Grigg NicolaNICOLA GRIGG (National—Selwyn): Well Madam Speaker I think one of the delightful things about this particular bill is it's giving this House an opportunity to trot down memory lane and embrace and enjoy the richness which agricultural and pastoral societies have brought to New Zealand and I would like to take this opportune moment to inform the House that it's currently hearing a submission from the Mayfield agricultural and pastoral (A & P) society's 1989 district rider champion followed closely by the 1989 Methven A & P society's district rider champion. So it is with great pleasure that I rise and take this opportunity to also support along with my National Party colleagues the Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill. Obviously we in the National Party take enormous pride in our rural roots and each and every one of us within this House I would wager has spent childhood days and months and years at A & P Shows around the country. As much as I am a one-eyed Cantabrian and very proudly the MP for Selwyn I'm also half - Hawke's Bay and my mum grew up in rural Hawke's Bay. She's a good Pōrangahau girl and my granny is currently residing in the Mary Doyle retirement village in Havelock North. So my acknowledgment and love to my granny at the moment. But National does take the opportunity wherever possible to support any opportunity to modernise legislation and this is the epitome of that really. It's taken a piece of legislation that is well over 100 years old and is seeking to make it fit for purpose. It certainly doesn't seem right in this day and age where there are multiple investment opportunities available to what are as the previous speaker acknowledged by and large volunteer organisations who as we all know—you know everybody is rattling the can for the donor dollar at the moment and things are tough. It is very difficult for A & P societies to remain solvent in many cases and to put on these shows that we're all waxing lyrical about because we do love them dearly. So we do think it's important to allow A & P societies flexibility with their financial decision-making and to move from one legislative framework of investing—if you sell a piece of land you can only invest in another piece of land—to allowing societies as has previously been seen with other societies around New Zealand the opportunity to invest in shares and investment portfolios in other land should they want to in long-term deposits and all those kinds of things. That seems the right and proper thing to do if it is to contribute to the sustainability and longevity of these organisations and the wonderful facilities they provide and events that they do put on for our community.As is the normal practice in a second reading we do look back to the work carried out by the select committee; in this case the committee very ably chaired by our good friend Ian McKelvie the Governance and Administration Committee. I have had a quick look at a couple of the submissions. The Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society's own submission I think really eloquently gets to the crux of the issue when it says it doesn't make sense for us to be restricted to have to use the sale proceeds from one piece of land to purchase more land and that they very much want to secure the sustainability of their organisation. I've got a number of A & P Shows run by A & P societies around my electorate in Selwyn and numbers do dwindle. You know people are busy and we don't always get the gate takings that you would have seen in yesteryear. So it is I think very important that they are able to invest in their long-term viability by whichever means they see as right and proper. I did also take a look at the Royal Agricultural Society New Zealand's submission to this empowering bill and I did take great heart in their ethos and their rationale and that is to support our members to promote rural excellence sustainability and innovation as being key to their organisation. A number of speakers have referred to the fact that these societies and indeed a number of the shows and the events they put on are a wonderful showcasing opportunity for local communities particularly rural communities to as we often say bring country to town and to engage with our urban cousins and friends and show what we rural folk have to offer. So on that point we on this side of the House are very pleased to support this bill. We look forward to the future resumption of the horse—what am I trying to say Anna Lorck?Anna Lorck: Horse of the Year.NICOLA GRIGG: The Horse of the Year show! I've finally come to the end and crashed and burned. But look thank you very much for the opportunity Madam Speaker. We commend this bill to the House.