Ghahraman GolrizGOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN (Green): Kia hora te marino kia whakapapa pounamu te moana aroha atu aroha mai tātou i a tātou tēnā tātou katoa.[May the calm be widespread may the sea lie flat like greenstone love and be loved all of us together greetings to all.]On Friday 15 March 2019 just over three weeks ago an atrocity was committed in New Zealand. It was committed by a white supremacist it was committed by a terrorist and it was committed using semi-automatic firearms that he'd purchased legally though he had modified them. It resulted in 50 deaths: deaths of children as young as three years old mums and dads teenagers who had plans with their mates afterwards and older kaumātua of their community who'd brought that community together over the years. Survivors now live with ongoing trauma a lifetime of trauma and ongoing injuries that will not be fixed in days or weeks or even months because the weapons used were designed to cause mass harm.In the wake of that atrocity New Zealand came together. We came together across the country. We gathered in mosques and at vigils. We held each other we cried together we held those victims in our hearts and we promised those victims our solidarity as well as our support and ongoing courage as we make every change that's needed to make New Zealand a place that is safe—where we all feel safe and free.I am so proud that in only three weeks this House is already making that change—the first step in that change—together across the House. So I do want to acknowledge that that is happening in very near unanimity and it happened through the hard work of the committee that came together at short notice.Let's recall that this change was a long time coming. It was not a knee-jerk reaction. It was change that had been repeatedly recommended including by New Zealand Police and I want to acknowledge them because they do face the front lines of violence when it happens and they've repeatedly recommended this change. So the fact that we've come together now to make the change proves our commitment to continue standing with those victims in their grief in our continued and communal shock.But also I think it acknowledges as we must acknowledge that members of the communities that were directly affected—Christchurch city our Muslim communities our migrant communities and our refugee communities across New Zealand; and I do include myself in that—we live not only with ongoing grief but also very real fear because that is the purpose of an act of terror. So as we walk our kids to school as we catch the bus late at night and as we gather in our community hubs we now live with the fear of mass violence and this House recognises that and the job of making New Zealand safe.So this bill will finally ban semi-automatic military-style weapons magazines and modifications that make them behave like semi-automatics because we recognise that weapons like the ones used in mass atrocity have no place in civil society. We will establish an amnesty and I think that is the right thing to do and I think we all probably come together to urge all gun owners who hold these weapons and these parts legally to come forward and hand them over as part of the amnesty or do it now.We have made some exceptions as it was appropriate to do for pest control. Other exceptions were made for heirloom and collector weapons that will now have to have their parts kept in separate places. The Green Party agrees with New Zealand Police who said that it would be best to disable those weapons permanently but we also do note that this is a great move forward and that it is only the first part of changes we will make in gun control laws.I want to acknowledge also that as much as this was a change that was recommended over time by experts it also is a change that was championed and brought about as a result of people power. It was incredible that 70000 New Zealanders signed a petition within five days of what happened in Christchurch calling for this very change and 60 percent of select committee submitters supported it. So this is change that New Zealand wants.Chris Bishop: Where were you on the committee?ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Mr Bishop.GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: This is change that New Zealand has called for. It is change that's driven by people power because big money lobby groups don't drive change in New Zealand's Parliament.I want to acknowledge also the long line of Green Party activists and MPs in whose giant shoes I stand today who've championed for better regulation of gun control. Over time as part of our ongoing kaupapa on peace we've advocated for non-violence. It is one of our founding charter principles and we stand for peace in New Zealand now as we come together to have those hard conversations that will reveal the causes of this tragedy.So future action will happen. We look forward to the royal commission of inquiry recommendations that will look at the causes of the violence in Christchurch and that will look at the activities of our intelligence services and our law enforcement services and the way that hate speech and hate crimes are recorded and defined in our law. We must be brave as we shine a light in the dark corners of hate racism and prejudice that we've learnt do exist in our society and make the changes we need.The cost of doing nothing has been too high. Too many people have been hurt. Today we are drawing a line in the sand. Fixing our gun laws is the beginning but New Zealand and this House are committed to doing all of the hard work beginning all of the change that will make New Zealand truly a place where we can all feel safe and at home. So I commend the bill.