McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour): For over 150 years fire service organisations have protected our communities from fire. Now they've taken many different forms but they've evolved as the requirements upon them from their communities have also evolved and thus today we've heard many references to the fact that the New Zealand Fire Service is now Fire and Emergency New Zealand. Now when this merger of the urban and rural fire services was first mooted I was a little sceptical because I was fully aware of the longstanding tradition of both services and I was concerned about how they would merge together to continue their provision of service. I certainly wasn't concerned about the professionalism of the service and the people that volunteer their time and their commitment and also those that are career firefighters. That was never in question but the structural changes were a concern. I don't necessarily hold those concerns now but what is clear—and the reason why we've had to bring this bill in—is that it is a complex change that we've seen. It is one that reflects the changing requirements of Fire and Emergency New Zealand for we know that firefighters do not just deal with fires; in fact structural fires are a small percentage of many brigades' call-outs. It could be fires on a farm or in a forest. It could and I regret to say be a car accident or dealing particularly in small communities with death including suicides. So as the requirements on Fire and Emergency New Zealand continue to evolve so does the need to ensure that the funding mechanism that we have in place for that service is up to date and fit for purpose and so good on the Minister for bringing this particular bill forward.I do not share the concerns that have been raised on the other side of the House because I know that any concerns will be ironed out as the parliamentary process continues.Brett Hudson: Overconfidence.KIERAN McANULTY: I note that Brett Hudson from the other side of the House—who dragged on a fair bit in his speech I've got to say. It could be perhaps that he knows his time in this House is limited so every time he gets up to speak he may as well make the most of it. I imagine that is the case.I do not share his concern that there is a chance that the levies are taking too much money from people because I know through my time at the fire brigade that when we—it was urban brigade then; I never served under Fire and Emergency New Zealand not when it was fully implemented anyway. We'd go to a forest fire and we'd join up with our rural brigades right around Wairarapa and these rural brigades wouldn't have the adequate gear. Some didn't have enough boots. Some had a truck that was possibly older than the member sitting to my right Greg O'Connor—and if you can't pick it up at home on the cameras that's quite old ladies and gentlemen. The point is that if we are going to—oh no actually I withdraw that comment because the members on the other side are just as old as you. I apologise.The point is that we have brigades—predominantly volunteer brigades—in our rural areas who are committing themselves 24 hours a day seven days a week in quite possibly some of the most deadly and dangerous situations and they do not have adequate provision of gear. Now I know there's been a lot of effort going into that but I do not share the concerns raised by the previous members around the levy being too high at this stage. I think this is a marvellous bill. It needs to happen. It's pragmatic. I'm pleased that so far all the parties in this House have indicated support but I think that as we move through this process any concerns will be addressed quite easily.