Falloon AndrewANDREW FALLOON (National—Rangitata): Thank you Mr Speaker. Can I echo my colleagues' sentiments from this afternoon in relation to the awful events in the Bay of Plenty and pass on our condolences to the families of those affected and also our best wishes to those involved in the recovery and also the medical professionals up and down the country who are still working with those affected. As we've heard this afternoon the National Party will be supporting this legislation to allow it to go to select committee to allow for all industry players and indeed fans to have their say over this Racing Industry Bill. But we do so with some reservations about the content and I particularly want to speak in relation to clause 25. Earlier in the debate we heard from Mr Kieran McAnulty who I suppose is no stranger to the racing industry. He accused the National Party of scaremongering over this bill—of scaremongering. Well Mr McAnulty I'll just point you to clause 25 which refers to the transfer of surplus venues by Order in Council where it says that in cases where no agreement on the transfer has been reached The Governor-General may by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister—(a) approve a proposal prepared by the racing code relating to the transfer of the surplus venue to the code". So that essentially means that courses can be taken away from local communities sold off and the proceeds go to the code in question. We do have concerns about that. I suppose I speak—as many members here do—as quite a big fan of the racing industry. I've got four racecourses in my electorate: Phar Lap Raceway which is the one I'll speak about in a moment; Ashburton; Ōrari; and Methven. In fact I would have been at the Methven races on the weekend but for an unfortunate incident where a couple of bridges over the Rangitata River were out of action for a period of time. But Phar Lap in particular is one that's been slated for closure or for loss of races by the Messara Report. Subsequent to that I started a petition which was signed by 5600 people in the South Canterbury community. That to me really sums up the feeling that there is in local communities for the racing industry. This isn't just about the racecourses or the racing meets—although of course many thousands do turn up to Phar Lap every December later on this month for the races; that'll be a great event as it always is—but they're also hubs for the community and Phar Lap in particular hosts a lot of community events. There are a lot of businesses that rely on the customers that come through those doors not just for racing events but also other events. Unfortunately that would go if this bill was to pass in its current form where a Minister through the stroke of a pen could essentially say "Right not only are we going to take the races away from Phar Lap Raceway but we're also going to take the course away from the community." So I have real reservations about this bill and real concerns about what the effect will be on places like Timaru and what the effect will be in regional New Zealand. We will be supporting this bill but I'm very very keen to hear what the industry has to say about the bill not just the interests in the places like Waikato and Bay of Plenty but also in places like the South Island which is slated to lose 11 courses of the 20 that are slated for closure. I'm keen to hear what they have to say from industry and fans alike. Thank you very much."