Ngaro Alfred: Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 23 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19377. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National):It is always good to speak after the member Andrew Little because he also provides a little platform to speak on. We know that the party slogan of the Labour Party is “Vote positive” but he could not stay on message. He began negative and talked about the National Party and all its negatives tones. Some of us wondered how Labour got its branding and logo. We sort of think the party members got together and they realised that the polls were not doing well so they had a little committee. They met together and they questioned what was going wrong. What was going wrong was that they kept on talking negatively about everything that was going on. So what they said was this: “Let’s go out there and let’s tell people to vote positive.” The difficult thing for Mr Little is that every time he tries to act positive it is very difficult and he goes negative. But he did go back on message. I would have to give you that Mr Little. You went back on message and became very positive as well at the same time.I want to join in that positive stance because really tonight is the night we want to congratulate our member our colleague “Mr Tripod” here the honourable member Cam Calder—because he is an honourable member. One thing I have absolutely enjoyed about our colleague in our time here is that on the many times he has stood up in the House he has been very passionate he has been honest and he has been true to his convictions and what he believes is important for the communities that he serves. Here he is. Yes he is the man from “the Naki”. He may live on the Shore but when the opportunity to serve Manurewa came he went in there boots and all.Even today I actually said to Cam: “That’s right—Manurewa hard.” He said: “Alfred we’re no longer going to go there. It’s Manurewa proud.” And he began to tell me about the reasons. He said that for the community that he serves out in Manurewa so many times things have been hard. He said he wants to change that. For the time that he has been there serving that community—over 6 years—he has been talking about how this community can be proud of the place that they live in of the things that they have there of the schools and the services they deliver. So I really want to commend you Cam because you have been absolutely a champion of the community of Manurewa. When people look into that community they may judge it by all sorts of different things but as you have worked in there you have wanted to say that Manurewa its community and its people should be proud of the place that they live in should be proud of the community that they serve and should actually grow that community from the inside out to be transformative. I want to commend you for the Government that you have been working in and the role that you have played as well.It is an honour for anyone to be able to have their own member’s bill drawn and we have talked about it being the roll of the dice. There you go—you have come out of the ballot and you have had your member’s bill drawn. But as my colleague here Mike Sabin said it is one thing to get drawn; it is another thing to take the bill to completion. One thing that I know from my colleague here is that as Cam Calder has worked on the Summary Offences (Possession of High-power Laser Pointers) Amendment Bill—Mike Sabin: He’s lobbied like you wouldn’t believe.ALFRED NGARO: He has lobbied in a way that has made a difference and here is the proof in the pudding. He has been the chairman of the Education and Science Committee where he has had to work in a collegial way knowing that the fact is that the balance of power can sway either way. That is testament to your chairmanship. That is testament to the fact that you have lobbied and you have worked. You wanted to get a collegial and consensual response to supporting the things that you have led as well. You have done that and you have done a great job with your bill as well.There is another thing I want to say about this bill—and it is my first time to speak so it is actually an honour to be able to speak to this bill. But can I say that people have commented that it is only a small bill. But it is a small thing that makes the difference. You may tick it as an output saying yes the purpose of this bill is to be preventative in its impact. But you see it is the outcomes that I often look at which do make the difference.So here are some of the outcomes that I think make a difference. The bill tells juvenile offenders who are out there and it tells young people—and we have all been young in our days—that when they go out there that yes you can be a little bit cavalier you can maybe go out in a bit of folly and play. I am trying to use these words that I know that Mr Cam Calder would use. But the fact is that there comes a time when you need to be responsible and I think that is the key word. This is preventative because people are going to be responsible even for the things that they take into their hands. You have talked about this: that a hand-held laser can be used in a way that it can become a weapon. So here is an outcome that it is doing. It is sending a message to people who are out there to be aware and be responsible for their actions as well.The second outcome that I think is important is that it puts in the hands of our enforcement agency a tool that enables them to use this in a way that actually ensures that they can enforce this provision. It allows them to be able to take action if needed and to enforce the legislation and the laws that come out of this bill as well.When we think about this we think about the Malaysia Airlines tragedies and so forth and what happened there. I began to think about this hand-held laser legislation and the impact that it could have and I thought about NZ474. That is the 6.40 flight that leaves Wellington through to Auckland. I know that often Cam and a number of us Auckland MPs catch that flight. I think on average there would be about 12 to 15 MPs on there. Could you imagine if that flight NZ474 was coming down to land in Auckland and it was blinded by a laser all of a sudden it lost its path and the tragedy of all tragedies happened and 15 MPs of Parliament were tragically taken away? That would be a tragedy of all tragedies. We could have been in that situation.Dr Cam Calder: Some people may disagree with that.ALFRED NGARO: That is right. We laugh at it and we jest but the truth of it is that in the wrong hands in an irresponsible way we know that hand-held lasers can cause damage. We know that for instance as has been quoted the number of incidents of laser strikes has increased and it can only increase unless this bill which is an important bill enforces a key message of responsibility for people who are out there as well.What we also know is important is that this has caused damage. Here is some of the evidence that we know is out there. In June 2011 a young boy who played with a laser purchased in Thailand reflected the beam in his eye through a mirror and he suffered damage to his eye. We know they cause harm. In June 1998 at a Waikato rugby union game approximately 30 cases of arc eye were reported after a rugby match. So we know that it does happen we know the impact that it has and we know the damage it can cause.I just want to finally finish up on this. I just want to acknowledge my colleague. He will go out there. I just say that it is a proud moment to be able to ensure that at this third reading he has got unanimous support. Not many bills get unanimous support so that you can say that right across the House people support its intent they support its action—not only its output but its outcomes—to truly make a difference to our communities. I salute you Dr Cam Calder and thank you for your work and for your service to New Zealand to this Parliament and to the National caucus.