Foster-Bell PaulPAUL FOSTER-BELL (National): E Te Mana Whakawā Tuarua tēnā koe. Tēnā koutou katoa e ngā mema o Te Whare Pāremata o Aotearoa. In speaking to the Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Bill I want to begin by thanking the chair of the Justice and Electoral Committee Sarah Dowie for yielding to me what would be traditionally her call in this debate. As the first openly gay member of the National caucus I am very proud that it is a National Government that has taken this step to do the right thing and to make some amends for these historic wrongs that we are discussing today.I want also to observe that it is a very strong female Minister of Justice who follows in a strong tradition of female members who have brought justice and clarity in these regards. I am talking of course about Dame Fran Wilde who was the driving force behind decriminalisation in the 1980s. I am talking about the Hon Katherine O'Regan who as Associate Minister of Health made the crucial contribution that saw discrimination against people on the basis of sexuality being made illegal in 1993. I also acknowledge across the aisle in the House today Louisa Wall whose bill brought in marriage equality. Today the Hon Amy Adams as Minister of Justice is seeking to expunge the criminal records of those who apply for it in what I think is a very important piece of legislation.Grant Robertson—who said nothing I disagree with in his speech; it is the first time ever probably in this House—observed that in the past people were stigmatised not just those who were convicted of offences but the entire LGBT community and that by passing this legislation we may actually give dignity to those people. Well I actually think it will also restore dignity to this House.I am a very proud supporter of our relationship with the United Kingdom. We inherited much that is good from our colonial and imperial forebears but the persecution of gay men in particular was one of those things that we inherited through our Crimes Act. It was embedded by an Act of this Parliament in 1908 and further embedded in 1961 and frankly in my view those were measures that actually brought shame upon this House and diminished our mana as a legislature that should have pride in being fair-minded in treating people equally and in supporting a country that values diversity. I think in considering this bill today we are going some way to restoring mana to this House that might otherwise have been diminished by those steps in the past.This is not just a theoretical or symbolic measure; it will have a practical effect for a number of New Zealanders. Last year I met a gentleman who had a historical conviction for homosexual offences and who is a teacher. He is still a teacher. He is in his 60s now and every 5 years he has to renew his teaching certificate with the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand or previously the Teachers Council. This is a gentleman who has to on a 5-yearly basis explain to whomever is his principal at the time why his criminal record comes back from the Ministry of Justice with a historical sexual offence listed. This is embarrassing and upsetting for him and obviously a cause for concern in any school when it is going through the proper process of verifying that its teachers are safe people to have around young New Zealanders our children of this country. This is an example of a real person who through the passage of this bill and once his application is processed will not face that unnecessary stigma that he has to live with today.I think there are some challenges involved in this. We on the Justice and Electoral Committee had the advantage of visiting Sydney and discussing with the justice officials of the state of New South Wales the process it went through when it considered its version of this bill. But I think those issues can easily be overcome through the hard-working efforts of the Justice and Electoral Committee.This bill fixes or at least gives some redress to a real issue for several hundred New Zealanders who are still affected by these historical convictions. It also sends I think a powerful message to our LGBT community in New Zealand—particularly the younger members of that community—that they are valued that their lives are worthwhile that we as a Parliament do care that we want to see every New Zealander treated fairly and that we want to right the wrongs of the past. I think it is an excellent bill. I commend my colleague the Hon Amy Adams for getting it through to this point and I hope it will be passed unopposed in this House. Thank you.