Whaitiri Meka; Mallard TrevorHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Thank you Mr Speaker. I'm pleased to take a call on the Racing Reform Bill. As a member of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee I want to commend the work of the committee members under obviously the chairmanship of Darroch Ball. It just reminds me when we grew up—with some of us probably having been around a lot longer than others—of the vision of seeing your local racecourse filled with folk and the point was made that it was often the hub of communities. I'm talking about small rural New Zealand and I've got a few racecourses throughout my electorate but the numbers that you saw were testament to the importance of the racing system and the racing fraternity to not only small-town New Zealand but across the nation. So this Government under the leadership of the Rt Hon Winston Peters undertook a review of the New Zealand racing industry—the Messara report—and an independent assessment was done on the industry that showed to this Government that it was really in need of a modernisation given that those early images that I said back in the 1930s 1940s and 1950s were no longer the case for many of the racecourses around New Zealand. So this is a bill that is attempting to modernise the industry because we realise the importance that it has both economically and socially in small towns. Racing contributed $1.6 billion to the New Zealand economy in 2016 and 2017 hence it's important that we have a fit for purpose racing industry and this bill is attempting to do exactly that. It does it by first and foremost—and it's interesting—two reforms two pieces of legislation: the Racing Amendment Bill in 2017 and the Gaming Duties Act of 1971. But going back to the Racing Amendment Bill what we discussed at select committee was this transitional body the Racing Industry Transition Agency—or RITA for short—which we wanted to set up or which the Minister is saying could be the body to then implement the more detailed work that's around the industry in terms of the courses that are currently open and whether we've got too many and whether we need to make some changes there and I think the proposal here around the transitional agency is a good one. The submitters that came understood the importance of having a transitional agency. Many of those that submitted are going to be part of that agency to ensure that the next stage in terms of the Gaming Duties Act will be fit for purpose. So I'm very pleased to see that that is being instigated as a result of this independent review. But the other point that I remember that was raised at select committee was the concern over loss of revenues for many of our sporting codes. The select committee heard and took advice and hence you will see that the Minister for Racing as well as the Minister for Sport and Recreation will now be part of the process that determines the distribution of funds. I think that's a good measure of showing how we've listened to the submitters—particularly the sporting bodies—to give them that guarantee that they will be part and parcel of the distribution of the funds. But what was also interesting was the point around gambling harm and ensuring that what we are doing here does not put aside or ignore the importance that gambling does have on many people. There were points made by various submitters around whether this bill is going to cut off the financial lifeline of providing much-needed gambling harm support and this bill does do that—it actually guarantees that in the distribution of funds those communities charged with eliminating or addressing gambling harm will be made. We did hear from a number of submitters. I know that people on that side of the House are concerned about the truncated process. The interim transitional agency is really the opportunity to flesh out and make sure that we are doing a fit for purpose response to modernising the racing industry. I support what's being proposed here in the report back from the select committee and I look forward to the bill's third and final reading. Kia ora. SPEAKER: I've lost the member's name. Tim van de Molen: Andrew Bayly. SPEAKER: Oh Andrew Bayly—I'm sorry. I was absolutely prepared for another member to rise and the member caught me by surprise.