SpeechHARETE HIPANGO (National—Whanganui): Thank you Madam Speaker and members of the House this evening. The last 10 minutes are drawing to a close and so to my colleague Louisa Wall I say that the National Party supports your bill which is a member's bill and I believe was drawn recently early July. So here we are before the House the Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate Visual Recording) Amendment Bill. This of course is an amendment to the Harmful Digital Communications Act of 2015 which was a piece of work that at the time the justice Minister the Hon Judith Collins now the National Party leader introduced that 2015 bill to the House.As Louisa has shared with us in the House this evening this bill is significant and it's important because it's an addition to the Harmful Digital Communications Act by way of a proposed amendment new section 22A inserted by clause 4 which is to include—before the Justice Committee to consider—posting an intimate visual recording without consent. I don't sit on the Justice Committee—although I may have the good fortune to be substituted in for this bill. However as lawmakers as legislators every single one of us in the House when these bills come before us we have a duty of responsibility and care to scrutinise and to look to the black letter of the wording and of the law to make sure that it is accurate and correct in the very intention for which the bill has been put before us as members to decide on. My background as a lawyer—I still look at everything that comes before me with my legal eye and a legal lens to that and I do so with a duty of care and don't regard it as being a silly thing. I think it's significant and responsible and important.So the purpose of the Harmful Digital Communications Act is to deter prevent and mitigate harm caused to individuals by digital communications. The amendment that is proposed is in relation to intimate visual recording. What is that? That is defined under section 4 of the 2015 Act. It's not detailed in the proposed amendment but I do consider it's important for people to be clear as to what an intimate visual recording is. That means a visual recording (for example a photograph a videotape or digital image) that is made in any medium using any device with or without the knowledge or consent of the individual who is the subject of [that] recording". Then it goes into further detail about the explicit nature of that intimate visual recording. I won't go into the detail of that but I do draw to the attention of the members who will be scrutinising this that at section 4 it details what an intimate visual recording is.The other significant thing about this proposed amendment is the tariff the penalty that is suggested. That tariff and penalty is very different to that which is under the Harmful Digital Communications Act for the use of posting a digital communication. Now that's section 22 of the 2015 Act and the sentence there is for a term—if that is to be the actus reus which is the act and the mens rea which is the knowledge and the intent of posting a digital communication. That digital communication penalty is for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding $50000 for an actual person and in the case of a body corporate a fine not exceeding $200000.In relation to an intimate visual recording it's proposed to reflect the seriousness of that crime that the penalty would be for a period of imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding $50000 for a natural person and again in the case of a body corporate a fine not exceeding $200000. So that shows the difference between the seriousness and the severity of the actual offence and the harm that would be caused to the victim. Now that's something that the Justice Committee will need to decide and determine as to whether or not the proposed seriousness of the offence and the penalty accordingly is appropriate. In this day and age with social media we are concerned about the accessibility of harmful material not only the digital communications but the intimate visual recordings. Many of us here in the House are parents. We're not only concerned for the elderly but also for the young. My colleague has talked about the impact of the harm and the impact to the victims and the associated trauma of such exposure that goes with social media and the far-reaching impact of it. This is the first reading. It will be thoroughly scrutinised before the Justice Committee and in so doing—I anticipate that this is necessary law—those members who are presiding and sitting on the committee will give due diligence scrutinising what the law is meant to achieve. Again I remind the members in the House and those sitting on the select committee that there is a duty of care—that is not such a silly thing that's to be overlooked—and that that is factored into the decisions that are made when this bill comes before the House for the second and the third reading should it be passed into law. I commend the first reading of this bill to the House."