Henare PeeniCUSTOMS AND EXCISE (PROHIBITION OF IMPORTS MADE BY SLAVE LABOUR) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingPEENI HENARE (Labour—Tāmaki Makaurau): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I move That the Customs and Excise (Prohibition of Imports Made by Slave Labour) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee to consider the bill. I te tuatahi ka tautoko ahau i te tangi mōteatea ki a Tūī Hauiti Parapara tētahi o ngā kaimahi o Te Whare nei kua hinga i ngā rangi kua pahure ake nei; e kara haere haere haere. Whakahokia mai ngā rārangi kōrero ki a tātou o Te Whare tēnā tātou katoa. [Firstly I endorse the expressions of grief accorded to Tūī Hauiti Parapara one of the workers of this House who passed away in days just past; farewell dear friend depart return. I bring the focus of the contributions back to those of us of the House—greetings to us all.]I am proud to bring this bill to the House this evening as it represents a genuine opportunity to not just make a positive change here in Aotearoa New Zealand but to make a positive change globally. This bill has the potential to reposition Aotearoa New Zealand at the forefront of progressive social change again. Our history is filled with the great examples of brave progressive social policy. This year we commemorate 123 years since the women's suffrage petition was received by this House. More recently in 2013 the marriage equality bill was received and passed by this House. Although this bill might not be a world first it will go some way to restoring our reputation as a responsible and caring global citizen. This bill seeks to prohibit the importation of goods produced by slavery into Aotearoa New Zealand preventing slave owners profiting from their crime and encouraging the ethical production of goods throughout the world. Both the United States and Belgium have passed similar legislation and it is now time for us to follow suit. This bill is no stranger to this House. In 2009 the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee considered the petition of Geoff White on behalf of Trade Aid and 17000 others requesting that this House legislate against the importation of products made by slave labour. However the Government did not care enough to do the right thing. Later that year the bill came to the House thanks to the Hon Maryan Street but sadly the Government once again was not brave enough to do the right thing and prohibit the importation of goods produced by slavery into Aotearoa New Zealand. Late last year through what some might call luck and others call destiny the bill was drawn from the members' ballot once again giving the Government yet another chance to do the right thing. This bill presents the New Zealand Parliament with an opportunity to explore in good faith how free trade and human rights might be accommodated in a principled and thoughtful way. There is no doubt that this bill represents a position of ideology but I do not make any apologies for that. Nor do I apologise for bringing this bill back into the members' ballot and into this House for we on this side of the House—the Labour Party—believe wholeheartedly that this is the right thing to do. This is a position that Aotearoa New Zealand should be taking from here on out. Our country regularly claims the moral high ground. We take democracy from Western civilisation yet we are not prepared to be brave enough to take a stand. I ask the House to allow democracy to take its role with this particular bill. I ask this House to accept this bill vote for it and allow it to go through the democratic process which allows for robust debate and allows for submissions to be heard on such an important issue. In a time when trade is important to our country are we prepared to encourage trade from a position that accepts that slave labour is OK in the modern world? Are we as Aotearoa New Zealand prepared to do that? Slavery was abolished in Britain in the 18th century and the ban on slavery is a foundation stone of modern international human rights law. Despite this slavery continues in West Africa Asia and South America. In fact some estimate that 21 million to 36 million people are enslaved worldwide generating approximately $150 billion each year in illicit profits for traffickers. Of this sadly about 22 percent are children. I bring this bill before the House in the hope that our country with a proud history of trade and with an eye to the future prosperity of not just our country but globally will take a stand as a responsible global citizen in the world. I bring this bill in the hope that it will progress through the democratic stages that bills in this country pass through to allow for robust debate for submissions to be heard and hopefully for this particular bill to be enacted into law. I commend this bill to the House.