Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): I am pleased to take a call on the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill and can I say how heartened I am that all parties of the House support this very important piece of legislation. As a member of the Justice Committee I'm definitely looking forward to this bill coming for submission to our select committee. This bill as others have mentioned is aimed at reducing the trauma of those sexual complainants that are standing trial but also preserving the balance of the rights of the defendant. There has been talk around the work that previous members of this Parliament on that side of the House have done in this space. I want to acknowledge the Hon Andrew Little and of course the under-secretary Jan Logie for their work in that. But I also heard contributions from the deputy leader of the National Party and of course Amy Adams in terms of her work when she was former justice Minister and I just want to acknowledge their contributions here and towards seeing this bill get off to the Justice Committee and have it come back to the House. So much so was I taken by their contributions in the reading of this bill that I'd like to extend an invitation that maybe the deputy leader or Amy Adams will come and join the select committee because that expertise that they both possess around this piece of work would be very useful for ushering this bill through the submissions process. But back to the bill. There's been three reports that have given rise to this. The Minister acknowledged and I want to record The Justice Response to Victims of Sexual Violence New Zealand Law Commission in December 2015; the Second Review of the Evidence Act 2006; and of course the Improving the Justice Response to Victims of Sexual Violence: Victims' Experience Gravitas Research and Strategy Limited in August 2018. This is for those contemplating—and they should—that every woman who has a complaint of sexual violence should not be traumatised when their case is heard in court. They should not be. So this bill is attempting to alleviate and remove some of that re-traumatisation in the three areas of tightening the rules different ways of presenting evidence and of course the requirement of judges to intervene.I want to acknowledge those victims who have already gone through our justice system and haven't had a good experience. I want to acknowledge those who won't even raise the issue because of the trauma that they've heard through friends that have had their cases heard. I just want to acknowledge that. I want to acknowledge those women who don't take that course. But what we're trying to do here is to make sure that when people lay their complaints it is heard fairly and in a safe manner without what I said earlier—jeopardising the right of the defendant.It is a straightforward piece of legislation. I am looking forward to it coming towards our select committee. I'm particularly interested in what the bill would do around the tightening of rules the alternative ways of presenting their evidence and of course the requirement on judges. So I do hope people can provide some really constructive feedback through their submissions on ensuring that these rules that are contained in this bill are well tested to see what further we need to do in terms of making this bill fit for purpose.Like I said I'm pleased that all parties have supported this. I'm looking forward to it coming. I have acknowledged all the Ministers. I acknowledge the work of the Justice Committee that we're about to do as we go in it. It is a serious offer—I do hope the deputy leader of the National Party or Amy Adams considers joining our select committee because I believe their expertise will be very very useful to the select committee. I commend this bill to the House.