McKee NicoleNICOLE McKEE (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. On this the third reading of another urgent bill that's going through that will actually benefit firearm licence owners for a change—a nice surprise after three years of being slammed—this is something that the ACT Party can and will support. I'd like to start off by thanking the Minister of Police for the work that he has done in this area. After many years of trying to advocate for a change for a positive for the community we feel that he has finally listened or the Government has finally listened and actually come up with practical solutions for the firearms community especially for those hunters out there as we head into Christmas and they're wanting to go out and put some fresh lean venison or wild pork on the Christmas table; they'll actually be able to do it after 29 November. And 29 November is the day that the officials have just told us in the House that the online checker will be available. It'll be after Royal assent but it means that those invalid licences will become valid again just in time for December.It's also about—while this has been under urgency what we've also had in the past is changes in law that have come about or submissions on regulations which have come about either during the Christmas holidays or specifically during the roar or duck-shooting seasons when people are not even available or anywhere near their computers—they're outdoors doing it. They will not have that problem this time round because it's sorted before we even get to Christmas.And what is sorted here is the clarification—the clarification around what this licensing bill means to those with expired licences. To answer so many of those emails and questions that I have received we have had it confirmed that retrospectivity will apply in this case so where firearm licences have expired but were applied for before they expired this bill means that they from 29 November will be able to have access to their firearms. So it's not only from 29 November onwards; it actually incorporates those that have been caught up in the past.A new Part 3 of Schedule 1 was placed into the bill which actually came about because of a submitter questioning around the COVID extensions that were given back in 2020 and 2021. This meant that those with expired licences during the lockdown period were given order—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Just members on my left I'm struggling to hear the speaker. Could you just keep it down a little bit please. Thank you—carry on.NICOLE McKEE: Thank you. Those with expired licences that expired during the COVID lockdown were given extensions at that time but we actually had to write in a whole new Part 3 to allow them to be included in this retrospectivity piece of the legislation. I think that actually goes to speak to how long some people have been waiting to have their licences renewed when back in 2020 and 2021 during COVID lockdown they were given an extension and we need to now put a whole new part in the legislation to ensure they too are included. So I think that will be a bit of a relief to many out there.So retrospective is for licence holders; it's also for dealers and further to that it's for those who have endorsements on their licences as well—so those who have had to take pistols for example and give them to another endorsed holder to hold on to will be able to get those pistols back and they will be able to use them. What the clubs and ranges or the clubs and people operating the ranges need to be aware of is the fact that they need to check the licences as being valid if they are presented with one that has expired. That's going to take a lot of education from police and other organisations such as those parent sporting club organisations to get the message out to the community on what their new requirements are.The Police talked about triaging and prioritising those that they will put through the system—who will be first and who will be last. I'd just like to assure the community that if you don't hear from police it's because you've been triaged as being a responsible fit and proper person. Those who do hear from police rather quickly may like to think that perhaps there is something about what they have done or behaved or perhaps posted online that might be of concern. So there will definitely be two classes here: ones that are already seen as not being an issue and may have to wait a little bit longer than those who police are a little bit worried about and want to investigate and therefore may get a call quicker. At the end of the day if we can make sure that the licences are processed within the 90-day key performance indicator that Police have set for themselves—which I will add has expanded from 30 days to 60 days and now it's on 90 days—if Police can get to that regime then we won't know who's been triaged as being good and who's been triaged as being of concern. But we need to get to that 90 days—not 12 months not 24 months.We also need to ensure that those with their pistol endorsements are able to participate in what they're legally obliged to do which is attend at a pistol club 12 times a year. It's hard to do that if you don't have the licence. It's even harder to do that if the club are unable to check the validity of that licence.The other thing I'd like to just talk about when we discuss progressing into the technological age that we are becoming it's around the email side which I know I've brought up a couple of times but there was just recently a debate in this House by the Citizens Advice Bureau. They asked us to look at the digital age and about the people who have access to digital communications. While I understand that we need to progress and we need to move forward we also need to make sure we take everybody along with us and I recall this evening that I got a list from the Citizens Advice Bureau about the number of people who do not have access to online. This means they won't have access to email and this also means that they won't have access to the information about what changes have been made and what obligations there are. So I do hope that the New Zealand Police make a really good effort at getting in touch with the 240000 licensed firearm owners around New Zealand to tell them not only this good news that has happened but how they can ensure that they comply especially from 29 November. I'm sticking to that date—it's before Christmas it's before December and it's the time when those fit and proper people can get their firearms back.This has been quite big for a lot of people including those that are holding firearms for others. This has meant in some cases that people who are trying to help a mate out have actually had problems with their insurance cover. Insurance organisations have gone back to people and said We don't want to insure you for these extra firearms or if we do it's going to cost you a lot more money." What we see now is that people can take control back of their own property and make sure that they are able to continue on in a fit and proper way with the sport with the career with the pest control that they do using firearms.The other thing is about pest control. Knowing that the endorsements are going to continue on means that many of those that are unable to take care of the pests which have got well out of control because of the legislative changes of 2020 can now be managed because their expired licences will continue.And as a last little mention there it would be great if dealers did not have to renew their licences every 12 months. It's been a bane for them for quite a number of years and really very unnecessary. There's not a huge amount of them but what they will be grateful for is the ability to continue on business and supply those legitimate fit and proper licence owners with what they need to continue with their sports and their business.I'd like to thank everyone across the House: finally we've got something positive in the arms section. Thank you Mr Speaker."