Seymour DavidDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of ACT in support of the Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Bill and hopefully to dial it down a notch and have some slightly calmer debate about this topic.If I'll say one thing about this great country of ours it's that people will go out of their way to help each other. They form clubs and associations—rugby clubs girl guides La Leche League whatever—to help people out; to help each other. That's one of the core values of this country. And we're also a country that is known for our realism—that we're prepared to accept the world as it is and choose how we behave and what to do about it. We're also a country that has a keen sense of what the role of Government is what the role of this Parliament is and what it isn't. We know that Parliament can't solve every problem. We know that sometimes we have to solve problems for ourselves. And we also are a country where we believe that people have the right to receive and impart information to think for themselves and make their own choices.I give that background to our proud culture as New Zealand because I think all of those characteristics of our country are important when deciding how to take a position on this piece of legislation. We face a reality where regardless of what this Parliament does people this summer are going to take MDMA and party pills and all sorts of stuff. That is a given whether people like it or not. That's the bit about facing reality. The question is what the role of this Parliament should be and should this Parliament seek to prohibit those people who are trying to help each other by forming organisations and voluntarily going out to help their fellow New Zealanders make informed decisions and choices about how they act—that's the question before this Parliament.And before anybody makes a decision they should also decide what the status quo is. What is Parliament doing now? Because too often this Parliament makes a law without asking what problem we're trying to solve or what laws are already in place. Well right now the truth is that this Parliament is actively prohibiting and stopping people from getting out and helping their fellow New Zealanders avoid harm—doing it voluntarily. We're stopping them voluntarily helping their fellow New Zealanders avoid harm with a law that says if you run a festival or a concert and you let someone come on and test party pills for people who are going to take them then you as the host are in at best a legal grey area—that's the status quo.And there's another question that needs to be put: has this got anything to do with taxpayer money? No it does not. If the question was: should the Government fund pill testing the ACT Party would be opposed. But that's not the question before this House. The question before this House is: should this Parliament put in place laws that stop New Zealanders—groups such as KnowYourStuffNZ that voluntarily come together to provide a service to help people understand what sort of substances they're taking so those people can make informed decisions and choose how to act—should this Parliament prohibit that from happening? The ACT Party says it's very clear: we should not prohibit volunteers going on to festival grounds and helping people make informed choices about the kinds of drugs that they may be taking.Now let me make another couple of comments about that. This is not a question about whether we think drugs are good. I'm someone who is very grateful to have a mind through which I can experience the world—and it is a wonderful world with its ups and its downs and its challenges and triumphs and tribulations. I do not understand why people would wish to distort that experience of the world arbitrarily using chemicals. I'm even thinking about quitting caffeine just to keep it real—just kidding! But I understand that people are going to do that. In my world people would not take psychoactive substances. It's not something I understand it's not something I condone and it's not something I support.But I also live in a real world where we know that people will and where we know that people put themselves at considerable risk because the people providing them with these substances do not follow the Consumer Guarantees Act. They don't have access to the usual remedies that people are able to access when they make sure that products like food or any other service that they like to buy or consume are safe. That's why it's necessary that these groups such as KnowYourStuffNZ are able to provide that information are able to allow people to make informed decisions. To continue the law as it states is no more complicated than this: this Parliament by the act of retaining the law made in the past will ensure that some people are going to go to festivals this summer and they're going to take substances without proper information. The substances are going to do them harm that may lead to chronic long-term conditions that may lead to death that at the very least are going to lead to chronic short-term discomfort—that's what's going to happen. And this Parliament if it opposes this legislation tonight will be responsible for having done that. I say to people that are sceptical about this: there's a good chance that the person affected will be someone that you know. It'll be parents who have sent their kids off to a festival. I don't know if Rhythm and Vines is still going. I can't remember a lot of being there to be honest. But they're going to go off to festivals up and down this country over what will hopefully be a sunny summer. It could be your nephew your niece your son your daughter—someone that you used to teach in your class—you just don't know. And they're probably not a bad kid. They're probably not someone that gets into a lot of trouble but without proper information in the heat of that moment here's the simple question: if they're going to take a substance would you like it to be a substance that you know is safe where voluntary organisations have been able to go and do the testing and ensure it's safe for them or would you rather just take a chance that maybe it's full of horse tranquiliser? Because that's literally the choice that people—if you're watching Parliament or at home listening to Parliament on your crystal set—are liable to make and people that you know.For all of those reasons in the traditions of a country where people get together form associations help each other face up to reality and make decisions with properly informed consent the ACT Party says that supporting this legislation is the right thing to do. That's why I'm proud to stand in favour of this bill tonight. Thank you Mr Speaker.