Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to take a short call in response to some of the debate points which have been raised during this debate this afternoon on my bill in regards to increasing the penalties for supply and distribution of psychoactive substances.Firstly I'd like to just say that there are a number of Supplementary Order Papers coming through very late and I would like to address the ones that I can at this stage address. But firstly I'd like to acknowledge New Zealand First and their Supplementary Order Paper to increase the penalty to 14 years—a Supplementary Order Paper which National will be supporting. We see the harm that these drugs are causing in our communities and I really wonder why some people in this committee want to filibuster and slow this debate down so that this bill does not get passed—[Interruption]—so the bill doesn't get passed. And I'd like to even address the committee and quote the Prime Minister who said Supply is different for me and actually a health-based approach does say those who are supplying harmful drugs actually do need to be held to account." We should be going after those who are I think preying on the vulnerable because we do see that there are vulnerable people who are using synthetics. There is a need in our community to address this issue. We've seen over 50 deaths from these drugs in the past year. We have seen the number of hospitalisations which are being caused. We see our hospital system our St John Ambulance system overloaded and there is a need—there is a need—to address the supply of these drugs. And I have all the way through this debate acknowledged the need for us to also ensure that there is an addressing of help for those who are suffering from addiction to these drugs. Members will remember back in March I brought a petition to this House calling for a select committee inquiry into addiction to these drugs and looking at ways in which this Parliament could address that and the Justice Committee decided—the Labour members decided—not to progress that element. I find it an absolute shame that the members on this side of the House can talk about this issue all day and all night and how there is a need to do something but they had an opportunity to do something in select committee and they absolutely failed to. [Interruption] CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): Just calm down. I don't think that yelling is going to make any difference and the member has the right to be heard. Kiritapu Allan: We can dispute some issues that he's raising Madam Chair.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): And you interject at your own risk.SIMEON BROWN: I would like to address a number of the Supplementary Order Papers that I do have in front of me. There are three in the name of Chlöe Swarbrick. The first one Supplementary Order Paper 159 removes the criminal offence of possession. That is not in the purpose. The purpose of the bill here is increasing the penalty for supply; the penalty for possession is a separate matter. And while we do believe—and I echo the words again of Darroch Ball—that for those who are suffering from addiction to these drugs we do need to be treating it as a health issue there must also be the deterrent effect for smaller penalties for possession retained and that is in line with other legislation. There is a wider debate going on around that issue and that is something which this Parliament I'm sure will be looking at at some point but that is not what this bill is doing. This bill is targeting suppliers of these drugs. That is what this bill is intending to do.Supplementary Order Paper 160 intends to reduce to two years the term of imprisonment for anything except for manufacture and importation. There are separate penalties and I think the member may be confused because sections 25 and 26 of the Psychoactive Substances Act do address illegal importation and manufacture of approved products and it's about not having licences to import not having licences to manufacture. Those are separate matters whereas the definition of sale or supply in the legislation as it stands is an incredibly broad definition and includes all manner of disposition for valuable consideration. So in section 8 of the Act "sell includes every method of disposition for valuable consideration" whether that's "(a) bartering: (b) offering or attempting to sell or having in possession for sale or exposing sending or delivering … or causing or allowing to be sold offered or exposed for sale:". This is one of the very broadest definitions of "sell" and so this section already deals with that issue.There's Supplementary Order Paper 161 introducing mitigating factors for sentencing. The Supplementary Order Paper seems confused. It talks about penalties for mitigation of offending for importing without a licence. That is the offence in sections 25 and 26 dealing with approved products. Section 70 deals with unapproved products and I think that's a critical point which needs to be realised. Section 70 is about unapproved products. The rest of the Act is dealing with approved products.There's also Supplementary Order Paper 170 in the name of Duncan Webb which seeks to put in place a mitigating factor. Again the courts have the ability to take into account all of those mitigating factors when they're making their decisions.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): Just before I call the next member just remember that this is the committee of the whole House. Every member has four opportunities to make a five-minute speech. There's plenty of opportunity to debate. So let's have a good debate and get on with it."