Dowie Sarah: Third Readings —Text is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDowie Sarah: Third Readings —[Sitting date: 19 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2475. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill): Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to speak again on the legislation arising from the Statutes Amendment Bill (No 4). It seems like only yesterday that we were enjoying the musings of the second reading. We have just come out of the Committee stage and now we get to debate the legislation arising from the original bill. Picking up again from my colleague Mr Hudson’s statement that he was going to refrain from talking about the positives and the benefits of having omnibus bills I say that I cannot help it either. They are a fantastic vehicle for expediting the legislative programme and I am fully in support of these bills.Quite often I am teased by my colleagues for the wide-ranging bills and matters that the Government Administration Committee hears but I am thrilled to sit on that committee. The very nature of it being wide-ranging in issues makes it fascinating and I believe that the people who sit on that committee definitely have skills that enable them to look at a wide range of Acts in particular in respect of this bill and understand those issues and move legislation forward—shepherd legislation—through the House effectively. So I appreciate sitting on the Government Administration Committee. I appreciate its breadth of topics and I appreciate being able to talk about and debate this bill. It is important to update the various legislation that needs updating and to put it into plain simple English so that all of the public understand the laws by which they are governed.I think the select committee process which shepherded this bill through is extremely important. I was not fortunate enough to sit on the committee when it heard the submissions but I understand that there were a whole four submitters. We should not take that as an indication that this bill is not significant. Those four submitters showed an interest in this bill and the importance of it. They were very good submissions. In fact I understand that there was one submitter Law for Change Otago which is a group of students and young professionals interested in public law. They actually gave a detailed 15-page submission that highlighted the potential for semantic misunderstandings in the bill. I am pleased that this Parliament and this process can give an opportunity to our young law students to involve themselves in law-making. I am sure that they have enjoyed that process and have moved on to fruitful careers in the law and that this process has enabled them to widen their knowledge on public law and omnibus bills.Moving on to some of the provisions in the bill I would like to talk about the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 and the amendments that this bill makes to it. Clause 88 of the bill clarifies that the period for appealing against elements of a provisional local alcohol policy runs from the notification of that provisional policy and not from the notification of the original draft policy. Of course this change relates to natural justice. You are giving a period for people to comment on and submit on the version of the alcohol policy that is most likely to be passed and that is only fair. The mind boggles really that those changes needed to be brought into effect but sometimes these technical difficulties follow through into Acts and we need to update them so they are more meaningful in real-life terms.Clause 89 of the bill replaces an incorrect reference to a draft policy with a reference to a provisional policy. That simply takes into account transitional processes and it simply makes sense. Clause 90 of the bill in respect of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act clarifies that objections to the granting of licences are limited to the suitability of the applicant in the case of an application for a licence that is of the same kind and is subject to the same conditions as the current licence for the premises. That is fair enough. When no terms of that licence are changing and they have been thoroughly considered in the first place but the licensee is changing that provision expedites the process and it is a fair enough consideration to consider only the suitability of the applicant.Clause 91 of the bill clarifies that a licensing authority as well as a licensing committee has to state a date for the expiry of a licence if its renewal is refused. Again that sets clear parameters. It reverts back to natural justice premises and sets a clear expectation as to what is expected of that licensee and when they are to cease operations. Clause 92 amends the heading to provide a fuller indication of the contents of the section which is simply fair enough. Finally clause 93 of this omnibus bill with respect to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act clarifies that electors of trustees of community trusts must reside in the trust district and that is absolutely fair enough. It is the electors within the district who know about their community. They are focused on their community’s needs and therefore they are in the best position to elect those trustees.And of course it would not be cricket if I did not bring that back to my electorate to Invercargill and talk about the Community Trust of Southland which is an absolutely fantastic organisation that supports our community so wonderfully. To end with I would like to simply highlight some of the projects it is involved in. If it was not for the Community Trust of Southland we would not have the velodrome a world-class facility to encourage young cyclists to enjoy the sport of cycling. Thank you.