Kaye NikkiHon NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central): It's really important for me to be speaking on this as National's sport and recreation spokesperson. As I've previously said please be under no illusion National does support the racing industry. I want to acknowledge David Bennett Ian McKelvie other members of our caucus Nathan Guy who have been around New Zealand talking to racing clubs talking to other people in the industry and discussing the real issues of financial viability of the sector. That's why we've been very very supportive of some of the work in the Messara review. That is a massive report. I want to acknowledge the work that has happened in the Messara review; it's crunched through some real issues of financial viability. However—and I do want to acknowledge the Speaker who is in the Chair who is a former Minister in the sport area—we live in a nation that is very proud of our sporting success and in order for us to be proud of our sporting success we acknowledge that many organisations in the sporting area run on the smell of an oily rag. No more important then could be our national sporting organisations—that's New Zealand Rugby Netball New Zealand cricket. But it is incredibly relevant to this motion because we have been given instead of the normal select committee process—and I've been on the phone to the sporting organisations—effectively a fortnight; a truncated bill. The reality is we will be on the National side of the House absolutely raising the issues for rugby cricket. I've heard from tennis. I understand they had $1.179 million—it's about 40 percent of their revenue. We will be raising—SPEAKER: Order! I'm going to do two points. One I'm going to remind the member that this is not a debate about the substance of the bill. It's about which committee it should go to the time it should be there and going around the country. But while I'm on my feet I'm reminded that I should not have taken a call from Kieran McAnulty; we're not currently in the committee stages and therefore members can only have one call each on the question.Hon NIKKI KAYE: So just coming back—and I take the Speaker's point—the reality is: this is about the time period that people will have to submit. Let's work through what that actually means for New Zealand rugby New Zealand cricket New Zealand netball tennis basketball football. How will we ensure that they will have the ability to submit in a truncated time period? The reality—and it is relevant to this truncated time period—is there are many volunteers out there that might want to have their say but the reality is: are they going to have the ability to have their say in a fortnight? That is why the members on this side of the House have quite rightly raised the fact that for 18 months the Government has effectively sat on a number of these changes. It is not as if many of the sporting codes have not raised these issues. The reason that they've raised these issues—it's been through the Messara report and it's very relevant to the two-week time period that they will have to submit. They've raised these issues before and there are many thousands of volunteers as well who might want to have their say. National will be going out there ensuring not only the major sporting organisations know about it but also those thousands of volunteers on the ground—whether they're coaches people involved in these sporting organisations—know about this legislation and the potential impact to kids' sport as a result of this but also our major sporting organisations. I also want to mention the select committee that it's going to. Now again this does feel like a shonky process. It does. The reality is it's going to a member of New Zealand First who is chairing the Transport and Infrastructure Committee. This is incredibly relevant because we do believe the major problem with this is that the bias has been to the racing industry and we haven't had the balance with the sporting industries. The reality is that New Zealand First is on record as basically—and in fact I can't quite quote. I'll go back and look through Hansard at what Winston Peters said in terms of the racing industry but he said they were all over him like a rash. Well the reality is that New Zealand First have shown in my view that they have been biased towards the racing industry. They haven't shown the balance with the sporting industry. That is not about National not supporting racing. Actually what we can argue as a nation is that actually we should have balance when it comes to our sporting codes and we should properly recognise them. So this issue of who chairs the select committee is incredibly relevant because we feel on this side of the House that this has been—I hate to say the words and I might be running pretty close to the wind—SPEAKER: The member already has.Hon NIKKI KAYE: It feels like a little bit of a dirty deal that's been done to ensure that New Zealand First gets its way it chairs the select committee and I need to make—SPEAKER: I am now going to interrupt. I think the member is continuing to reflect on an officer of the House a chair of a committee and I think she should steer away from that now.Hon NIKKI KAYE: OK. I won't. Basically we want balance and we are concerned that this is being sent to a select committee which suits members opposite particularly New Zealand First. We want to ensure that we have that balance and so we're not only concerned about which select committee it's going to but also this issue of the time of the select committee. We heard from the Hon Nick Smith—you're looking at potentially 100-odd clauses in this bill. You are looking at real issues of gambling within the community real issues of viability of the racing industry real issues of viability of the sporting industry and it is not OK for members opposite to say Oh well we've had another review so that equates to the select committee parliamentary process." If we are really serious in this House then we will not prop up a two-week process. Now look National has gone over the line to support this in the first reading only because we actually do support the racing industry and we recognise the real issues of viability. But we are absolutely within our rights—and I acknowledge the Hon Gerry Brownlee and the amendment that he has moved—to say we need to do this in a considered way over a time period that enables the racing industry and the sports sector to have their say. That is why you know the Hon Gerry Brownlee has talked about a November time line because that is reasonable. We have not heard from either the Deputy Prime Minister or from members opposite in my view the extent of why this is now so urgent 18 months in. Of course we understand there are longstanding issues of viability but it feels like we have the Deputy Prime Minister sending something to a committee that they chair where they've got bias potentially around the racing industry and we—SPEAKER: Order! I have warned the member about reflecting on officers of the House which includes select committee chairs in that way. She can't as part of this debate. Second warning—last one.Hon NIKKI KAYE: Mr Speaker I've taken on board that warning and I will not use the word "bias" around a select committee chair but I would point out that New Zealand First has made a number of positive statements regarding the racing industry as has National—as has National. There have been a range of questions that have been raised publicly about the balance between sport and the racing industry. So what we will be doing on this side of the House is—obviously we have opposed the truncated time period because we believe there are going to be mums and dads volunteers heads of sporting organisations coaches and other people on the ground from sporting organisations that will not have the ability to have their say in the select committee. It is not about not supporting the racing industry; it is about doing the decent thing as a country that's supposed to be built on the basis that sport is a great thing to give them a chance to have their say. That's why we are opposing the truncated process and that's why we are also asking very valid questions—I'm being very careful here because I know I'm on my second warning—to say that we don't think it's right that we are sending it to that particular select committee. I will not repeat the statement that I previously made but I would ask New Zealanders watching this debate to ask that basic question.It is important in the parliamentary process to have balance. It is important to recognise that this is not just about the racing industry; it's about sporting codes as well—real issues of millions and millions of dollars of funding for kids playing sport and that is why we oppose not only this process in terms of the truncated time period but we also have major concerns about the select committee that it's being sent to. We have every right as Her Majesty's loyal Opposition to raise these issues around sport and racing and that means actually we are doing our job. It does mean that we support not only racing but sporting organisations but it means we believe in an integrity and an honesty of the parliamentary process above anything else but also the ability for people to have their say. That's why I came to this House—to ensure that people have that democratic right—and members opposite are denying that."