Martin TraceyHon TRACEY MARTIN (NZ First): Kia ora Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to address the international treaty examination of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled.The Marrakesh Treaty establishes a set of international rules that ensure that there are limitations or exceptions to the copyright rules for the benefit of people who are blind visually impaired or otherwise print disabled. It also as my learned colleague who just resumed his seat outlined enables the cross-border exchange of copies of published works that have been produced in an accessible format. Persons who are blind visually impaired or otherwise print disabled continue to face many barriers in accessing books and other print material. The need to increase the number of works and other protected subject matter available in accessible formats such as Braille audiobooks and large print has been recognised at an international level. I would like to outline the significance for New Zealanders of the Marrakesh Treaty.If I can just quote Clive Lansink: Blind people dream of a world in which we have access to the same information as sighted people already enjoy. When I was younger we just accepted that it was physically impossible for us to read so we made do with the assistance of others to do the reading for us. But that was before today's world of information being published electronically but I can access all the books out there."And that is what this is about. This is about recognising that there have been barriers placed upon those New Zealanders that are blind visually impaired or actually reading disabled. Copyright law and publishers currently limit access to public works in a restrictive manner that many argue is in violation of the basic human rights of the print-disabled community.It's estimated that only five percent of the world's written materials are available in accessible formats for print-disabled people. This is commonly referred to as the book famine. The Marrakesh Treaty addresses the book famine by providing exemptions to copyright laws for print-impaired people and their information access providers. Hungry minds may be fed by facilitating accessible formats of text to cross international borders legally and allowing print-impaired people to legally unlock digital text to make their own accessible formats.There are New Zealanders who are print disabled and yet they don't meet the Blind Foundation's membership criteria. But they also have barriers to overcome in terms of access to information. "Stroke victims arthritis sufferers people with dyslexia or neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease all have difficulty reading print holding a book or acquiring reading material in a format that best suits their individual needs. In some cases isolation is a contributing factor to how a person acquires their information or recreational [reading] material." That was a quote from the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa conference in 2011.According to Statistics New Zealand 24 percent of New Zealanders identify as disabled meaning that over one million people have a permanent condition that restricts their everyday activities. This is more likely to be a physical impairment in older people or learning disabilities in children. These numbers have gone up by over 20 percent since 2001 partly because of our ageing population and possibly because of improved methodology in data collection and higher rates of reporting. The origin of disability varies according to age. Around 42 percent of disabled children were born with an impairment. However most adults' disabilities are the result of illness or disease.Statistics New Zealand states and it has been quoted earlier today that New Zealand currently has 168000 print-disabled citizens. However the Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand estimates that approximately one in 10 New Zealanders—and that is conservative; it is more likely one in seven New Zealanders—are dyslexic and that would include up to 70000 school children. It appears therefore that people with learning disabilities like dyslexia who struggle with numeracy and literacy are not included in the numbers provided by Statistics New Zealand—and they provide that figure of 168000. The Dyslexia Foundation states that the oral delivery of information including the use of audiobooks is an important tool for dyslexics.The definitions of the term "print disability" from Article 3 of the Marrakesh Treaty reads as follows: "A beneficiary person is a person who: (a) is blind; (b) has a visual impairment or a perceptual or reading disability which cannot be improved to give visual function substantially equivalent to that of a person who has no such impairment or disability and so is unable to read printed works to substantially the same degree as a person without an impairment or disability;".The New Zealand Copyright Act section 69(4) reads: "For the purposes of this section a person has a print disability if he or she—(a) is blind; or (b) suffers severe impairment of his or her sight; or (c) is unable to hold or manipulate books; or (d) is unable to focus or move his or her eyes; or (e) suffers a handicap with respect to visual perception."In the Marrakesh Treaty provision is made for reading disability and in the New Zealand Copyright Act inclusion is offered to those challenged with respect to visual perception. A distinction is made between visual perception and the severe impairment of sight. This implies that the impairment is a cognitive one. However dyslexia was only recognised by New Zealand as a condition in 2007. There may be a gap here inside the treaty and inside our copyright law where accessible formats of text and services around their provision may have a broader client base in New Zealand than expected and this will need to be addressed.There are many other ways that New Zealanders find themselves at a disadvantage with being able to read and if we think about those that affect our older citizens macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness in our older citizens affecting one in seven of all New Zealanders over 50. This is why New Zealand First made a point to negotiate a free eye test every year for our seniors so that we can address and catch early on this degeneration.But what we have seen—and this is why it is so important for this treaty to be brought in at this time and for us to acknowledge it—is that as technology has improved access through Kindle access through other free delivery of books like audiobooks inside our libraries and so on has become more and more important to more and more people. If we talk about the school students who need the Dragon speech recognition programme or other audiobooks being able to have access across borders is going to be a major improvement for them and that is one of the side effects of the treaty.In closing I want to talk about the fact that it's also hoped that this will free up resources to make audiobooks in Pasifika languages and Te Reo Māori more available. It's not currently feasible because the user group for these books is a minority within a minority. However both Māori and Pacific Islanders have high rates of disability when it comes to being reading disabled and so the requirement for these books will grow over time. This is an area where New Zealand can lead the way now that we have the treaty when it comes into full force in this country. We do have some little bits and pieces that we need to work around with our own copyright law which I know will be a focus for the Minister responsible later on in the year and later on in this term. But this is an exceptionally good start and New Zealand First supports the report."