Coffey TāmatiTĀMATI COFFEY (Labour): E te Pīka tēnā koe. Mō ngā mineti e rua e toru pea ka kōrero ahau i roto i te reo Māori. Tēnā koutou te hunga e whakarongo mai ana e mātakitaki ana tēnā tātou katoa. He mihi anō ki te Minita o te Karauna te Minita Manatū Ture a Kris Faafoi taku whananga nō te moutere ātaahua o Tokelau. E hoa nāu i mauria mai tēnei pire ki tēnei Whare nō reira ka nui te mihi. He rā whakahirahira tēnei mō te puāwaitanga o ngā tamariki mokopuna o Aotearoa kāore anō kia whānau mai. He taonga te tamaiti. He taonga te tangata. He taonga tōna mana he taonga tōna tuakiri mai rā anō. He uri tēnei o tētahi o ngā uri o Te Arawa waka ko Tūtānekai tōna ingoa. He tangata rongonui rawa atu. Ko ia te whaiāipo a Hinemoa te wahine tapairu o Ngāti Te Roro o te Rangi. Engari i mua i tana hononga ki a Hinemoa kei a Tūtānekai he hoa pūmau anō. He hoa takatāpui tāna ko Tiki tōna ingoa. E ai ki te mātauranga o Te Rangikāheke ka aroha atu a Tūtānekai ki a Tiki ka mea atu ki a Whakaue ke mate ahau i te aroha ki tōku hoa ki a Tiki. [Greetings to the Speaker. For the next two or three minutes I will speak in Māori. Greetings to all who are listening and watching. I also wish to acknowledge the Minister of the Crown the Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi from the beautiful island of Tokelau. Oh friend it was you who proposed this bill to this House; therefore I greet you. This is an auspicious day for the future of the children of Aotearoa who have yet to be born. Children are treasures. People are treasures. Their mana and their identity are treasures from time immemorial. I am a descendant of an ancestor from Te Arawa canoe named Tūtānekai. He was quite famous. He was the lover of Hinemoa chieftainess of Ngāti Te Roro o te Rangi. However before he married Hinemoa Tūtānekai had another close friend a gay friend called Tiki. According to the knowledge of Te Rangikāheke Tūtānekai felt deeply for his friend Tiki and said to Whakaue I am overcome with love for my friend Tiki."]You see Tūtānekai loved Tiki and he said to Whakaue "I am stricken with love for my friend for Tiki." The missionary William Williams in 1884 translated the word "takatāpui" as an "intimate companion of the same sex". Naturally there are some back home that dispute that translation and also the nature of that relationship too. For some it's a little bit uncomfortable that a chief from our whakapapa may have enjoyed a homosexual relationship just prior to his marriage. I say that if it's OK for the Greeks it's OK for us. That said the word "takatāpui" has become a commonly used term and it's experiencing a renaissance within the Māori rainbow community and I say rightfully so.My point is that Māori have our own stories about sexuality that pre-date the arrival of Europeans and the arrival of the Bible and also those who interpret it which has done considerable damage to the rainbow community causing considerable harm. Colonisation reached into our cultural norms about what constituted both positive and negative relationships and as we become more aware we must also challenge those colonial heterosexual assumptions that have been normalised around us and central to that is the assumption that if you aren't heterosexual then there must be ways to fix you.The Government's intention in this bill—which I support wholeheartedly—in prohibiting conversion practices are one to affirm the dignity of all people and say that no sexual orientation or gender identity is broken and in need of fixing; two to prevent the harm conversion practices cause in New Zealand and to provide an avenue for redress; and three to uphold the human rights of all New Zealanders including rainbow New Zealanders to live free from discrimination and from harm. This bill will provide penalties to those who continue to use conversion practices and provide survivors with avenues for redress.But I do have a concern. The criminalisation of conversion practices may just result in a change in how they're presented or how they're framed or how they're performed. The way that practices are described may become more subtle—for example through references to "exploring sexuality" rather than changing it and on spiritual healing and development. Conversion practices have very low public visibility now so the prohibition will have little effect in that regard but it is important to remember that however conversion practices are presented survivors will now have recourse to the laws to lay complaints both criminal and civil.In my 20s I wasn't able to get married but the Civil Union Bill came in and made things a little more normal. In my 30s I was able to finally get married and again the law changed—thank you to my colleague on my left Louisa Wall. In my 40s I hope to oversee the banning of conversion therapy and I hope for considerably better conditions for rainbow couples wanting to embark on parenthood. I look forward to being part of that change. He takatāpui e tēnei e tautoko ana i tēnei piri. Kia ora. [I am takatāpui and I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.]"