Bradford Sue: Racing Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Bradford Sue: Racing Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:606;Page:3964] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 In this part of the bill that deals with the role and membership of the new New Zealand Racing Board the Green Party is putting forward an amendment with regard to clause 12. That clause deals with the make-up of the advisory panel that will assist the Minister in working out who three out of the seven members of the board will be. While we have no problems with the current members of the panel as outlined in the bill—that is the Minister the independent chairperson and the chairpeople of the three racing codes—we believe that alongside them there needs to be a representative of clubs with three or fewer race days. That is not a radical suggestion. My original intention had been to seek a representative of those clubs for the board itself. However as there seemed to be no way that the delicate balance on the board already worked out by extended consultation and negotiation between the codes and the Government could be changed I am looking for support now for this much-reduced attempt to make sure that country and provincial racing gets a voice in terms of who makes up the board. 
There are many contentious issues within racing as anyone involved in the industry knows all too well. However a bottom line for me throughout the process of consideration of this bill has been a recognition of the threat that underpins the survival of the small clubs in particular not just in relation to the clubs themselves but to the owners trainers breeders and the wider community in the local districts. Once a local race club loses its viability through the loss of race days or of funding or both that loss is felt not just by those directly affected but by the whole district around them. The Green Party believes that the continued erosion of race days and of the funding allocated to small clubs is a threat to the heart of racing and that if this bill does anything it must be to do what it can to redress the balance between the big rich and powerful players within the racing world and the smaller bodies that are struggling for survival. That particular amendment to clause 12 is one of several that we are proposing in order to try to do what we can to make sure that the voice of those who have the least is heard by the Minister and the other major players when it comes to making nominations for the new board. That amendment will not cost the Government lots of money nor will it threaten the delicate balance on the board itself. I call on all parties in this Committee including Labour to consider giving it their support. 
In respect of another aspect of this part of the bill that Lindsay Tisch has been talking about the Government has put up a Supplementary Order Paper relating to clause 15 as has Mr Tisch. Late last year there was a lot of pressure from some parts of the racing industry to look again at that clause because it deals with the critical issue of the distribution of reserves and surpluses to the codes. The Green Party does support Mr Gosche’s amendment to that clause as we believe that it moves to a necessary compromise between the two positions—that of Mr Tisch and some parts of the racing industry who would like to see the board have complete discretion over determining who gets what and the original clause as reported back to the House which is perhaps overly binding in terms of the proportions to be given to each code. The Government’s Supplementary Order Paper 16 moves to a situation whereby the proportions distributed to the codes can be changed as long as two out of the three codes agree to that. We think that is fair and reasonable and we will be supporting it accordingly.