Chen Naisi; McKelvie IanNAISI CHEN (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise in this House tonight—perhaps for today to be the final speaker on this bill. However I just wanted to put on record that this is a necessary bill this is a wonderful bill to increase the transparency in our local government and this is a bill that not only our party but I personally wholeheartedly support.Can I start by thanking the select committee which you are chair of for going through the process of scrutinising this bill of many in-depth conversations that we've had on little issues or big issues but every single detail I think—we've been able to work collegially in our select committee to be able to really present to the House a wonderful bill. It was wonderful to start with but I think we've really made it better in terms of all the conversations we had and nulling out all of the details and actually exploring all of the possibilities and what the ramifications are if we were to for instance legislate in one way plan A versus plan B. So Mr Speaker thank you for that and thank you especially to the member who is the sponsor of this bill my colleague Tangi Utikere for his guidance and for his support throughout this whole entire process.I think Mr Utikere has appeared on almost every single select committee meeting as an old friend coming back while we were considering this bill and had offered his insights as deputy mayor previously of his city but also as a member of Parliament and just supporting us and asking questions to the officials in the most insightful manner that I can see.I just want to allude to a couple of issues that I found to be really important and things that I think as our select committee I was really proud that we were able to make those changes. Now for the first one is expanding the scope to local boards. As we all know local boards play a very very important part in our local democracy whether that be in Auckland—I know in Christchurch they call it a community board. Those people are really very grassroots in the community every day. They also have huge responsibilities in terms of grant giving and in terms of budgets as well.For instance our local board in the Botany electorate Howick Local Board—and a shout-out to Adele and her team the chair Adele White. They look after for instance all of our traffic implementation so the crossings; in terms of our parks our skate parks our playgrounds—and I know that we'll be opening a few new playgrounds in the Botany electorate so that's something I'm really looking forward to going back to.But those are really really important funding decisions. I also know that the local board there funds for instance—we have this youth centre in the middle of the Botany town centre in our mall and that is available for all our rangitahi to be able to gather and to be able to hang out a place a space for them to hang out a youth space. But also for instance our Santa Parade as well—that by the way is the second-largest in the Southern Hemisphere. We have a very very big Santa Parade in Howick as well. So those events are all funded by our local board and so I think it's really important that we include their pecuniary interests as well. So we've brought that into the folds of this legislation and I think that just makes sure that our local democracy—no matter on what level—is just as transparent as the other. So that's a part that I thought we had made really meaningful changes.We also—I think just in context of what is happening or what we're about to go into into the local government elections in terms of the address identifier for the properties that these local members own I remember us talking and mulling over what description or what level of description would suffice in terms of getting that balance right. So it's protecting the privacy of a particular elected politician versus having enough transparency about their pecuniary interest about their financial and their ownership over especially real property. So I remember us really trying to make sure that we find the correct balance—it's a little bit like the Goldilocks in terms of finding it just right. I think by having that broad—usually by suburb—definition and I think largely we followed the House in terms of Parliament and the way that we register our own pecuniary interests. I think that's where we've landed and I do think that is the right thing. But I just want everyone who's listening—everyone who reads Hansard—to know that we actually did really debate both ends of the spectrum just to make sure that this is exactly what is right in terms of getting that balance.Can I just finally end on many thanks. I just want to start with Sir Maarten Wevers for coming into the select committee and offering his insight. I think from the beginning—in terms of this whole entire process—obviously he has had so much experience in dealing with Parliament's pecuniary interest register that he was able to offer so much insight into this bill at hand. Could I thank all of the submitters to the select committee as well. During that process we heard from many local representatives—mayors of cities and councillors and obviously their peak body as well. Thank you for your contribution to this whole bill.Finally can I just end on where I started as to thank the member who has sponsored the bill—and congratulations to him as well. As a fellow class of 2020 new MP coming into the House it's great to see another fellow 2020 MP colleague being able to have his member's bill—something that I know he's hugely passionate about—to be able to soon hopefully be passed in this House as well. This bill will increase transparency in our local authorities. This bill will strengthen public trust as well and confidence in our decision-making machinery in local government. So I think this is a really important bill that we need to really be serious about in terms of we know the benefit that it'll bring for our democracy. Like I said as we look at the bigger context of going into the local elections this year I think this bill will be so important that we get that balance just right but more importantly that we inspire more faith in our locally elected—in all our elected—representatives whether that be in central government or in local government. And so on that note I commend the bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): Members this debate is interrupted and set down for resumption next sitting day. The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. tomorrow.The House adjourned at 9.55 p.m.