New Zealand signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008. Back then, it reflected a shift in the understanding of disability from the medical model focused on disability as an impairment as the cause of social exclusion, to a human rights model. As the Human Rights Commission put it in a recent submission to this House, "This means seeing persons with disabilities as rights holders rather than subjects in need of protection." While this bill won't fundamentally change the landscape for all disabled people, it does help us recognise the rights of people with disabilities, and when only about 2 or 3 percent of our housing stock is fully accessible, it's, I believe, particularly important to remove any grounds of discrimination that may present a further barrier to getting into one of those rare, precious spaces. 