Wood MichaelMICHAEL WOOD (Labour—Mt Roskill): Kia ora koutou katoa. Assalamo alaikum. My electorate of Mt Roskill School is home to the largest Muslim community in New Zealand and the largest collection of multicultural communities in New Zealand and over the last two weeks as I've spent time with that community and at mosques and vigils all around Auckland and New Zealand the beautiful people of New Zealand's Muslim community in amongst their extraordinary grace forgiveness and resilience have actually asked New Zealand and our Government for very little. The one thing they have asked us for is that we take the required steps to make them as safe as possible.We are here because on Friday 15 March 50 men women and children in Christchurch were murdered by a person with an evil ideology and armed with a modified military-style weapon that granted him the power to kill large numbers in mere moments with a twitch of his hateful finger. That is why we are here. We are here in spite of the fact that over 25 years these issues have been canvassed in New Zealand's public life. Recommendations were made after the Aramoana massacre. The 1995 Thorp report addressed these issues and of course there was a very good select committee report from 2017. So my main message for anyone who says that this process is moving too fast is that it's actually the reverse. If anything this process has moved too slowly for New Zealand but we are moving on it now. That is all that we can do as a Parliament: listen to those calls for safety and do what we can do now.There is a movement for change in our communities and in this House. I want to pay tribute to some of the people who have led that movement for change. To our Prime Minister who I think the day after the attacks—and I think it was without consulting polls or focus groups or testing it out—said that change will come because she knew it was the right thing to do; to our Minister of Police Stuart Nash who has worked assiduously over the last two weeks to bring together experts the community and legislation to mobilise around a legislative framework for change that I believe the vast majority of New Zealanders can support; and to parties all around this House—and I acknowledge Government support parties but especially the Opposition who I believe have acted in an honourable way over the course of this issue and are doing the right thing in the way that they engage on an important issue for our country—I thank you. I thank all of those people in our communities who have done something that I think is really special.One of my favourite quotes is from Franklin Delano Roosevelt who shortly after his election met a big room of his supporters who had elected him into office on a radical agenda. He said to them I know what I have to do. Now go out there and make me do it." I feel like that's what the people of New Zealand have been saying to us over the last couple of weeks. They know that we want to do the right thing and they have said "We're going to support you to do that." I want to acknowledge all of those people who have petitioned and emailed and spoken up so that we can have sensible and safe firearms laws in this country.The changes sought in this bill are sensible changes. They are carefully thought through. They allow for most legitimate firearms activities that currently take place to continue taking place—for legitimate uses on farms for people who hunt animals in our forests for people on the rifle ranges to continue with those activities. It is only this extreme end of military-style assault weapons and rifles that we will be taking action on. I'm a licensed category A firearms owner. I own a single-shot rifle; so I'm not someone who instinctively is opposed to any person owning a gun or using it for lawful purposes. This is about keeping people safe.I'm pleased that this bill is coming to the Finance and Expenditure Committee. On our committee over the next week we will work assiduously on this bill. We will respond and listen to submissions in good faith. We will engage on the detail to make sure that the bill is as effective and fair as possible and I want to emphasise that on our committee we have representation from every party in this House to ensure that the range of perspectives are heard. I know that all members will work in good faith to make this an effective bill and to make our country as safe as possible. I commend the bill to the House. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker."