Roche Denise: Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Roche Denise: Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 27 June 2012. Volume:681;Page:3447. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DENISE ROCHE (Green) 
: 
 The Greens will be supporting this legislation the Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill because we believe that there does need to be a lot more clarity and transparency around donations and how much of those donations are spent on third-party fund-raisers. 
In 2011 just over 1 million people in our country dug into their pockets and donated over $1.5 billion to charities according to the Business and Economic Research report commissioned by Philanthropy New Zealand. We support this bill because that is a lot of money and we need to make sure New Zealanders can trust the system—so that they can be sure that the money they donate in good faith is used to support the charity not siphoned off to businesses. I am heartened by the generosity of New Zealanders. There are so many organisations that rely on the charity dollar. They include—and are not limited to—community social service providers human rights groups sports teams education groups environmental organisations parenting organisations community organisations across the spectrum and the list goes on. There are over 20000 registered charities in New Zealand—somewhere between 23000 and 28000 of them. 
I love it that we live in a country where people care enough to put their hands in their pockets or go online or text to ensure that they will help out our communities. This bill is about protecting that. I guess that is why I have found the self-serving campaign that has been waged by the pokie industry to oppose the Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill really distasteful. Submissions have just closed on it. The campaign is being led by Pub Charity chief executive officer Martin Cheer. Pokie trusts—although “not to be trusted” is probably a better description—currently have the job of distributing the proceeds from pub pokie gambling back to communities. Many community organisations rely on those funds just to keep themselves afloat. 
In my speech in the first reading debate of this bill I said that many community groups were forced into the arms of the devil to survive. This is happening more and more as Government funding dries up; as our public services are being run down and community organisations find their contracts with the Government under pressure. There have also been over 5000 jobs lost in the public sector so those community organisations are filling the gap. 
Although some charities and community organisations can rely on the goodwill of donors others have to stay afloat by taking pokie money. The Government is fuelling addiction to pokie money and that fuels addiction for problem gamblers because problem gamblers contribute the vast amount of money that goes back to community organisations. It really distresses me that although we are keen to address the rorts and the dodgy dealings of third-party fund-raisers with this bill the attempts to address the rorts and dodgy dealings of the pokie trusts with the passing of the first reading of the Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill in Te Ururoa Flavell’s name have met with such fierce opposition from the gambling industry. 
Martin Cheer of Pub Charity is doing exactly the same thing as some of those third-party fund-raisers. In the last financial year his charity organisation—I use the word “charity” lightly—kept $43 million of the $69 million that was lost by gamblers on their Pub Charity machines. So it is no wonder that they are opposing the Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill which not only wants to reduce problem gambling but it also seeks— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch) 
: Order! We are not talking about problem gambling. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: Coming back to the bill this bill builds on the good work of the Charities Commission and the third sector to get their house in order. You are able to check— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch) 
: No. 
Hon Members 
: No no no. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: Sorry Mr Speaker. One is able to check what funding is coming into a charity through the Charities Commission’s website database and one can see how much is being spent on third-party fund-raisers. 
We believe that this bill goes some way towards protecting donations and donors and charities in New Zealand. It is well-intentioned. There are some big gaps in it—we do know this. We know that that has been addressed through the Commerce Committee. Our only caution is that we are hopeful that the appropriate regulatory mechanisms will be developed in partnership with key players and with those who are most affected. Thank you.