Ngaro AlfredHon ALFRED NGARO (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. So I rise to take a call on this Veterans' Support Amendment Bill firstly because I was part of the Social Services and Community Committee in which the bill came and progressed through. But secondly like many of us I imagine that will also have previously shared this I will share in this House our commitment to ensuring that our veterans who have sacrificed and served our country will obviously always get the support of those across the House and across Parliament as well.Can I acknowledge the Hon Ron Mark for this bill. Though the changes that are being made here are small and technical and sort of drafting errors there is just one area that I think that I'd like to raise with the Minister which I'm sure he would agree with. What has been raised in some of the submissions during the select committee process was just in regards to the declaration of deployment which I'm sure the Minister has heard on many occasions from many of the RSAs. I want to acknowledge those of my local RSA the Te Atatū RSA—Richard Paterson Bob Pettis Stephen Erceg—who made representations to me in this regard to highlight this as an area of concern. Now their areas obviously in lobbying have been around medallic recognition. That's outside of the scope but what is inside the scope is the whole aspect of the declaration of deployment which actually relates to that area of concern that has been raised.So I know that and I note that in the Veterans' Support Act what it does allow and has always allowed is for the discretion of the Minister. So in this case I would petition and lobby the Minister on behalf of those who have lobbied me that as the Act allows for that he too—and I know that there's currently a review under place. I do hope that the recommendations that will come out of that review will give a positive pathway forward so that it will allow for those who've served in many situations and as this bill will attest to it's actually making an acknowledgment and a recognition of their current deployments that have not been recognised. I would simply say to the Minister there are many more and I'm sure that he knows of this and I hope that after the review there will be the opportunity for those that would lobby and continue to talk about deployments as far as South-east Asia for instance during the conflict there those who were serving in naval service there. Those in the ANZUK as well another group who've talked about their service which is the Australian New Zealand and the UK servicemen which are all part of veterans and who are deserving of their support as those in those 15 years of deployment will be recognised through this bill as well.So I along with this House; we commend this bill. We think it's timely. Again we've all agreed that actually we need to progress this as quickly as possible. There was no opposition to that. That's the only thing I would say again just to the Minister to put my 10 cents' worth alongside those that have served faithfully in our country for many years as well. My final remark is that on many occasions when I've been there especially during the Anzac services there's a nostalgic return of another generation because when many of our servicemen came back from war especially the Second World War many of them because of the PTSD the post-traumatic stress disorders that many of them had didn't often tell their stories. It was the proceeding generation the second generation that began to hear and understand.So there are many who have come to support the role of our servicemen in the past and even in the present in the roles that they play. So I hope that again this bill serves as a way of indicating that in this Parliament we all uphold service to Queen and country—we don't often say that. I'm sure the Minister maybe says at different times that we do serve as part of a Commonwealth—to our best abilities to uphold the rule of law and also to a democratic nation as well which is what this bill will do: acknowledge those in 15 areas of deployment who've certainly served faithfully and willingly and given in some occasions their lives. This will allow for their families to also be recognised and have some recognition in that as well. More importantly it allows for the narrative the stories to continue to be told—that service to country is the highest that one can give and offer as well. So along with us on this side of the House we support this bill to the House.