Davis Kelvin: Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill — First Reading 
Davis Kelvin: Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill — First Reading 
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KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 I have just received a text from my brother. He said we should not be wasting our time on the Rugby World Cup (Empowering) Bill; instead we should be legislating to make sure the All Blacks do not lose. I tend to agree with him. We are a family that still has not got over New Zealand losing to the 1971 Lions let alone losing the 2007 quarter-final in Cardiff. My daughter rubbed salt in the wound the other day when I was going off at Wayne Barnes refereeing the All Blacks versus Ireland test. I do not know how he slunk into the country but he got here and I hope he slunk out. I said I hope he does not think that sending off that Irish No. 8 in the 10th minute will in any way compensate for his horrible display of refereeing back in Cardiff in 2007. My daughter said to me: “Dad it’s just a game. Get over it.” I said to her: “I’m sorry but you must be adopted because it’s genetically impossible for the Davis family to get over an All Black loss.” It is too hard to get over the 1971 loss to the Lions which should have been an epic send-off for Colin Meads in his 55th and final test match. We are still cut up about that. 
I come back to the kaupapa of the moment which is the Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill. Labour supports the bill going to the Government Administration Committee for scrutiny. It is important that we ensure there are no unintended consequences of the legislation. I want to talk from a tourism perspective as I am Labour’s spokesperson on tourism. We will have 65000 people arriving on our shores for a 6-week period. I have heard the figure of 85000 tourists being bandied around but I have been assured by people in the tourism sector that the number is more likely to be 65000. We should not get our hopes up that the Rugby World Cup will be the greatest thing for all communities across New Zealand. If we take Whangarei as an example I think we have Tonga Japan and Canada playing up there. Those three teams on their own will not drag in thousands upon thousands of tourists. Tourism operations up there should not be expecting all their Christmases to come at once. The teams will be there for a very short period of time and not many fans are expected in some of those smaller outlying areas. 
Having said that the Rugby World Cup is the greatest event to touch down in New Zealand. Hopefully there will be other Rugby World Cups and other great sporting events but for the foreseeable future it is the big event. It is important that we have the facilities the services the venues and the transport systems up and running so that the expectations of the 65000 tourists who arrive here will not be dashed. But the 65000 tourists are not the group of people whom we need to be most concerned about; of most concern are the 3000 media personnel who will be here to cover the games. Midweek when they are not covering the games they will be out and about recording thousands and thousands of hours of footage around the country. The newspaper reporters will be writing articles about New Zealand. It is really important that the people whom they film and write about are having the best times of their lives and that we have the facilities and the legislation to support the expectations of all those rugby tourists so that when they all head back home they will talk to their families and their friends about the great time they had in New Zealand and hopefully everybody they speak to will make the decision to come to New Zealand post the Rugby World Cup. It is the thousands of hours of footage that will be the most important thing for New Zealand. Hopefully we will not have just a 65000-person spike for 6 weeks in October 2011; we will build on that so that tourists come here over the next 10 to 15 years as a result of what they have seen of New Zealand and as a result of the excellent experiences their families and friends had while they were here. It is important that we keep in perspective the numbers of people who will come to New Zealand. 
We have to make sure that we have legislation in place to support the event. As has been mentioned in the House we do not know what we do not know. Unforeseen events or circumstances could occur and we do not want to be scrambling around at the last second trying to put legislation in place or even worse to not have legislation in place. We do not want to get bogged down in quicksand trying to make decisions at the last second with the result that the expectations of the people who come here from overseas are let down. So this legislation is really important. 
There are six parts to the legislation. Part 1 talks about the definitions within the bill and Part 2 establishes the Rugby World Cup Authority. It is really important that we have proper preparation for the Rugby World Cup. We need to ensure that the arrangements are efficient and safe and done lawfully; that the delivery of services for the Rugby World Cup is exceptional; and that the safety of the individuals coming here is paramount—not only the safety of those individuals but the security of their property. We need to have legislation in place to ensure that occurs. We also need to be mindful of the effect on the environment. We cannot allow this temporary legislation to have long-term impacts on the environment. 
Of course we have to maximise the benefits of the Rugby World Cup to New Zealand. Again I come back to what I have been saying about tourism being our second-biggest export earner. At present $50 million a day is spent in New Zealand on tourism and we expect that with 65000 people turning up here in a very short space of time that spend will increase. One in 10 New Zealanders is employed in tourism and we need to make sure that the Rugby World Cup and this legislation support tourism and we need to make sure that everybody has an exceptional time when they come here. 
I take the points that my colleague Phil Twyford made about the liquor legislation. It is important that in liberalising the liquor laws for a very short time we do not set a precedent that makes it difficult for us to wind back the clock and creates other unintended consequences. Part 3 sets out the scope of the applications that may be made and how they are to be lodged with the Rugby World Cup Authority. 
Part 4 gives the Minister certain powers to enable unforeseen matters of urgency to be dealt with both in the final preparation stages of the World Cup and during it. As Te Ururoa Flavell said in Maori ultimately this means there is one person in charge who has the final say. We have to be careful that there is not abuse of that power. Part 5 provides a temporary process for licensing the sale and supply of liquor during the Rugby World Cup. Part 6 includes further miscellaneous provisions. Missing is Part 7 which legislates for the All Blacks to win. While we are at it we should also legislate so that the All Whites do not lose against Paraguay on Friday morning. 
The Rugby World Cup will be the most exciting event to hit New Zealand’s shores. It is a pity that we have made this debate one of the most boring debates in history. We should legislate for the All Blacks to win. I remember that fateful day in Dublin in 1991 when Tim Horan flipped a miracle pass to David Campese who dotted it down and we lost all chance of getting into the finals. We lost the semi-final and that was the day we ceased being world champions. That thick black cloud is hovering over us to this very day. Kia ora.