Fox MaramaMARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): E Te Mana Whakawā kai te pīrangi au ki te mihi atu ki Te Minita e whakahaere nei i tēnei pire o tātau nō te mea tēnei pire e whakahaere nei i a rātau e haere tuatahi ki te ahi ki te aituā i runga te huarahi kai te pīrangi au ki te mihi atu ki a ia.[Mr Assistant Speaker I want to acknowledge the Minister responsible for this bill of ours because it is about those who go for the first time to a fire and an accident on the road. I want to congratulate him.]The Māori Party is very proud to support this piece of legislation this bill that will become law. I have a few friends who are in the Fire Service and the fire department and I have asked them along the way—because I am not part of the Government Administration Committee I have not been able to hear the debate and the deliberations and the hearings. But I have been actively watching the report and they have asked: What does the Māori Party think about this?" So I have gone out to members of our whānau who I know in the Fire Service and I have asked them: "What is the effect on you from this legislation?" What they tell me is: "Well it's change and we need to get used to that but actually we think it is good." So I have been buoyed by their support. I have been buoyed by the support and the work of the select committee and the report that it has brought back to the House and the work of the honourable Minister Peter Dunne.In Carterton as my cousin the member Ron Mark pointed out the volunteer fire brigade is in operation. If you have ever seen it what happens is that a siren will go off in the town and people will run out of their shops and take off down the road. When I first saw that I thought: "What the heck is going on?" They were just merely responding as the volunteer fire service does. In a rural area these men and women respond to fires they respond to accidents on the road and they also respond as first responders to deaths and murders and homicides if they are the first person there. So they need to be prepared for all types of things. When I have spoken to these firemen and firewomen who take up this duty on our behalf they tell us that there are some times they need to just step back and take a break from the things that they witness the things that they have to do and that it is difficult and hard work.It is long overdue the review of the first responders in the fire department in this country. I commend the Minister for the efforts that he has made alongside the select committee to ensure that this is the best piece of legislation possible and that we can unify and combine the efforts of these men and women across the country who respond. I am immensely proud of the work that they do. Across the nation we all know that when there are deaths on the roads the people who are cutting them out are our Fire Service. We all know when there is a full-blown house fire—you can see it across a rural valley and in a heartbeat you know that the rising smoke is so black and dense and thick that that is a house on fire. The tragedies that they have to encounter and deal with are significant. I am very proud of those people—those men and women—who put their lives at risk. In fact we have a little joke that they put their Superman suits on when they walk into work and go out there and save lives and protect the public. So I am proud of the work that the committee has done and I am proud of the work that the Minister has done and I am merely rising as a representative of the Māori Party to commend this bill to the House. Thank you—that is all we have."