SpeechGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Madam Speaker. I rise and I want to tautoko what's already been said on both sides of the House this evening. And I want to come back to the Hon Grant Robertson's opening comments and it's around Rev. Godfrey Wilson. Now he alluded to the sermon that he preached back in the 1960s and I had the privilege of attending the 50th anniversary of this significant sermon. Now of course you've all heard of it you all know it verbatim I'm guessing but it actually was quite controversial back in the day because back then church services were broadcast live on National Radio at the time. In fact when I was growing up I also remember it. What used to happen is that the producers of these National Radio church broadcasts would actually you know not take over the pulpit but they would have some editorial discretion on what the priests and the ministers would say.So Godfrey Wilson played this game rather well. In the 1960s as you can imagine homosexuality within the church and within society in general was frowned upon. So the reverend he had written two sermons and of course he gave one sermon to the producer of the Radio New Zealand broadcast and of course he retained his own version of the sermon—and this is as it is now live. So Rev. Godfrey Wilson got up on 26 June 1967 to preach what the producers thought was just your usual bland and ordinary sermon. Apologies to our ministers and reverends out there. But he delivered this piece which was around the inclusion of the gay community—in fact the inclusion of one particular man that he had met that he had engaged with. Of course there was panic and there was fluster and there was nerves going around the building but they were unable to do anything because obviously it was live and Godfrey was on his pulpit preaching his sermon.Now that had ripple effects that went beyond St Peter's that had ripple effects that went beyond Wellington; it went all around New Zealand. In fact I do believe there was a complaint made to the Broadcasting Standards Authority or whatever it was at the time there was a protest made. But that was the first sermon that was publicly preached in New Zealand around the affirmation of our LGBTIQ+ community. As Nicola Willis mentioned the reason I was keen to speak on this piece of legislation this evening was because I believe that this is a church that actually lives and models what is the Christian faith what is the Jesus story that many of us hear about. But often we don't see it warped. So when we look at St Peter's parish and what the money goes to yeah there is a flash building. Yeah there is an old building that needs a lot of work and needs a lot of money. But as has already been talked about there are those services to the poor there are those services to feed the hungry. They are a social justice church and that's why it's a church that I've had the privilege of attending on many occasions I've been to midnight Mass there and other services.I was looking them up and they talk about being a social justice community especially for the last the lost and the least. And I think that is a really important rhetoric for a church to be making in this day and age that they are not just there to fill their coffers not just to build their palaces and their mansions but a church like St Peter's is one that is there to look beyond themselves and to reach into their community. Whether you have faith or none at all that doesn't matter. They are a church that lives a story that they believe in and they show and wear it on their sleeves with their sleeves rolled up as they serve their community.The St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill is around obviously unlocking the potential. It's a very simplistic piece of legislation. It's something that's there which will help for the church to continue its work of social justice its work of actually holding this House to account which isn't easy. Sometimes it's frustrating and it's uncomfortable but they make a number of submissions to this House on many different bills as they come through whether it be about the climate whether it be about three waters whether it be around working for families around our wellbeing budgets around conversion practice prohibitions. They are a church that lives and breathes their sleeves rolled up to serve their community therefore I support this piece of legislation to the House.