Scott Alastair: Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeScott Alastair: Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 02 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9330. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa): I too rise in support of this bill. I will refer to the two trusts as the old trust and the new trust. This bill the Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill refers to the obligations of the old trust being the Associated Churches of Christ Church Extension and Property Trust Board and what I will refer to as the new trust being the Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board.I would like to acknowledge the work of the Hon Dr Nick Smith in bringing this bill to the House but also acknowledge the Church that we are referring to for making the initiative for being forward-thinking and for thinking about the future for the people it serves in its communities.This bill is really an evolution as has been referred to already—an update a change in the rules governing the trust to adapt to the times that we are in. The reason this bill has been brought to the attention of the House is the restriction that the existing Act places on the board trustees. There is some concern that the Act requires them to focus on and reinvest in bricks and mortar and we know that the Churches of today are much more than that. We know that the Churches of today are much more than bricks and mortar. They are there to serve the community.The Salvation Army for instance spends and invests money and time and effort on its state of the nation analysis which was recently released. Churches invest in food banks. They might subsidise a driver who helps people in the community. Churches have always done this and they will continue to do this. Churches are particularly important in rural New Zealand where for example some bus services public transport may not exist because of the population base. These Churches have a very important role in our rural communities.When a Church is restricted or feels that it is restricted to invest in bricks and mortar there is a problem. We also have a problem when there are bequests made to the Church. The bequestor—is that the right term—intends the money to be used for the purposes of the Church rather than for the purposes of the Act which talks about bricks and mortar. The bequestor is quite keen to see more food banks more petrol subsidies to drivers and so on. So the trustees have the intentions of the bequestor but—and this is the dilemma that the trustees would have—they are restricted by the Act. This bill transfers the obligations of the old trust to the new trust. The obligations as far as contractual obligations commitments liabilities and assets are concerned are exactly the same so when one contract refers to the old trust it will automatically refer to the new trust. That is a nice clean transition.The next bill that will be brought to the House is in a similar vein in that it is an evolution of legislation in the same way. I would like to pick up a point with which I concur made by Mr Henare regarding the Māori Church schools. I commend again Christian Churches New Zealand for being forward-thinking. I think we have to continue to evolve and rethink where we are in the community and what our real purpose is. I commend Mr Henare for challenging Māori Church schools to rethink their purpose with the assets that they have available to them in much the same way as Christian Churches New Zealand has done today.I would just like to point out what I thinkis at the least quite an interesting irony in the discussion that we have had today in that all the members of the House have spoken in support of enabling the board’s trustees to have greater flexibility in the management of their assets so that they can focus on the things that matter. The things that matter of course are the people. We have all talked about the importance of enabling the trust to do what it wishes with its assets with its buildings with its bricks and mortar—to perhaps sell as the Church shrinks or even if the Church is growing to perhaps sell a property for the benefit of supporting community services to focus on the people.My point here is that that is what this Government is doing in the social housing sphere. It is ironic I find that the opposing benches support this bill but do not support the freeing up of the social housing sector vis-à-vis focusing on the people and the needs of the people. I find that interesting and I think this bill is quite an interesting parallel to what we are doing—what the Christian Churches have done with their assets and what this National Government is doing with the Government’s assets in the social housing sector.This is a very tidy and evolutionary piece of legislation that is going to enable the new trust to focus on the people. It is going to enable the new trust to not be concerned about breaching the Act if they were to invest in something other than houses and bricks and mortar. I commend Christian Churches New Zealand for the initiative it has shown in bringing this to the attention of the Hon Dr Nick Smith so that we can progress this through the House and so that they can do and continue to do the good work in the community. Thank you.Bill read a second time.