Whaitiri Meka: Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 27 November 2014. Volume:702;Page:950. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti):Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Tēnā tātou katoa i te Whare nei. I too rise in support of this albeit small bill but none the less very important bill and my contribution is to acknowledge that every Kiwi has a sporting gene in them—Carmel Sepuloni: Especially you.MEKA WHAITIRI: —ha ha—be it as a participant an armchair critic or a supporter. But as mentioned earlier there are also the many managers coaches and administrators who do some amazing things for our sporting bodies throughout the country. So I do want to acknowledge them. There is absolutely no room in New Zealand for match fixing or cheating whatsoever. That is why it is a no-brainer that we stand up and eradicate something that could easily influence or infiltrate our precious sporting systems here in New Zealand.As others have mentioned coming through the sporting system has a way of teaching you and preparing you for many challenges in life. I have been quite fortunate to have represented this country as a netballer and a softballer and I played—[Interruption]; thank you very much—many many years ago. Also I know we are pushing through this particular legislation in anticipation that we are going to have the Cricket World Cup so I do want to acknowledge that I also played representative cricket for Hawke’s Bay way back. I will not tell you the year but I did take on the Indian women’s team. So I say to my fellow colleague there Mr Ian McKelvie: if you want to resurrect the parliamentary cricket team I am sure I can bring out a couple of underarms overarms or whatever else to contribute.On a serious note it is important that we safeguard against any intrusion into our country of what is determined as cheating and match fixing. Like previous speakers have said there are threat assessments warning of an increasing risk of crime syndicates in terms of sports match-fixing particularly in Australia and we only have to reflect on the Cairns family name in cricket. I recall watching the older Mr Cairns—Lance—play. I have memories of him not actually having a bat; he had a club reminiscent of a caveman. I remember watching him with great delight as he almost hit a six for six in an over and thinking: “What a giant of a man.” So it is unfortunate that the Cairns name has been tarnished with the allegations that have occurred under match fixing.We talk about match fixing in terms of the significant damage that it can do to the integrity of our sporting reputation internationally given that sports contributed almost $5 billion to our economy back in 2008-09. I would like to reflect on as has been earlier mentioned the successes of people like Lydia Ko Michael Campbell and Joseph Parker and teams like the Silver Ferns who represent our nation as they take on the wider world. It is important that we do not just uphold our reputation in terms of stamping out a potential wrong that can creep into our sport; it is also about actually preserving and safeguarding our reputation internationally. Therefore we need to be vigilant in this space.The bill will help to address the risks that might occur during next year’s New Zealand Cricket World Cup and the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Both events are coming to our country and I am looking forward to seeing them play in February and March and in May and June respectively. There were some earlier comments made by my colleague Trevor Mallard in terms of the recently victorious display of our rugby league team just down the road here where we unfortunately did not have a Government representative at that game.Hon Trevor Mallard: Very poor.MEKA WHAITIRI: Very very poor. But I was there and I raised the flag. It is a very rare thing to see the Kiwis take on the Aussies and beat them on our own home turf so I do want to acknowledge the success of our New Zealand rugby league team.These are enjoyable times when we as Kiwis can attend sporting events such as the rugby league. I wish I had the same passion as the Silver Ferns at the moment who are going through a bit of a rebuild and a reconnect—[Interruption] Yes well maybe we need to look at the coach but we will leave that for another korero. But seriously I am just—Hon Trevor Mallard: You could swap.MEKA WHAITIRI: No no no. I quite like the job I have got at the moment Trevor thank you very much. There are a lot of sportspeople like I mentioned earlier who dedicate their lives not just in terms of enjoyment of the sport but in terms of success of the sport and the benefits we gain as participants in New Zealand sport cannot be underestimated. Therefore it is like I said important that we see this piece of legislation go through. I look forward to when it comes to the Committee of the whole House stage. At the end of the day it is preserving what we as Kiwis have grown up with and we do not want cheating creeping at all into what we hold very dear and what does create the fabric of our country in terms of the opportunities successes and of course learnings that we get through sport participation.In terms of the parts of the bill specifically I want to make mention of the insertion of new section 240A into the Crimes Act 1961 which is to make clear that certain match-fixing activity is a form of deception under section 240. This removes the current uncertainty about whether match fixing falls within the scope of that part of the Crimes Act. I too want to acknowledge the work of the Law and Order Committee. Obviously I am not a member of that select committee but none the less I want to acknowledge all members in terms of putting up this amendment. As for the submitters I too was hoping that we would have more submissions from across our national bodies. I know this has been pushed ahead simply because of the pending sports fixtures next year but we cannot lose sight that there are opportunities where this kind of practice can creep in. That is what I understand this legislation is going to prevent so we need to take that wide-angle lens and look at not just what occurs on the field and on the court but also what happens on our waterways and on our racing tracks which has been ably covered by the contributors this afternoon.It has been very enjoyable to actually contribute to this bill which goes to the heart of something that I love dearly and like I said that most New Zealanders love dearly. We do not want cheats and we do not want match fixing but we sure as hell do want a fair and equitable chance for all New Zealanders unlike what we have seen in this House this week—the vile and grubby politics that has come from the Prime Minister. Kia ora tātou.