Penk Chris; Sio Aupito WilliamCHRIS PENK (National—Kaipara ki Mahurangi): Thank you very much Madam Chair. In the spirit in which the Associate Minister for Justice made his contribution I'll recall that in my school days when the fine young gentlemen of Kelston Boys' High School were not perhaps as focused on algebra as they should have been the teacher would say It's your own time you're wasting." In a kind of existential sense of course that was right but until the bell goes it's very much the teacher's time that's being wasted—or at least I don't know you feel like you're somehow getting away with something. I sometimes regret that now—not particularly in relation to algebra let's be honest—Nicola Grigg: Back to the bill.CHRIS PENK: —but anyway here we are. "Back to the bill." I'm encouraged by my own colleague! Actually seeing as we're on the subject Ms Grigg thought we'd already done this bill so riveted was she by proceedings in the previous one. But actually I'm off duty now so I am wasting my own time.Anyway—the Statutes Amendment Bill. The Minister's made the very reasonable point that it is a matter of bipartisan consensus—or partisan consensus I suppose you could say; we do have more than two parties these days you know for some reason. Anyway we've got a number of amendments that are pretty uncontroversial. That's how they've made it in here in the first place and as the Chair of the committee's noted it will be possible to vote on those individually and we could record that we agree or disagree with any given one of them. We're not going to put the committee to that trouble. We have had the chance to check that we agree with the changes being made and also in the first instance that they are changes that don't need agreement in the policy sense.They're just—well they're minor they're technical and they're non-controversial but actually that doesn't mean they're not important. They are important to those who rely on these systems operating well—the legislation that governs the way that people can live their lives and do their work and so forth. I think it's fair to say—and it would be a Government of any stripe that would do this—these are matters that are small enough that they wouldn't occupy the House time that the Government's got allotted to it in and of themselves. You wouldn't make these 42 Acts' worth of amendments in 42 different bits of legislation—much more sensible to do it all in one hit. So on behalf of National I can say that we continue to support the process by which these have been brought forward. We support the changes themselves. We note that there are a large number of them.In relation to my own area I will actually just give a shout out to Ngāti Manuhiri in the north of Auckland—the South Mangawhai Forest is referenced specifically; that's just above the boundary of Kaipara ki Mahurangi. We are very pleased to have in our area a number of different iwi groups but certainly in that part of the world a constructive player a significant local player a force for good locally and so in the small way that this legislation supports their endeavours and allows them to get on without undue legal impediment—that's a good thing which I say from my perspective as a local MP.Other than that we see issues as diverse as the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997 and if my colleagues—who shall remain nameless other than Ms Grigg—think that the previous bill was pretty turgid stuff then she should see that bit of legislation. Anyway obviously there's some pretty significant stuff: the Evidence Act dear to the heart of every lawyer who sets foot in a courtroom and actually some non-court settings as well; the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act—so there's some provision there for the board to authorise a class of persons which is firefighters as a whole as opposed to individual ones to perform or exercise a function power or duty under the Act. So actually without knowing a lot about that personally that sounds like it could be really significant and including a Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) contractor as an appointee to a role or rank or position in FENZ again seems pretty sensible—again actually probably quite significant if you're in that position or needing to rely on a person taking up such a role.So that's sort of the nature of the amendments that are being made. We don't have anything more specific to say on them so I finish with that general observation that National continues to support the Statutes Amendment Bill and we welcome its continued passage which will no doubt comprise a third reading at some stage soon.Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Associate Minister of Justice): Thank you Madam Chair. I just want to acknowledge the point that the member made. Yes these are minor and technical but they are important particularly to our wider community.I just want to make reference to the Ngāti Manuhiri amendment. In March 2021 Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust requested the Crown remove an encumbrance from part of South Mangawhai Forest. The encumbrance provides for Māori to have a right of access to protected sites; it's not a public right of access. Heritage New Zealand concluded there are no protected sites within the discrete area. The encumbrance therefore has no practical effect for this discrete area. Amending the Act to remove the encumbrance from the discrete area would enable Ngāti Manuhiri to fulfil their development aspirations consistent with the land's status as commercial redress. Such redress is intended to enable iwi to build their economic base. Ngāti Manuhiri have corresponded about the proposal with iwi whose rohe overlap the discrete area and no concerns were raised. So I just wanted to use that as an example of how important it is.Finally even though you know I said it is the sexiest bill I have to say the staff who coordinate all of this at ministerial level at whips' level—I take my hat off to you. This is probably one of the most painful roles of trying to corral all of us here in the House so I want to acknowledge them but I absolutely acknowledge the multi-partisan approach that you all take in this bill. Thank you very much."