Barry MaggieMINORS (COURT CONSENT TO RELATIONSHIPS) LEGISLATION BILLThird ReadingDebate resumed.Hon MAGGIE BARRY (National—North Shore): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I rise with enormous pleasure to speak to my friend and colleague Jo Hayes' bill the Minors (Court Consent to Relationships) Legislation Bill at its third reading. I will echo many of the sentiments already expressed and no doubt still to be expressed.This is a bill—I think I said it in the second reading—that has been a long time coming. I acknowledge our friend and former colleague who is in the House today Jackie Blue somebody who has as we've heard—I suppose the gestation of this bill began with and its conception was with Jackie. I won't carry on those gynaecological references too far but I do think that without your willingness Jackie to embrace something that was at the time considered pretty unnecessary in New Zealand—it wasn't something that we felt in this country apparently was really much of a concern here but it was.I also commend Shakti's Priyanca Radhakrishnan who was working there at the time and has done a lot of work I think behind the scenes as well since she became a member of Parliament to really highlight the necessity for this bill. And to Jo Hayes: tenacity and determination are two of the qualities that I think spring to mind around this piece of legislation. When Jackie left Parliament she passed the bill to me. It remained in the ballot and then it was drawn. Then I moved on to be a Minister and handed it through and Jo has shepherded it through in a very skilful and collaborative way and as with the former speaker Louisa Wall I would like to commend her on her whakataukī and the multicoloured approach that you allude to because this is a bill that could not have passed without the support of many in the House and the understanding as to why it is necessary.Louisa Wall detailed some pretty brutal practices internationally which I think are harrowing to listen to and horrifying obviously to happen to a young person. It's extraordinary to us in New Zealand to think that child brides should be something that is a day-to-day reality for some people in our ethnic communities in particular. When we come to the numbers as to how many might be affected it's hard to say. I mean it could be up to 30 young people a year. Any one is bad so it is important though to understand that this is a very focused and specific bill that relates to really difficult cases.It is also important to know that it has been through many incarnations or iterations—I'm not sure what word would best describe it—but I think that once we got the bill to a stage where it was drafted there had been other law changes that needed and necessitated us to change other aspects of other Acts. That is why this bill proposes changes to the Marriages Act 1955 and the Care of Children Act 2004 because it needs to ensure that all minors wishing to marry are doing so with the acceptance of the court and with equal consent from both parties.So it's been a multilayered legal approach and that is why it needed to become an omnibus bill. Jo has talked to us many times and on many occasions about perhaps the frustrations of needing to guide this bill through some choppy waters because of some unexpected obstacles—not of a lasting variety but just of the kind to prove a hiccup and to delay it. So when I said at the start that this bill has been a long time in coming I really meant it in a heartfelt way because it has gone through a lot of hands and a lot of considerations and a lot of legal refinements to get it to the state that it is in today.I think it is in a very good state. I think the idea that to coerce a young person to marry now has to come with a penalty—recognition and a penalty: a maximum of 5 years imprisonment. This bill will close that potential gap in the laws against forced marriages by stopping someone being threatened or intimidated into marrying and there are a lot of examples of this occurring.I think the civil union factor as well was something that we needed to come to terms with because since the bill was first conceived and written up that was a piece of legislation that warranted an alteration and it was robustly discussed at the Justice Committee and I commend all the people that have been part of that wider discussion to get it into a state that is really fit for purpose.Involving the Family Court and an application being considered through that process is a very important thing. Hearing from the applicant—either the 16- or the 17-year-old themselves and their parents—as far as is practicable. There are obviously occasions where coercion and tensions between family members could result actually in that not being the ideal environment for all cases but it is ultimately a place where decisions are made and I think there's a level of protection and that is very desirable with these already vulnerable and at risk people.The bill also amends section 46C of the Care of Children Act which is again where a child has to seek the review of their parent's or guardian's decision or their refusal to give consent because it does not apply for consent to a civil union or entry into de facto relationships. I don't want to get too bogged down in the technicalities because they are a kind of necessary evil—not exactly evil but they needed to be very carefully thought through in order for this bill to reach the people who it needs to reach.I think having a judge involved is a very important thing. The amendments include what matters in a Family Court judge's perspective—so what that judge who is not unaccustomed to a variety of difficult and complex cases needs to be satisfied about when considering an application—including being free from undue influence or coercion. These are sometimes quite subtle difficult things to understand and to appreciate. So I'm very glad that people of a high level of expertise and intellectual rigour will also be involved in this. The judge has to consider many things: the age the maturity and the views of the individual; the views of the parents as well; and I would imagine there would be quite a lot of other information that sometimes might be brought to bear. A judge is I think the appropriate person so that some circumstances are not given undue weight—that it is very carefully calibrated and considered on balance.I think the cultural report is another very important part of this. There are very many ethnic groups that are in New Zealand and communities that adhere—and rightly so—to the traditions from their countries of origin. So it is important that in the context of their culturally acceptable patterns and behaviours as well as within the law these balances are understood. A cultural report which would cover aspects of the applicant's cultural background including religious practices would be taken into account.I think legal representation is another tricky area. The court will have the ability to appoint legal representation to assist the application. Again if a lonely isolated young person has no clear direction or in fact a coercion effect from their parents who do they listen to? Who are the wise guides who will give them proper advice? I think legal representation and payment for it would be of course out of the reach of a young person who feels in a dangerous situation. I think that is another layer which enables this to occur in a way that is meaningful and timely for the young person. Obviously the age is an important element of this and once a young person reaches that age of 18 then there are different decisions and choices that can be made. But in so far as they are young and they are being coerced there is a need to move quickly and I think that that has also been part of our considerations in putting together a view. I think that when it comes to a civil union this was not something that we thought would impact enormously given the cultural background of many of these forced marriages and child brides in the past but it is an important consideration given the changes in our laws.This is a piece of legislation that needs to be fit for future purpose. We do not want to have to bring this back to the House in a year or two or three and tinker with a clause or two. This needs to be and I believe is in a state of readiness to be of great use to young people who are undergoing potentially a forced marriage or coercion.As a country New Zealand wants to be part of a world that eliminates this sort of practice. It should not be happening anywhere in the world and in a year where we are celebrating 125 years of women's suffrage in a country that—I won't say gave women the vote because it was too hard fought for to be given or gifted but this was a country that allowed it. And in our 125th year of commemorating that major achievement on the international stage if you like this is a time that this bill is appropriate to pass and so I feel that it's time has come. I commend Jo Hayes. I commend Jackie Blue and others who have helped to nurture this bill through about a 10-year period now or more. Therefore I commend this bill without hesitation to the House. Thank you.