Sio WilliamSu'a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): I recall some years ago an elderly retired fireman related stories of his time in the rural area. It was a time when the service of the fire brigade was to put out fires. He told the story of this house that had burnt down. The wind sort of swept up the flames and all the surrounding trees burnt and the embers started falling down. Unfortunately some of the firemen did not have the appropriate safety footwear and so they could not get close enough. On another occasion he related the story of how they went there and they did not have sufficient water. Again this was in a rural area. On another occasion in order to prevent the fire from spreading to the other buildings they hosed down the two sides and did not put out the fire. It was sort of funny in many ways but he related that story to convey to me how different things were in his time as opposed to today. He also related how important it is to sufficiently resource the department that we call our Fire Service. Tonight I had the opportunity to call Theunis Wedzinga the duty station manager at the Māngere Fire Station. I asked him whether they were aware of this bill coming through. His answer was yes. What was his feeling about this? Mr Wedzinga has served in the rural area as well as in the urban areas and he believes in his words that this is a big step forward for the Fire Service and for New Zealand. He believes that by bringing together the organisation under one Act rather than having the Forest and Rural Fires Act and the Fire Service Act hopefully there will be sufficient funding for the organisation recognising the services of the Fire Service as well as recognising the volunteers but in addition to have ongoing training. That then brings me to the bill. There are three parts to the bill. The first part establishes Fire and Emergency New Zealand; the second part refers to its operational functions duties and powers; and the third part talks about the levy. I hope that the general public do consider that particular part seriously. Although I acknowledge the Minister of Internal Affairs has done significant work in ensuring that there was widespread consultation and that people had an input into the implementation of this bill he also released alongside this work the budget for this work of $303 million in 4 years. A significant proportion of that is capital for the establishment of the headquarters. The concern I have is that we can expect increases in levies. I do not know given the fact that our Fire Service is no longer focused on just putting out fires—we basically use our fire services for just about anything just about anything. Oftentimes people tell me it is easier to call 111 and ask for the Fire Service than it is to call 111 and ask for the police to turn up. There is a big question of whether Fire and Emergency New Zealand will be sufficiently funded in order for its officers to carry out their task and perform their duties and about the burden that will add whether it will be added fairly and whether the increased levies will go directly into Fire and Emergency New Zealand or as we have seen with this Government it often siphons off money to do other things. I would ask that the Minister continue with his good work on this and extend the consultation period to the fullest. I recommend the chairperson of the Government Administration Committee. It is an appropriate committee. The chairperson is professional. The chairperson is far better than some of the other chairpersons at ensuring that we have widespread input on some of the concerns. My colleague Mr Wedzinga the station manager at the fire service in Māngere is wanting to ensure that all their members have that opportunity to make a statement at the public consultation process. Thank you.