Barnett Tim: New Zealand Sign Language Bill — Third Reading 
Barnett Tim: New Zealand Sign Language Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:630;Page:2588] 
TIM BARNETT (Labour—Christchurch Central) 
: 
 I rise with respect and pride to support the third reading of this excellent bill. I stand with respect for those people from the Deaf community who have fought through the years for the fundamental human rights of recognition of communication and of the ability to live in a world free of prejudice—in essence the struggle for dignity. And I stand with pride that as a Labour member of Parliament I am in a party that against the cynicism of the National Party and other parties has promoted disability issues to be matters of ministerial responsibility and that has generated real action to bring to life the vision of a barrier-free world. 
I chaired the Justice and Electoral Committee that dealt with this bill for over a year. We made a few amendments to it but as a committee—which at that stage comprised members from six different political parties—we also went on a powerful journey in our personal understanding. We heard from people who had been banned from using sign language at school—one of a number of disturbing parallels with the Maori experience of much of the past century. We learnt that discussion of cochlear implants is important but that it is not the same thing as giving legal rights and recognition to New Zealand Sign Language. We came to understand signers as being conduits not as people speaking on behalf of others and we came with the bizarre exception of the ACT party to recognise the importance of this legislation as a symbol as a bottom-line guarantee and as a lever for those with energy and vision to use in building the future. And with the New Zealand Sign Language Bill that is what we have here today. 
This bill as well as being a reasonably cautious foot in the door also reaches out to the future. It includes the machinery for other areas of Government policy and Government services as well as covering the justice issues to be delivered in the future in order to have services and policies designed to meet the needs of people who are deaf. The bill establishes a third official language. Incidentally as we discovered in the select committee it was an irony to realise that English is not actually recognised as an official language anywhere in New Zealand law—[ 
Interruption 
] And some members of the house might actually welcome that! The bill does not set up a sign language commission to parallel the work of the Maori Language Commission but I think that in time that will be seen as the natural next stage—to nurture to guard and to promote New Zealand Sign Language. 
Over the past few years in this place I have been very much involved in law reform around fairly tricky issues particularly prostitution and civil unions. Like this legislation those reforms were to give a name a character and yes a recognition to something that had been out in the cold until that point. This legislation does the same. All three bills relating to those reforms have been marked by extraordinary scenes in the gallery of this Parliament. 
As my two colleagues have already said it is great to see people here today who have never been to see our democracy at work so close up. As well helped by this legislation surely the time is not far away when one of the 120 of us who occasionally or regularly sit down here after being elected to this Parliament will be deaf and when somebody sitting today in the gallery will instead be sitting down here in the Chamber enjoying the benefit of this law and being treated with dignity—being indeed an equal member of our society. I commend this bill.