SpeechGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Mr Speaker. Thank you for this opportunity on a Thursday afternoon to speak to the final reading the third reading of the Incorporated Societies Bill. It was a privilege to sit on the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee to consider to debate to listen to learn and to hopefully create a bill that's fit for the 21st and let's say 22nd century. Because if you think about it 1908 back in the good old 20th century was when this legislation was first in the House and 114 years later it's back here. And think 114 years into the future in 2136–something like that; I'm sure I would have retired from this place by then I hope–and it'll hopefully be fit for purpose into the future. That's part of it right–that in 1908 there were things that weren't foreseen or weren't planned for because societies move on and change as does technology and as does our world. I'm not sure if it'll be fit for purpose in 2136 but I hope so. But I'm sure technology will slow down shortly and we can just kind of carry on life as usual.Anyway one of the officials early on—and I've referred to this several times and I'm probably stealing other people's thunder this afternoon; I've heard it already—but 1908 was about the birth and the death of a society whereas this creates the life force within the middle as well; so it's the birth the life and the death of a society. The other one I think we need to consider is that you know absolutely it's very much about those small little organisations. It's about those craft groups those arts groups those musical groups those religious and cultural groups sports education and marae but there are also some big entities that are incorporated societies who are dealing in millions and millions and millions of dollars a year. So that's why there has been work done to obviously ensure that it is fit for purpose that there are robust measures in place to make sure that these societies that these organisations operate as they should.Now in my own electorate—so the list keeps going up the more I think about it—I think I'm a member of three incorporated societies at the moment. But I was reflecting on what we have in New Plymouth or in Taranaki in my electorate. We've got the Taranaki Master Painters our good friends the Taranaki Federated Farmers the Taranaki Tennis Association the Taranaki community education trust we've got Ngāti Te Whiti hapū society we've got Te Rūnanga o Taranaki iwi. I see Minister Carmel Sepuloni here—we do have the Waitara multisport society who are doing a wonderful job in terms of building collaboration within the Waitara community and our sports community which is so important and is creating great impacts bringing a whole lot of different sporting groups together. There's also the New Plymouth BMX club. And then an example of a large one is of course the New Zealand Rugby Union which is an incorporated society who I'm sure it's not just volunteers who are involved but many others are. Of course being a member of the New Zealand Labour Party I am part of an incorporated society there and the New Plymouth Club which I actually had a drink at last Thursday night—absolutely wonderful.So the great thing about this is that we did work together and I heard that from my colleague across the room Melissa Lee. I felt like we had good constructive and robust conversations and we pushed back on each other. I think we landed mostly together in terms of where we got to. I'm also grateful to the Hon Todd McClay who was constructive and engaged well in the process along with my colleagues Naisi Chen and of course our fabulous chair Jamie Strange. I just want to touch on—because for me I think some language changed and in 1908 we couldn't have even imagined this. Well I would love us to have imagined this but at that time things in this House and in New Zealand were a bit different. But there was one in around clause 3(d)(iii) which reinforced for societies in their self-governing in accordance with their … own tikanga kawa culture and practice[s]"—and the fact that we bring tikanga we bring kawa into the mix and that can be part of a society and the development of their framework. I also really appreciated in clause 118A which ensures that societies can have all of their correspondence all of their documents in te reo Māori. It's simple—for many people it probably doesn't seem like a big deal but I think having these kind of things in current and modern legislation is an awesome thing. So I am grateful to be here as a community member who's been on many different societies who has volunteered many hours and will continue to do so as well as to those bigger organisations. I'm grateful that we've got to this place and I commend this bill to the House."