Bond RiaRIA BOND (NZ First): I rise on behalf of New Zealand First and my colleague Barbara Stewart to speak on the third reading of the Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Bill. New Zealand First does continue to support this bill as it enters the third and final reading here tonight here in the House. The members of the public will know from the first reading the second reading and the Committee of the whole House that this bill will provide a legislative framework for compulsory assessment and treatment of individuals with severe substance addiction who have a reduced capacity to seek treatment for themselves.The harm associated with addictions does have a significant impact on New Zealand society. If a person's substance addiction remains untreated there are costs to both society and the individual person. That has a knock-on effect and that affects people like their family and their whānau. It hurts relationships with people who love them the most. Sadly this addiction can also incur the penalty that is financial instability which can lead to homelessness.The New Zealand Drug Harm Index released in 2016 found that the estimated social cost of drug-related harms and intervention was $8.1 billion. That is $8.1 billion that has become a social cost to our society. It is glaringly obvious that in New Zealand the scale of illicit drugs presents a problem and this does point to New Zealand having one of the highest drug uses in the developed world. Research shows us that alcohol a legal drug in New Zealand is associated with a high level of social harm and is the principal drug used by those seeking treatment for addictions. That came about during the submission period from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.Therefore as we have heard in the House tonight and previously this bill will repeal the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act of 1966 and we have all said on this side of the House and on the Government side that this bill is needed to modernise it to fit within the 21st century so that it looks at the drugs that are in our community now. The drugs that are around us in our society are more harmful than what we have ever known before and the impact on our community members and whānau is too high a price to not have this legislation modernised for today.We have had robust discussions in this House and I do say that I am aware that these actually occurred within the Health Committee too. I do on this note want to commend the Health Committee which I did not take part in. It has done a fantastic job along with advisers in scrutinising this bill to make sure that it fits within what we need in New Zealand today and tomorrow. I think that the particular bill of interest here is not one that any side of this House took lightly at all. I know through discussion that there is an initial fear in Kiwis out there and perhaps even in some of the members of the House that we will go back to the old days of when institutionalised patients were effectively mistreated. I guess we have tried in great depth to ensure that this bill does protect the rights of the patient with involvement of their whānau so that they are also involved in the care plan. So I and New Zealand First do think that this decision has not come about lightly. The bill is for the people out there who have no ways or means of understanding that they cannot take care of themselves. Sometimes in this House members—as we have all discussed in some way shape or form—have to step up to the plate and realise that there is a real need out there in our community. Members have to step up to the plate and ensure that legislation here is fit for purpose for our community.So New Zealand First will continue to support the broad intent of this bill. But throughout the process we have also had some reservations and I think we have to gain some strength from this in that some of the reservations that came through actually were identified by the New Zealand Law Commission. The commission talked about things about the infrastructure and the service potential and the capacity of the mental health system to actually endeavour to—how is this legislation when it comes down to patients? We know already that throughout New Zealand across all of our district health boards they are running major deficits.What is also happening and I do not think it has actually been touched on here enough tonight in the House or in previous readings is the impact through the mental health care services because the addictions and substance issues of our members in our community are not taken out and recorded as a standalone issue—they are dumped into the mental health system. So there is no clear accurate way that the Hon Peter Dunne could say that he is expecting that maybe 40 to 60 people per year might be affected by this bill. I would like to go so far as to say from speaking to the community sector the mental health sector and volunteers that they expect this to be in the hundreds—the hundreds.What I want to know with the reservations is: how could this little number of 40 to 60 per annum be an estimation when we are looking at putting such important legislation together to help protect the future and current addictions that are so seriously harming our community? What I also learnt through asking the community and volunteer sector is that the issue is bigger than that. At the moment and it was only reported in the paper in the weekend and it has got specifically to do with this particular bill—in the report we have a facility that was in Porirua that has never seen an upgrade in any way shape or form whatsoever yet its new modern facility is going to house only 14 beds. In 1992 this establishment was opened. The Hon Peter Dunne with the backing of his Government has introduced this bill to the House and is not allowing for any more beds to open up to take care of the patients who could be 40 60 200—whatever because nobody knows. I just think that this is a gross oversight by this Government to implement a bill and get the support as it has done but we have not factored into the account here where these patients are going to go. Where are they going to go? There are no additional beds for them. There are no additional people specialised in addiction to substances who can actually help them through this process. Yes they said tonight from the Government side 6 weeks. The Greens have pointed out 8 weeks. There is actually an extension too to patients particularly who need additional support. Where are their community support wraparound services going to come from? Where are they going to come from? That Government has sat there and not even answered that question right throughout the process.I think it is a shocking indictment on this Government to introduce a bill like this and have no follow-up services or commitment that the associated costs estimated in 2010 to be brought by this bill $775000—7 years ago. In today's world this cost is going to be much more major than that.So yes New Zealand First will be supporting this bill in its broad intent but we are also going to be watchdogs in making sure that this legislation is fit for our community that it is going to actually help people get the real services that they deserve when they cannot have a choice by their addiction to get or to find services by themselves that they can access readily.In closing we do say that this bill is needed. We have to address the issues that we have got in our society now. We have to address the addictions that people have and I come across many people in my electorate who actually cannot help themselves. I think that although this bill has all the right intentions there are major reservations as to how this bill is going to look and feel to the patient who actually has to go through this bill. I really feel that this bill will have a huge impact on the mental health sector and it will have a huge impact on the community and volunteer sector within the mental health sector. I think that this has been a gross oversight by the Hon Peter Dunne and the National Government. Thank you.