SpeechHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin): Look obviously we are coming together as a Parliament to support the second reading of this bill and as acknowledged by the previous speaker Louise Upston it is great to have that agreement across the House. I do want to acknowledge at the start of my contribution the devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the Hawke's Bay region. It's nice to be able to do something constructive here today that we know will be of benefit to the Agricultural and Pastoral (A & P) Society locally and also of benefit to the wider region and the primary sector.I do want to acknowledge the Hon Meka Whaitiri whose name is on this bill for her work in shepherding it through and also my colleagues from the Hawke's Bay: Anna Lorck who spoke earlier in this debate very eloquently about the purposes of this bill; and the Hon Stuart Nash. I notice that Anna Lorck referenced the work those two MPs had done as options were worked through before this bill came to this House and I want to congratulate and thank those two hard-working MPs. I'm not surprised that they were involved and engaged in this process early on but I do want to acknowledge that because local MPs are incredibly important for a region and the Hawke's Bay region has two very strong local MPs in Stuart Nash and Anna Lorck.This bill grants authority to the Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society to sell its interests in the Tomoana Showgrounds as well as any other land in future that it might acquire and allocate the proceeds of that land sale towards objectives that align with the society's purposes—that is rather than simply having to reinvest in land as is the status quo. That gives them a degree of freedom to promote economic interests associated with agricultural and pastoral causes to do education to bring town and country closer together—and the other various objectives of the society which are wider social good things that will continue to support grow and prosper the region. Award scholarships education programmes—those kinds of things will all be things that will come under the purposes of that A & P Show.It will also enable the society itself to diversify its investments to look at managed funds to look at what is the thing that will give the best return to support those purposes and activities in the future. I mean it may well be land purchases but it gives them that flexibility to work out what is best for the society and for their contribution to the Hawke's Bay region. It is a forward-thinking way of going about things and so it is a real pleasure to be in the House supporting this.Of course all members in this House will have their own A & P Show stories and Madam Speaker if you'll forgive me—I don't like to bring the Speaker into the debate but I'm sure that you've been to the Palmerston and Waihemo A & P Show and enjoyed it as much as I have over the years. We've got good ones in our region that bring people in that give those living in the towns the chance to interact with animals and to see how our agriculture and pastoral sector operate to see the vintage machinery that's on display to eat the candyfloss the hot dogs to see the horses in action in the shows and so forth. And those experiences are incredibly valuable I think in terms of bringing us together as a country. As a kid I worked with my cousins on farms but that's becoming less and less accessible as there are fewer farm owners in this country and as there are more people. It means that those experiences that I had growing up are not guaranteed for every kid in New Zealand and I think having A & P Shows and having access to the agricultural sector is something that we all want in this House to preserve.I think too when I think of A & P societies—I also think of the volunteers that run them. These organisations are run off the back of work of volunteers and in the case of the local one up our way Madam Speaker that you will have been to many times you know the people on the microphones: the Jim Hopkins of this world the Taranaki gremlin is it who gets on that microphone as well. The presidents—Cody Jenkins is our local president at the moment. The past presidents—Paul Mutch and Gary Dodd. Those people that get out there that do the work that convene the committees that gee up the community to get there to make it a show that everybody can enjoy including those visitors who come from out of the district to be a part of it. You know I just do want to pay tribute to those volunteers.Now the Hawke's Bay show. I did take the liberty of having a look at what's coming up this year and do commend the website to any of you at home should you not be captured completely by the debate that's happening right now. You know it points to those events that I think of as quintessentially New Zealand: shearing competitions; equestrian events of a very high class; you know seeing the working dogs the goats the cattle on display the sheep; home industries. And of course I'm told this year carnival rides are promised to return to the Hawke's Bay A & P Show and hot dogs on sticks of course will be there too. So I do encourage New Zealanders to get along to these shows and to have the experience the quality experience that comes with them.Mark Cameron: The candyfloss is no more.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: The candyfloss sadly is hard to find as our colleague across the House comments but many of those things which we think of as quintessentially Kiwi will be there and I do commend the show to the House.Now other colleagues have commented on the fact that this sale which will see the land transferred to the Hastings District Council will still allow the A & P society to have 10 days' access to it a year. It will be kept in good condition. It will be used no doubt for wider community purposes. It is a piece of land that will be maintained as a reserve managed by a trust with representatives of the A & P society council and the nearby Waipatu Marae. And it's great to see all of those members of the community coming together to preserve the purposes and to support the purposes of the A & P Society. And of course the investment will be worth $7.5 million to the society as well as a starting point and they have said that they anticipate they may well put that in a portfolio to ensure that they are generating funds to support the purposes of the society.So it's my very real pleasure to speak on this bill. I've been told by the Hon Stuart Nash previously that it's a very popular bill locally well supported. And as I did at the outset I do congratulate those local members for their work in the background on helping people to work through the options and for their support and hard work in the community—the Hon Stuart Nash and Anna Lorck and of course the Hon Meka Whaitiri—and also for their work through the challenging period that the Hawke's Bay has just gone through and continues to go through in response to the terrible weather events that have passed through.So I won't continue my contribution. I've covered off the things that I wanted to say about the A & P society and its purposes and the sensible steps that this bill is taking to help the society continue its proud legacy—through wise prudent investment—in promoting and celebrating the agricultural food and fibre sectors of the Hawke's Bay region. And so I am proud to commend this bill to the House.