Parata Hekia: Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill — Second Reading 
Parata Hekia: Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill — Second Reading 
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HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Ano nei nga mihi ki te Whare. Tena koutou katoa. I rise to support the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill 2008. The bill will enable the police to issue on-the-spot protection orders for a period of up to 5 days. It will ensure that the safety of children in a domestic relationship with the alleged victim and/or offender is more explicitly considered when setting the conditions of police bail. It will provide that when the criminal courts are sentencing a defendant who has been convicted of a domestic violence offence they must consider whether a protection order should also be made on behalf of the victim. The bill will repeal the criteria for arrest without warrant for breach of a protection order and it will amend the structure and penalties for the offence of breach of a protection order. 
As my colleague Katrina Shanks said earlier this is not a silver bullet. But it is starting to take us along a path of giving real practical attention to an everyday scourge on the population of New Zealand. Women and children are being beaten and killed in homes—homes that are supposed to be the sanctuary of families—up and down this country every day and we must take urgent steps to stop this occurring. We must create an environment not only where the police must step in but also where we as citizens of this country consider it unacceptable for this to go on in our society. 
This bill is part of a series of measures that we as a Government are committed to taking—not just talking about dealing with this issue but actually getting on and doing something practical. The police are called to 80000 domestic violence cases a year and over 200 women and children have been killed in domestic incidents in the last 12 years in New Zealand. This is an utter shame on the record of our country. We call ourselves civilised while we continue to allow domestic violence to occur in our country. We must take urgent and real steps to stop it. 
I take the point that my colleague David Garrett made today. Domestic violence is not always men against women but in most cases it is. Whether it is men against women or women against men domestic violence is unacceptable. The act is unacceptable in itself and it is certainly unacceptable for the heritage and the legacy that it imposes upon children that they carry into their adulthood. The cost is not just the bruises the broken bones and the blood shed by the victims at the scene. Domestic violence as my colleague said goes on to haunt the lives of people who have experienced it and that too is a cost on our society and a shame that we should put to rest. We must take action against it. 
Although the number of reported assaults has gone up by 21 percent since 1998 Family Court statistics show that the number of protection orders has decreased by 30 percent. Not surprisingly many victims simply do not apply to the court for a protection order either because of the associated delays and costs or because of a fear of repercussions. The on-the-spot protection orders give victims the opportunity of 5 days to be rescued from the situation they are in so that they are able to take time to think about the course of action that might be available to them. As our colleague Sue Moroney on the other side of the House mentioned it is an utter and bitter irony that usually it is the offender who gets to stay in the home and it is the women and children who have to seek refuge elsewhere. It is important that we lay the responsibility of the assault at the foot of the perpetrator and that we make it safe for women and children to stay in the only place they know. They should not have to struggle with being in strange surroundings while also dealing with the bruising and the battering that accompanies domestic violence. 
While I am on my feet I would like to pay tribute to Women’s Refuge which by the way is opening its new office here in Wellington in a couple of days’ time for all the work it does every day 24/7 up and down the country. This organisation and other such organisations are to be applauded for the work they do in such a sensitive area. I believe that when it is passed this legislation will give greater support to the work those organisations do for women and children. 
We think that empowering the police to take immediate action will ensure potential victims are protected until the courts are able to fully deal with the matter. In turn it is incumbent upon the police to treat breaches of protection orders with the severity they deserve. This Government is working hard to bring down violence in our society but it cannot do so alone. The Government needs the help of all New Zealanders to lead by example to take personal responsibility for their actions and to report any incidents of violence to the police. 
I take up another point made by my colleague David Garrett. Violence is not just the actual act of physical assault upon another person which itself is unacceptable. Psychological and emotional violence is also equally unacceptable and is another area where when we see that occurring we need to stand up and take action. We need to create a culture of unacceptability of any kind of violence in our society so that legislation such as this and the police executing it become only one part of the equation. The actual taboo of allowing it to occur is something that all of us can be soldiers in the cause of. I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.