Kaye Nikki: Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill — Second Reading 
Kaye Nikki: Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14597] 
NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) 
: 
 I acknowledge the presence of Ngati Whare and Ngati Manawa in the gallery: tena koutou. 
I am pleased to speak on the Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill. I will speak on three things this evening. Firstly I will set out the scale of the tournament to outline how important this legislation is to New Zealand. Secondly I will briefly highlight where we are at in terms of infrastructure and delivery for the cup and thirdly I will touch on two key issues that have been raised by the Opposition—provisions for urgent consents and issues regarding gambling—during the submissions process. 
A major reason we need this legislation is that we are stepping up to hold what will be the third-largest sporting event in the world. It will also be the largest sporting event this country has ever held. In terms of people we are expecting 85000 international visitors over the 6-week period of the tournament. On top of that tens of thousands of Kiwis will need to travel and be accommodated around the country to attend games and be part of the fan zones. 
The tournament is not just about Auckland and our main centres; we will need to be able to accommodate domestic travel and infrastructure throughout New Zealand. We have made a deliberate decision to spread the tournament throughout the country and into the heart of provincial and rural New Zealand so that this tournament can be about a stadium of 4 million people with 48 matches in 13 venues across New Zealand. In short we are spreading the love all over the country so that all New Zealanders can experience the cup. This is the right thing to do given that we have so many people in this country who are passionate about rugby but it is also the right thing to do because this is not just about rugby as Kelvin Davis acknowledged. It is about the extraordinary opportunity for economic development from the country’s exposure and from tourism from the cup. 
That moves me to the fact that we are on track in terms of infrastructure and services for the Rugby World Cup. I was recently with the Minister for the Rugby World Cup and the Prime Minister at the re-opening of Eden Park. The redevelopment is superb. We have all stadium projects on track. The new Otago stadium will be delivered next year but the rest will be delivered this year. We have confirmed team bases and logistics and we have tested a variety of match-day processes. We have launched a drive to recruit 5000 volunteers and our ticket sales are on track with over 500000 having been sold in phase one. We will deliver in terms of the infrastructure and services that are required to hold this wonderful sporting event for New Zealand. 
If we focus the mind then to when 4 billion people will be watching New Zealand hold the largest sporting event this country has ever seen and 2000 media will be here to report what happens it is the view of members on this side of the House that just having the people and the infrastructure in place may not be enough. We have to have systems in place to deal with the difficult issues and situations that may arise. So it is pleasing that Opposition members have stated that they agree with the Government that the hosting requirements of an event of this scale present significant challenges. In principle the Opposition also agrees that the bill will provide temporary legislation to enable the timely granting of consents. 
But we are left with contention on two issues. I would like to correct the previous speaker Kelvin Davis. One of the issues that he has not mentioned is an issue raised by Trevor Mallard in terms of the gambling provisions. This is a situation where we have members on this side of the House agreeing on the gambling provisions and we also have all of the members on the other side of the House agreeing—except for one member Trevor Mallard. He is the true “Lone Ranger” of this House. Trevor Mallard has said—and there are splits within Labour on this issue—that he disagrees with the gambling provisions. National has said that the reality with these cruise ships is that they are effectively floating hotels. But we will not allow them to be exempt from the gambling provisions because they are floating hotels and they will have to be subject to New Zealand law. We think that that is the right decision as do the majority of Labour members except for Trevor Mallard. 
The second issue of contention is the issue about urgent consents. Let me be very clear: firstly it is really hoped that we will never ever need to use these provisions within Part 4. Secondly let me be also very clear that this is not some unfettered secret process as has been made out by the Opposition. This is about contingency planning and risk management for what will be the largest sporting event in New Zealand’s history so let us also be very clear about what the specific process is. Before granting the approval the Minister must consult with the Minister for Economic Development and also with Ministers responsible for other relevant portfolios. The Government believes that this is necessary in order to have an urgent and flexible approval process to deal with approvals that may be necessary in the event of an unforeseen situation. 
I know members opposite have asked us to come up with what may be an unforeseen event but I ask them to reflect on the contradiction of that. We actually do believe that there could be some unforeseen events. We have given some examples such as road closures whereby—let us be clear again—the Rugby World Cup Authority will go through the process of considering the situation and making a recommendation to the Minister but it might be that the Minister for Economic Development and another Minister such as the Minister of Transport will decide that they need to overturn that decision. We think that that is a natural check and balance on the system. It is also our view that given the extraordinary nature of the power to grant approvals it is best that a Minister of the Crown has the ultimate public accountability rather than an unelected body as members opposite would have us believe. 
Members on this side of the House support legislation that will enable us to minimise the risk to New Zealand when 4 billion people and 2000 media will be watching us. We are united on this side of the House; we are not split and we are delighted that we will be able to deliver not only the infrastructure but also the legislation and the people to ensure that when the eyes of the world are on New Zealand we will play our best game.