Andersen GinnyVIRGINIA ANDERSEN (Labour): Tēnā koe. Thank you for the opportunity of speaking on this bill the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill. The key reason why I'm so happy to see this bill is that it addresses two really important areas and the first is early intervention—the ability to get in early and provide support to New Zealand families when they need it the most. The second reason that underpins this bill that is so important and closely tied to the first is the impact it has on our children and the impact it has on the next generation of New Zealanders—the ability to break the cycle of family violence within New Zealand and that is important.I remember quite clearly when the It's Not OK campaign first started. I was a stepmother and my 6-year-old son came home wearing a white ribbon on his shirt. I asked him what he thought that meant and he said It means you don't hit girls." I thought you know he wasn't quite right; there was a bit more to it than that—he probably shouldn't be hitting boys either—but there was a really clear message to me that gave me hope that the next generation of New Zealanders can learn to do differently. I believe this bill provides that same opportunity of hope for the next generation of New Zealanders.There are four key points I'd like to briefly speak to. The first is the change to police safety orders the second is the definition of "family violence" the third is the new offence of non-fatal strangulation and the final and probably the most important is a more coordinated response to protection orders going forward from here. Changes to police safety orders are important. Initially they were used as a cooling-off period. When police come to a home where there's been an incident it enables—usually the male—to be taken outside of the home and given time for things to cool off. What typically happens in those situations is that that person then heads to the pub continues to drink and more violent offending occurs outside of the home but it does not address the underlying reasons why that family violence occurred. So this bill enables risk and needs assessments to be taken and for the victim to be provided support—again addressing that early intervention that is so importantly needed.The definition of "family violence"—a very important area that's been well traversed but it's important to identify coercive and controlling behaviour to be included in that. The recent survey by Women's Refuge has shown that depression self-harm and suicide are key areas where women are seeing issues again and again. So including that and also including a better recording of family violence data will enable that to happen far better than it was already.The new offence of non-fatal strangulation—this is a common mark of abusive coercive behaviour—to enable both police and the courts to better identify that behaviour at an earlier point in time offers real hope to stop abusive behaviour early on in relationships and to provide support to both the offender and the victim.Finally I'd like to briefly speak on the more coordinated response to protection orders. Probably one of my most harrowing times in police was being responsible for the family violence death reviews: going through police files of homicides one after the other and identifying the reasons why that person's life could have been saved. The key area was in protection orders: that Government was not joined up with NGOs that people did not speak to each other and that there was a fear of sharing information that quite truthfully would have saved lives. I'd like to highlight the change that will enable a more coordinated response. These changes will provide police with more information about the violence that led to a protection order and clarify that police are able to share this information with other agencies where appropriate. It also enables the family violence sector—which provides such an important role—including specific Government agencies those NGOs and others to share information that is relevant to creating safety plans assessing risk and doing so when appropriate. It is important to be aware of privacy but at the same time the ability for Government and NGOs to share information holds the ability to save women's lives and protect our children's future.So thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I'm very happy to commend this bill to the House."