Gilmore Aaron: Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGilmore Aaron: Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 07 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12465. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PAUL FOSTER-BELL (National):Kia orana Mr Assistant Speaker. I am glad to rise and seek a call on this first reading of the Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill. There has been significant national and in fact international attention on this issue. I counted nofewer than 10 articles online from various news outlets. I would like to acknowledge the member Louisa Wall for bringing this matter to the attention of the House. Louisa has put this issue forward as a matter of some importance to her and obviously to the individuals concerned and I am always open to discuss matters like this with my parliamentary colleagues.As other members have traversed this particular bill seeks to amend the birth certificate of Rowen Sullivan to reinsert Diane Sullivan as her mother. Diane died as a result of lung cancer a horrific disease to which I have lost friends and family members so I can only sympathise that Rowen at the age of just 17 lost her mother to this disease and her mother’s partner Doreen became her guardian. As Jan Logie from the Green Party noted this was a tragic course of events to go through particularly for someone so young. To find at the age of 18 that you would have no legal relationship with your caregiver despite a lifetime of being cared for by that person I can understand would be particularly upsetting. After having worked overseas and dealing with parents who want to register a new birth and noting that this is usually a happy occasion I did come across cases where for a number of reasons this was complex delicate or a sensitive issue so I appreciate that this bill will bring to the surface some complexities sensitivities and sympathies especially for Rowen herself.As previous speakers have noted this bill will require in effect the Registrar-General of Births Deaths and Marriages to record the details of Rowen Sullivan’s deceased mother on her post-adoptive birth registration entry. As we are aware most private bills are for organisations as for the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Act 2012 or the Christ’s College (Canterbury) Amendment Act 2010 which have passed through this House in recent years. But in 1989 there was a private bill dealing with the estate of Ellen Eames and closer to this case in 1985 Parliament passed a law making lawful the marriage between Thomas Stockman and Rosalina Howe despite Mr Stockman being the half-brother of Ms Howe’s mother. I acknowledge that it is therefore not entirely unheard of for this House to be asked to implement changes like the ones that this bill is asking for. It has happened six times before with four of those Acts involving the posthumous adoption of individuals. One involved the adoption of an adult and one directed the Registrar-General to issue new birth certificates for those adopted children but these cases are exceptional and relatively rare. In this case the intention of the bill differs somewhat from these examples as it simply requires the details to be recorded on the birth certificate.I think it is important to note that this issue would not have arisen had Rowen Sullivan’s birth mother been able to marry her long-term partner and I am very glad that this kind of situation will hopefully be avoided in the future following the passing of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 earlier this year. I would again like to acknowledge the member Louisa Wall for the role that she played in that legislation. It is also encouraging to hear that the Department of Internal Affairs is making changes to its computer systems to enable same-sex adoptive parents to be included in the details of a person’s official birth entry.As this bill focuses only on making a change to Rowen Sullivan’s birth record I am somewhat uncertain about what the effect of the bill would be on her ability to meet other legal requirements and processes in the future. For example should Rowen marry or enter a civil union it is not clear to me whether she would be entitled to list both of her mothers as parents on the notice of her intended marriage or civil union document. I am interested in learning more about this and the complexities of this case and perhaps I will have the opportunity to do so should the bill be considered by the Justice and Electoral Committee.Although this issue has an extremely narrow scope—more narrow than any other bill that I have yet spoken on in my relatively short time in this House—there is a risk that this bill could create a precedent but I am willing to support this bill’s referral to the select committee where it can be considered in full. Hopefully this House and the bureaucracy that provides these services to the public can find a better way of fixing problems like this in the future. I commend this bill for further consideration.