Bayly AndrewANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is a pleasure to be talking on this racing bill for the final time. I don't normally sit on the Transport and Infrastructure Committee but I asked to go on it because I was lucky enough to be brought up in a family where my father and mother were extensively involved in racing. And for me even as a child I used to go to race meetings with my father and used to look after the horses particularly the weanlings and teach them how to lead and all those sort of things when they were still on their mothers. So to me racing is a deeply personal issue but the amazing thing watching over the many years is how the racing industry has gone into significant decline.It's a shame because it is a wonderful industry. I was just down at Byerley Park in Karaka recently in fact the weekend before last. The people down there—and the Minister referred to this the 4 a.m. start. The people down there there were the trainers the jockeys the owners there were all support people that look after the horses the stable hands but even the people just on the stopwatches and you realise what a diverse industry it is. There's one common thing that everyone has when they go to those early morning sessions and I know my colleague Ian McKelvie and the Minister would have no doubt experienced this. There's a camaraderie particularly at dawn watching horses going around the track. It's deeply felt and I know it'll be no different with the greyhound industry as well and the trotting industry. It is a great industry because the people who are associated with it are not necessarily all smart bankers and people who are highly skilled in many things; it actually draws wonderful people from a wide breadth of backgrounds and I think that's what makes up the racing industry. That's why it is so important to New Zealand that we make sure that it retains and is sustainable going into the future because for some people that is perhaps one of the only jobs that they are going to be able to do and do well. And I think recognising that and the people that are drawn to it is absolutely essential for New Zealand and in a wonderful way in terms of just trying to help many people in New Zealand.So the bill that we've worked on there were concerns with the bill when it was introduced. But I'm very grateful to the members of the committee and also to the Minister for working collegiately so we've now ended up with a bill which I think will hold the industry in a much better position going forward. Obviously the changes around the governance arrangements of the TAB being clear about its objectives making sure it's accountable to the industry is one area. There is the formation of Racing New Zealand which is an entity to represent the combined interests of greyhound racing thoroughbred racing and also trotting. Also there is a lot more clarity around the judicial aspects of it making sure the safety of horses is protected and all those different aspects that have come together in this bill I think are excellent. Also I think the vexed question around the intellectual property and the recognition that it is owned by all the codes and it doesn't actually belong in one particularly entity as it was originally proposed. I think that as a package provides a sort of a structural framework for the industry to be able to face a future with a certain amount of confidence.I think we should acknowledge the 900 submitters. I think the most telling thing was the second submission we heard actually which was a combined submission from the thoroughbred industry the trotting industry the greyhound industry. The three chairs came together and made a very powerful submission to the select committee and it was good to see that unified submission. And it was clear what the industry was asking for. It was clear and I'm so glad the select committee responded to that challenge.I think it's also appropriate to acknowledge the Department of Internal Affairs officials. We've had long and difficult conversations but we've hammered out a bill which I think is a good bill and I do want to acknowledge their input. It's good to be challenged all the way through and they certainly did that. The influence of John Messara he was the last submitter—very powerful submission too—and his intellect in terms of the racing industry his insights were very very useful and actually helped clarify some of the aspects that we were still dealing with towards the end of this select committee process. I just hope that Mr Messara will have the opportunity to have a further involvement in the industry. I totally agree with my colleague Ian McKelvie whilst we have got a structure now that is appropriate the first thing that's most important is to make sure we get the right people because if you get the right people any structure will work. So that is why the selection process is absolutely fundamental that we get the right mix of skills in the right places.But the second big challenge for the industry going forward is the one around the future arrangements of the TAB and I just want to put it on record that if the TAB is to negotiate an arrangement with an international player who will be very skilled in betting and wagering we need to make sure that we get the world's best skills to help in that negotiation and not do what we normally do in New Zealand which is rely on one or two people who think they know a lot. But we need wonderful skills around the negotiating table to make sure we get the best deal because what we don't want to be is back here in Parliament in seven years' time with the industry back where it is right now which is really in a difficult situation.Finally I just want to dedicate my interest to my father Phil Bayly who had a very extensive involvement in racing as some people have done. I've been to many racecourses he had so much luck: second in the Melbourne Cup two fifths in the Melbourne Cup Auckland Cup Sydney Cup. He won 14 Group One races. And I know if he was alive today he'd be proud.