Luxton JoJO LUXTON (Labour): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker for the opportunity to speak on the Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill. I do want to firstly thank and acknowledge Joanne Hayes for having this bill in her name. I think it's really important to thank the Justice Committee. Whilst I've not been a part of this process prior to it I think it's really important to acknowledge and thank the committee for the work that they have done on this bill. My understanding is that they've worked really really hard and they've had some really good collegial discussions and conversations around this bill.I just want to come back to something that the Hon Maggie Barry said. She said that this is a story that is not often told. That was actually quite a poignant and sobering statement for me to hear personally. It made me stop and think and try to imagine how it must feel for some of these young people that are forced into a situation of marriage. Actually I can't even begin to imagine how that must feel. So for me it endorses just how important this piece of legislation actually is. I also want to acknowledge my colleague Priyanca Radhakrishnan who has worked in the sector and worked with women who have been forced into marriage.Around this bill what it does is it amends the Marriage Act 1955 whereby currently 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds who want to get married must get the permission of their parents. What this bill does is it provides a safeguard to our young people to ensure that the marriage is consensual and that it will require the consent of a Family Court judge for the marriage of a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old.Sometimes forced marriage can be confused with arranged marriage but it is not the same. With an arranged marriage there is the element of choice. Two people are introduced to each other by their parents. The idea behind that is that marriage is actually difficult enough so they introduce individuals that have similar interests and similar family values and backgrounds to try to make the potential marriage as smooth sailing as possible. After a period of courtship the couple can choose to continue with the relationship and into marriage if they so choose. However forced marriage and the motivations are and can be quite different. At least one partner doesn't have a choice and anecdotal evidence does suggest that it is quite often the young woman. Whatever the motivations for that might be it doesn't make it right.This is an important bill because it does go to the heart of what we in Government hold dear and is core to our values. Preventing forced marriage will protect New Zealand children. I just want to quote from a submission from the Wellington Community Justice Project: [This] Bill adds a layer of protection where parental protection fails in requiring court consent after ascertaining the consent of the marrying individuals. This goes a long way towards eliminating coercion and thus forced marriages." It ensures that those children who don't have the protection are given the safeguard of the judiciary.New Zealand is a democratic society and we are really proud of that. We were the first country to give women the right to vote. It is important that our children are—and feel—safe and we know that young people around the ages of 16 and 17 are a vulnerable group of people and they deserve better—better protection under the law.I just want to also quote from an article that has a quote by UNICEF. They've said that "Child marriage is a violation of the rights of girls and women. Girls who are married as children are more likely to be out of school suffer domestic violence contract HIV/AIDS and die due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Child marriage also hurts economies and leads to intergenerational cycles of poverty."So this bill will go a long way to ensure that children don't have to continue being forced into marriage against their will and I really commend this bill to the House."