Penk ChrisANNIE OXBOROUGH BIRTH PARENTS REGISTRATION BILLSecond ReadingCHRIS PENK (National—Kaipara ki Mahurangi): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise and take the first call in the second reading of the Annie Oxborough Birth Parents Registration Bill. This bill—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Would you like to move that it actually be heard a second time. CHRIS PENK: I move That the Annie Oxborough Birth Parents Registration Bill be now read a second time. Thank you Mr Speaker. It now gives me even greater pleasure to commence the debate on the Annie Oxborough Birth Parents Registration Bill the second reading thereof. Just for the benefit of the House and anyone who is following this debate including perhaps and I hope Annie herself and perhaps some members of her family this afternoon the House has agreed through its Business Committee and at the agreement of the relevant select committee—for which I'm grateful—that the second reading will take place as it is now and the committee of the whole House stage will have the opportunity for discussion and debate but then there will not be a debate on the third reading. So at that point the bill will either pass or not. I do want to acknowledge actually—and I know I'm going straight to process but it's important I think if I can frame the discussion not only in terms of the important issues raised in the bill but also the way that parties have engaged in its discussion. I think that it's important and fair that people understand that various political parties at the select committee table but also in the first reading and throughout have engaged very respectfully and helpfully in relation to this particular bill. They have been mindful of its wider consequences perhaps and also so that all are assured that the Parliament as a whole has engaged with the issue in a way that recognises its importance to many New Zealanders who have been affected by similar but in some cases different events surrounding adoption particularly during a certain period of our history when processes were less open and transparent shall we say and when it was fair to say perhaps that a degree of coercion was exercised in some cases sadly—not in all of course I hasten to add but to the extent that that took place in some cases and also without the knowledge for many years in some cases of the person being adopted. I think that is a fair subject for us to revisit in this House in 2023. As I say it's something to which the House may also wish to return to in the future perhaps in a more coherent and broadly applicable way than is the nature of a private bill. One of the things that the select committee grappled with was the tension between making a law that relates specifically and exclusively to one person and her family—and of course to that one person my constituent Annie Oxborough and her family this bill is hugely significant. For others its significance will be in the indication that this Parliament at least—and we can't speak for future ones but I think it is likely that others will also engage in this subject in a way that may provide some comfort and recognition of the circumstances and the background of many other New Zealanders. So I've sort of traversed a bit the process there and touched on the select committee discussion. I'll return to that briefly but first I'd be remiss if I were not to give at least a brief account of the circumstances of Annie Oxborough's own adoption because of course that's relevant to the circumstances of passing this private bill now including as it relates to the question of whether the aim of the bill could have been met in some other way. Members will be well aware that if there is another legal avenue by which a person can effect a change to for example their birth records then they would need to take that route rather than take the time and energy of this House to achieve that. Sadly it's the case that for Ms Oxborough and for others in the equivalent situation there is no such path and of course that is part of the advocacy that she has brought and that others have brought effectively to this House by way of the private bill. So in terms of the story of Annie Oxborough as she is now but Lisa Clarke as she was then she was born in February 1971 the biological child of Susan Cox—nee Clarke—and Scott Sinel. She was subsequently adopted and in accordance with the Adoption Act 1955 and practices as well as procedure at that time a new birth certificate was issued in December 1979 by which time Lisa Clarke had been renamed Angela Joy Marshall being the legal child of an adoptive mother and father. Her name was changed subsequently. She married and is no longer married I understand but through that series of changing circumstances her name changed a number of times. Nevertheless we do refer to Annie as such and it is this woman whom I would not hesitate to describe as remarkable and a force of nature—and I mean that most respectfully but she'll know why I'm laughing while I say that. She's a very forthright character and none the worse for that and our parliamentary colleague and friend Rachel Boyack also I'm sure won't mind me pointing out that she has also enjoyed that reflection along with other members of the Governance and Administration Committee. Ms Boyack had the pleasure of interacting with Ms Oxborough and I think she would probably agree with me that we enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the lady herself and colleagues from around the House as I say did come into that environment. I will name them actually because it's worth acknowledging that the contribution they made was very constructive it was helpful and it has actually led to a couple of changes which I'll speak to only briefly because it might be better in the committee of the whole House stage that there are some searching questions being asked by other members. I certainly hope not but—as I try to find the names of those relevant members of the select committee—I do recall that it was Ian McKelvie the chairperson; the Hon David Bennett; Rachel Boyack whom I've already acknowledged as being a key figure in those discussions; Naisi Chen; and Jamie Strange and also a non-usual member of the committee Jan Logie of the Green Party made a point of joining the committee for its discussions and deliberation because that's an area of public policy that's important to her. I do want to acknowledge the constructive spirit in which she engaged with the questions arising not only in relation to Annie but again more broadly. So just briefly—and I don't need to take the full time that's allotted to me because I sense that most of the parties understand the issues and I think I'm right in saying they agree with me on where the select committee has landed—there's a minor and technical change whereby birth certificate" was amended to "birth record". That was done on the advice of officials who pointed out that technically that's how one refers to the birth record from which a certificate can be made. Also we are adding by way of clarification effectively that this bill doesn't affect any other legal rights of Annie Oxborough in relation for example to succession or her ability to make a claim under a will and so forth. So that's why a new clause was added saying that the birth parents of Annie Oxborough are not her legal parents. It's a fine distinction but one that all involved should understand and the reasons for that. So I'll leave my comments there at this the second reading noting that I'll have an opportunity to make at least a couple more—if the bill is to pass its second reading—at a subsequent stage. But again I thank the members of the House who engaged very thoughtfully and very openly in relation to their own situations in many cases at the first reading with the ongoing discussion and good-faith debate that has taken place. I very much hope that the other parties are minded to continue to support the bill. I think it's worthy not only for Annie herself but as a helpful step forward for those who are in a similar situation who do seek the comfort of this consideration to be given by the Parliament and on that basis I commend the bill to the House. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to."