Roberts Angela; Dean JacquiANGELA ROBERTS (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a great pleasure to take a call on the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Community Participation) Amendment Bill. I find it really interesting to hear this debate that somehow communities and businesses will be in combat as a result of this bill. There's the concern raised that it's going to tip the balance and that it'll cause harm to our business owners. I would have thought if we had responsible business owners that they would welcome engaging with their local communities. The assumption that by giving communities voice and access to participating in the decision making about how these businesses operate it would somehow stifle these businesses is a question—if I was owning one of these businesses I'd be starting to wonder what it was I was actually trying to do. I think it's a really fundamental question that should be sending these businesses scurrying off to have a think about what they're doing and how they do it.I want to reflect on a couple of the submissions that were made. There were many from communities that I am deeply involved with: rural women and women and young women. And I don't necessarily qualify as all of those things but I engage with those communities. Rural Women New Zealand and the National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ) had some very clear views about why they supported this bill and I take their views seriously. I do my best to represent their views in this House and I think they had a lot of really valuable contributions to make in the submission process.They talked about the fact that it is really important that the communities have access to participating in this process. The NCWNZ members and branches overwhelmingly agreed that the community's best interests are not represented in the current procedures and they should have more influence and say. Respondents to their survey talked about local communities knowing their communities far better than those outside of it because they are the ones most directly affected by the consequences of alcohol sales and consumption. This will enable communities to be responding to the difficulties the challenges and the opportunities that are unique to them.We heard about an urban community where because the schools are jammed in—you know you've got a liquor licence you've got to have a liquor licence they will always be within one kilometre of a community. My local communities will be lucky to have a school and a pub and maybe a dairy that has a bit of vaping on the side. So it's almost inevitable in rural communities that there is going to be an impact because they are within one kilometre. And the conversation to be had in an urban community about the approach and the access to liquor is going to be a very very different one to my community.There were some really powerful voices brought to the table by NCWNZ from some of our younger women some of our university students. Hearing their stories and their testimony about the impact that alcohol has on their lives is really powerful. They should have an opportunity to participate in a process where they feel free to be honest about the impact and about how these decisions are going to impact them. These young women talked about events where there's alcohol present and the impact that it has on them in a different way than older people. And it is really really important that we recognise the unique perspectives and the different vulnerabilities that different communities have and they should be considered.We need to make sure that—you know we heard about how it's going to tip the balance. Well that would be great to tip the balance so things are more equitable. Communities vulnerable communities especially do not have the resources to ride out the delays the intimidation and the access to lawyers that some of the other side of the balance have access to. We need to make sure that they are able to have some control and some influence over things that can have such an impact on their lives. For the young women for the women who have children in their lives and for the women who are impacted in rural communities more than some other members of our community I support this bill and I recommend it to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Members this debate is interrupted and is set down for consideration next sitting day—resumption for next sitting day. The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. Tuesday 25 July 2023.Debate interrupted.The House adjourned at 5.57 p.m.