Dyson RuthHon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills): I am delighted to have one more opportunity before the dinner break to speak on these two bills. I am really sorry that no Government member has chosen to make a contribution given that it is an issue that frankly this side of the House has been praising Government members for—particularly the chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee Scott Simpson for his role in leading the debate in a mature way. We do not always have an opportunity to praise National members of Parliament and in the rare times that that opportunity arises I like to grasp it with both hands. But I have to say that I am really disappointed that the chair of the select committee has not chosen to take a call on this because it is worthwhile noting that although we are supporting this legislation there have been some concerns expressed. This is a big step forward for the board of trustees. It is a big change for them. It is one that they are delighted to have contributed so strongly to and they are very pleased with the outcome. But I think that the members do the board a disservice actually by not contributing to the debate. They could take just a brief call and acknowledge the hard work that the board members undertake and the fact that they have been driving this change so that they are able to proceed with this development. As I said in my earlier contribution I do think that it is also an unusual—I am hoping that somebody who follows Parliament very closely will say whether this is a unique—occurrence where we have had a local bill and a Government bill both on related topics being referred to a committee and then when they come back to the House both bills being debated together as if they were one. That is a really unusual situation. I have been searching social media to see whether anybody has commented that this is indeed a unique situation but we can check on that over the dinner break and report back to the Committee after 7.30 p.m. The point of this bill is a housing development. The Riccarton Racecourse area is huge. It is 122 hectares of land—and that in itself is pretty unusual within the confines of a city—which is under the auspices of the Riccarton Racecourse. This housing development would take 40 hectares of those 122 hectares obviously leaving a huge amount of space still for the other activities including racing. My colleague Poto Williams mentioned the Riccarton Market. That has become one of the major attractions on that side of the city. It is not as good as the Lyttelton market or the Ōpawa market I have to say but it is certainly well worth supporting.Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): Kia ora mai tātou. Tēnā tātou katoa. Members the House in Committee on the Riccarton Racecourse Development Enabling Bill and the Riccarton Racecourse Bill is resumed. Before the dinner break we were debating all provisions of these two bills together. Hon Ruth Dyson had the call. She has 2 minutes and 8 seconds remaining.Hon RUTH DYSON: Thank you Mr Chairman. It is indeed a great pleasure to be able to take my 2 minutes and 8 seconds that are remaining in my contribution on this bill. During the dinner break I went outside for a while. I suppose it was partly as a result of us reflecting on the fact that this contribution of 600 homes is going to make a difference—not solve the problem; but will make a difference—to the housing crisis situation that we have not just in Auckland and Christchurch but also slowly spreading out throughout the rest of the country. But it just struck me how cold it was outside and I was reminded of the many people throughout our country who tonight unlike us will not be going home to a warm dry bed but will be sleeping in a car or a garage—The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): This is Riccarton Racecourse is it not?Hon RUTH DYSON: —or somewhere totally unsuitable. The expansion of houses that is allowed through the development of the Riccarton Racecourse will put a dent in that problem but unfortunately it will not solve it. I was hoping that the Minister for Social Housing might take a call and enlighten us on that but she has been far too busy cleaning up the mess that she made for herself today. Yet again another bad week for the Minister. It was very Chris Bishop - like behaviour. Actually I did not think that I would see that from a Minister but I did. I also prior to the dinner break was encouraging the chair of the select committee to take a call because this is legislation that I think has got the support of all parties in Parliament. It has been well shepherded through the select committee by Scott Simpson the chair and I think that a contribution from him would be well in order. This will resolve the frustration—I guess that is not too big a word—that some members of the board of trustees have had about their inability to do things in the way they would like to. It is a pleasure to be able to acknowledge the work that the members of the board not just the current ones—of course the current ones—but also previous board members as well have made to the operation of the Riccarton Racecourse an important facility in Canterbury. I support the progress of this bill.