GEORGINA BEYER (NZ Labour--Wairarapa): I am delighted to support the Hon. Marie Hasler in the passage of this bill through to the select committee, and, I sincerely hope, right through to enactment. I would find it extraordinary if there was any member in this House who would not support this bill going further to its natural conclusion.
The previous speaker, Mr Eckhoff, spoke of his personal experience of being quite severely hearing-impaired, and perhaps we can look forward to the day when Mr Eckhoff might feel that he can bring a little dog into the House---with its little yellow coat on---and it will assist him in hearing, or not hearing, what happens in the conduct of this House. Indeed, his is an example of how people who are profoundly deaf, or severely hearing-impaired, can extend their human potential beyond the constraints they experience now.
I have always believed that every person in society should have the proper opportunity to reach his or her human potential. The participation of deaf people within society can be severely restricted, and this initiative will certainly help them achieve greater advantages in employment, socialisation, companionship, and with regard to all the safety factors mentioned by previous speakers tonight.
The spotlight was turned on this matter when I read about a visiting dingo from Australia in a magazine called Communicate. I will read a little bit out of the article, because I think it is quite sweet, and very important in raising awareness about this issue: "Donna the dingo, a recognised disability assistance animal in Australia, was not granted the same access rights in public places here in New Zealand as she has in Australia, when she visited with her deaf owners in March. John Hogan and Donna did much"---Donna is the dog---"to raise awareness of the unfair laws New Zealand has regarding legal rights of access of assistance dogs."
That is obviously a very important point. With the quality of training now being achieved for hearing-ear dogs, congratulations must also go to the national training centre just outside New Plymouth, which got the go-ahead to be up and running by February this year. That is significant in the sense that the community became involved, and I would like to read a short paragraph to the House on how that initiative came about, and how positive it is from a wider community point of view: "A local generation company, TrustPower, offered 3½ acres of land to the trust that does the training on a long-term lease basis, and the TSB Bank awarded a grant of $30,000 towards the establishment costs." That kind of encouragement from community organisations---and even those associated with the business sector---is very positive, and for an excellent cause.
It is very difficult to talk more broadly on such a bill than previous speakers have done, because there really is nothing to argue against. We can only support this bill going forward to a select committee for scrutiny---and perhaps improvement---though the bill seems to be in pretty good shape as it is. Once again I congratulate the Hon. Marie Hasler: it is a delight to be able to support people on the opposite side of the House when these kinds of bills come forward.
