Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. E ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoaASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): I'm sorry to interrupt the member I omitted to say this is a split call. Hon MEKA WHAITIRI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm pleased to take a call on the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill in the third and final reading. There are a couple of points that speakers previous to me have raised that I'm going to address in my contribution. First and foremost is in the Minister's introduction of this third reading. He used the phrase safety valve" and that this commission should be seen as a safety valve adding to our justice system. I want to reference that because that's exactly what we are trying to do here. The commission as the Minister outlaid will be set up to investigate miscarriages of justice. I unlike that previous member that's resumed his seat David Bennett have every faith that the appointed commissioners will not just take any frivolous cases but will subject those approaching the commission to the same test that we have currently. In the Minister's use of the phrase "safety valve"—I would think all members of the House would consider how we improve our justice system. I believe we do have a very well-oiled justice system but like we said previously we get things wrong. And so we should be open to forever improving our justice system so that those that are subjected to it feel that they are being treated fairly. The other words the Minister used—and it's also in some of our contributions in the reading of this bill—were independence and targeted. So this commission will be an independent body targeting those that may bring their cases to them. They won't be part of the Ministry of Justice where presently if you have applied for the prerogative of mercy clause you then have to fit within the Ministry of Justice's current busy workload. So having an independent body that has the resources the energy and the targeted expectation that will examine each appeal I think is a good thing. I want to just talk about the make-up and I want to talk about the introduction of a commissioner that has knowledge in tikanga Māori and Te Reo Māori and knowledge of Te Ao Māori. I want to acknowledge the work of the Justice Committee. They couldn't agree on making this particular—couldn't agree on the bill but they did make a series of well-considered amendments. One of them actually when I read it I thought I was reading a select committee report from the Māori Affairs Committee because not only did we talk about the knowledge of Te Ao Māori and tikanga Māori we talk about specialists advisers with cultural knowledge and we also talk about procedures consistent with the Treaty principles. Some members in this House have talked about certain sectors of our community that do not access the appeal rights within our justice system none more so than Māori and in terms of the prerogative of mercy virtually none—very few. The Teina Pora case as expressed by other members in this House was not ignited or engaged or instigated at his instigation; it was his advocates and friends on the side. And if we are going to ensure that our justice system is equitable and accessible then a commissioner surely must be a way to achieve that aim. And so the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill is attempting to do that. It is attempting to add the value and make sure that our justice system is free and accessible to all. In my closing minute I want to acknowledge the Minister for bringing this important piece of legislation to the House. I want to acknowledge New Zealand First who advocated for this bill. I want to acknowledge the submitters that came in front of the Justice Committee. I want to acknowledge the officials that wrote it and also the select committee members who considered it and made some very good amendments. It is a point to all of us on this Justice Committee that there are clearly going to be occasions where we differ across the House. It is always my hope as the chair of the Justice Committee that we actually report back to the House on pieces of legislation even though we disagree. I commend this bill to the House."