PENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm very pleased to rise and speak in support of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Hazardous Substances Assessments) Amendment Bill. This bill, of course, has been to the Environment Committee and they have come back with a number of very sensible amendments to it. The purpose of the bill is a very worthwhile objective: to improve the assessment and reassessment of hazardous substances by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). The EPA, of course, is the regulator of some 150,000 hazardous substances, so it's not an insignificant role by any means that the EPA undertakes.