee is up for the challenge to have these discussions and as I said before I am very pleased to be part of this movement right now which has unanimous support in the House.I do want to pay tribute to Jan Logie. Contrary to popular belief MPs do speak to each other outside this House and I can also report that I had a conversation with Jan Logie just before we came into the Chamber here tonight. I could see her genuine excitement that (a) her bill had been pulled from the ballot and (b) that she would receive unanimous support to see this bill through to the select committee phase. Well done Jan for championing this issue and well done for this achievement.Also well done to our Minister of Justice the Hon Amy Adams for leading the charge on this side of the House in respect of the issue of domestic violence. It is an absolutely insidious abhorrent thing that occurs in our society—an issue that is intergenerational and ingrained in our community and one that is completely and utterly unacceptable. The only way that we can start to get on top of this issue is to have these honest conversations to be upfront and to empower women. I think that is a really important thing to say: to empower women—and also men but to empower women to come forward and talk about this issue and to feel safe enough to seek help to remove themselves from abusive relationships and put in place measures to make their lives and their children's lives safe so that they can go on to lead successful lives and do what they want to do free of fear of harm.As I said I am really pleased to be speaking on this bill and as the chair of the Justice and Electoral Committee I am very pleased that it is coming to us to have that conversation. We have been upfront with a few of our concerns about the drafting of the bill and we will have those conversations at the select committee. We will hear from advisers hear expert evidence on the changes that are mooted and also of course call for submissions from the public on these issues.To create a safe environment at work is of course important but we need to make sure that there is a balance in the workplace. I actually happened to be on the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee at the time that this Government made changes to the Employment Relations Act and there has been some concern voiced that there may be a risk that the way this bill is worded would actually limit the flexibility arrangements that employees may have when seeking flexible arrangements at work. That certainly does need to be debated because if there is an issue we certainly want people who are experiencing harm to be able to go to their employer and ask for flexible work arrangements until they can put in place measures to keep themselves out of harm's way and keep their children safe. That is one of the issues that we need to explore.There are other issues around the other Acts that this bill would change but let us have those honest conversations let us talk about the issue and let us get in place something that works for our people to prevent and basically eradicate this awful crime. Thank you.