Marcroft JennyJENNY MARCROFT (NZ First): E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe. It's a pleasure to rise on behalf of New Zealand First in this final reading of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Amendment Bill. I'd like to begin my contribution this evening—I am a member of the Health Committee but unfortunately I only joined the committee after this bill had gone through the process of the select committee stage so I missed out on hearing from all those that came and presented to the committee. So I would like to start off by acknowledging the work that was done inside the committee and the collaborative way that they have worked under the leadership of the chair Louisa Wall and deputy chair Dr Shane Reti. It is an absolute pleasure to be part of that committee. Looking at this bill now in its third reading and acknowledging that the Hon Dr David Clark talked originally about this bill being fit for purpose—creating an Act that is fit for purpose and that is relevant to the modern day—when I look at this bill what I think of first and foremost is in terms of Who does it affect?" It affects New Zealanders. Ultimately it's all about the trust that they place in the health sector the trust that they place in their doctors and their medical practitioners and ensuring that vital ingredient of trust between our public services and our fellow citizens who actually access that. This in the health space is highly important and trust and confidence that patients place in their heath professionals and how this bill impacts on them so that they can continue to have that trust rather than just relying on Dr Google as some people tend to do these days.So what I would like to acknowledge is the length of time that this bill has taken. There were two reviews—we've heard that mentioned already—from 2007 through to 2009 and then again another review from 2012 to 2015. So it's been a long period of gestation to end up tonight finally at the third reading.The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 was ground-breaking legislation and that has been acknowledged internationally as being significant for health professional regulation. What this amendment bill does tonight is it brings it up to date. It ensures that as we move forward this legislation will take us futureproofed into the next number of years. There are a number of public expectations in terms of technology and the way that health services are delivered and will continue to be developed and changed and there's nothing surer than that—that change is inevitable and health legislation needs to keep pace with all the changes coming at us left right and centre.A couple of the changes that were made through the Health Committee process by the committee—and I'll talk to those briefly—were about immediate suspension where there's a risk of harm to the public pending a prosecution or investigation of a health professional: that they can be suspended immediately. The electronic age as I've just mentioned—making sure that this electronic age that we live in is appropriate and that the health legislation actually reflects that as well so these organisations these regulators will actually be able to conduct their business electronically. That seems really obvious and it is good to see that is in there. Also too the cultural competence that comes into play as well: ensuring that to enable effective and respectful interaction with Māori. That is a vital part of this: to ensure that we continue to address the Māori health disparities that we hear much about.In conclusion you know we have this amazing thing—we had the bill just prior to this one in the House the Accident Compensation Amendment Bill that we've just spoken to. We don't have all these tort lawyers clogging up our courts with litigation because of our no-fault basis ACC scheme. But one of those things that relate to that is we have that no-fault basis scheme but on the flip side we've got to make sure that in practising health practising medicine actually we have a competent professional who knows what they're doing and that there is accountability. This bill goes all the way in terms of ensuring that is the case for New Zealanders who engage in the health sector. So that's why New Zealand First strongly supports getting this legislation—the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Amendment Bill—passed into law this evening. Tēnā koe Madam Assistant Speaker."