Rurawhe Adrian: Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRurawhe Adrian: Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 06 April 2016. Volume:712;Page:10267. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ADRIAN RURAWHE (Labour—Te Tai Hauāuru): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare otirā tēnā koutou e ngā mema o Te Whare nei. It is a privilege and pleasure to stand for the third reading of the Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill. I sat on the Government Administration Committee for this bill and I am absolutely certain that the Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust along with the 30 congregations that own 44 properties are very pleased that we have finally arrived at this day when we have the third reading of this bill.As the previous speaker outlined there has been a long history from 1844 right through until today. I want to focus on a couple of parts of that history. First of all there was the agreement in 1929 to have the Associated Churches of Christ Church Property Act. Of course that was an Act that was absolutely suitable and appropriate for 1929 but not so much for 2016. I want to acknowledge the trustees who had the tenacity and the courage I guess to start that process in 2012 to get us to where we are today. I want to congratulate them.The new terms of the new trust are considerably wider than the ones the previous trust had. They will enable the trust not only to deal with the property issues but also to have the ability to use their funds as they see fit for the purpose of encouraging the promotion of the Christian faith. So I want to congratulate them again on getting this bill through the processes of the House.There were only two submitters on this bill during the select committee process. One of the submitters wanted to include a sunset clause in the bill but on the advice of the officials the committee decided not to put a sunset clause in and that is basically because there may be a something in the future. One of the parishioners might leave a bequest to the old trust in a will that has already been written and that will now still be able to go to the new trust. That piece of legislation needs to stay to the book for that purpose and for other purposes as well.I also want to acknowledge the Government Administration Committee led by the Hon Ruth Dyson. This is one of those bills that had consensus across all of the parties on the committee which is not like every single bill that comes through the House. It is a good thing when we are able to help organisations—in this case a group of Churches—to achieve what they want to achieve. I suppose for me the issue is around Churches in a modern society as well. I can quite understand why this legislation has been put up. It is not an easy issue for Churches to deal with and there are many many things in a changing society that Churches have to deal with. I think this is part of the solution of addressing those wider issues for the Christian Churches.As I mentioned the new trust does give them wider powers. I think that one of the big issues for Churches today is obviously the diminishing congregations and the ageing congregations and it is an issue that all Churches are dealing with. I see this as perhaps part of addressing the organisation of the Christian Churches for the future. I do not propose to extend this contribution on this bill unnecessarily. I think the people who are affected by this bill have waited long enough. I am pleased to commend the bill to the House.