McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour): Thank you very much. What a fascinating path we've been on over the last week. It was only a week ago when this bill was first introduced that we had somewhat of a pantomime on the other side of the House with one side of the National Party saying We support this bill." and the other side of the National Party saying "Oh no we don't." Then two days ago after the select committee process was complete we still had the National Party standing up without a unified position on this bill. I said in this House that I can guarantee that come the time of the third reading the misconceptions that the other side were stating and the reservations that they had about this bill would disappear. Here we are—here we are at the third reading of this wonderful bill the Racing Reform Bill and the lead from the National Party Mr Ian McKelvie stands up and says "This bill is a great bill for racing."Well done—well done to the National Party for seeing sense for coming around to common sense and falling in line with the Rt Hon Winston Peters the saviour of the racing industry who in this first step will make the changes that the racing industry in this country needs. Because that's what this bill does. The racing industry contributes $1.6 billion it's estimated to the New Zealand economy—that was in 2016-17—but that contribution was in dire concern because the racing industry was not sustainable. We heard it from everyone. We heard it from all contributors and submitters to the Messara report a vital piece of information if this House was to consider the reform of the racing industry.The racing Minister commissioned that report because the moves from the previous Government to look at addressing the issues around leaching revenue overseas and looking at bringing some those overseas operators into the fold were too late and too little. So the Messara report was commissioned so that we would know exactly what the state of the racing industry was. All the codes and sporting organisations the jockeys the trainers the owners and the breeders all had an opportunity to contribute to that and through that report we got some recommendations that allowed this Government to look at what needed to be done.This bill is the first step in that. It establishes the interim provisions so that we can get on with making the changes that need to be made. There was very good cause to have a shortened select committee approach because a lot of the consultation had been done and in the midst of accusations from the other side that we were dragging our feet they then accused us of going too quickly. I think that sums up the National Party's approach to this bill and the National Party's knowledge of the racing industry. At the first reading of the Racing Reform Bill they drew out Gerry Brownlee that expert in racing who didn't know where Trentham Racecourse was. But nevertheless the fact is that we are in a position to make informed choices because of the consultation not only from the codes that have been liaising with the Minister for Racing but through the Messara report as well.We've also heard some concerns around where sport sits within these reviews. Concerns like "This will decimate the sporting bodies of this country that are so reliant on the funding that they receive through sports betting."—be that the current formula of 5 percent of turnover or 1 percent of profit. This is despite the fact that Sport New Zealand said that the bill is good for racing and good for sport. I note that the changes that are proposed in this bill will actually increase the funding that goes through sports betting to sporting organisations in this country because it expands the reach of the TAB and allows them to offer betting in areas where they were no longer able to.I reflect on my time as a bookmaker at the TAB for seven years and there was a period of time where on a daily basis we had calls from punters wishing to place bets on mixed martial arts. The TAB was restricted on placing bets on mixed martial arts because at that point in time that sport did not have a recognised national sporting body that was recognised by Sport New Zealand. Therefore under the legislation as it was written at the time the TAB were losing revenue on the possibility of offering bets on a very very popular sport. That has been addressed now because mixed martial arts have had a national sporting body recognised by Sport New Zealand.But what the changes in this bill will do is allow the TAB to offer odds on those sports that either do not have a national sporting organisation do not have one recognised or do not have one recognised by Sport New Zealand. What that will mean is the TAB will be able to offer betting on those and the revenue extracted from those products will be given to Sport New Zealand to distribute and I think that is absolutely fantastic. It was a bizarre situation to be in—to be the world's only shearing bookmaker and yet we were not able to offer odds on a worldwide phenomenon like the MMA. It is a common-sense change and one that is well overdue and I'm very pleased to see it involved in here.We also heard concerns from the National Party around sports representation on the new organisation that's going to be proposed. The fact is that this is a bill that introduces a transitional authority and one that needs to ensure that the people that are on it have expertise in a transitional phase—that are taking into appreciation the "knowledge of or experience in the racing industry and sports administration at a national level". That's what's guaranteed in the new organisation that comes after this transition phase.But I suspect the National Party know this because despite their concerns registered at the first reading and despite their concerns registered at the second reading they had an opportunity yesterday at the committee of the whole House stage to put forward some Supplementary Order Papers to make some arguments and propose some changes so that their concerns could be addressed. Did they? Did they my foot. They made three speeches and that was it—three. One from Mr McKelvie one from Ms Kaye and one from Mr Bennett and that was that. Because what they realised is that this bill particularly with the minor changes that occurred at the supposedly rushed select committee stage is in exactly the right format and form that it should be to achieve what it hopes to achieve and that is the first step towards looking at saving the racing industry.The fact is that there are many provincial areas that rely on racing as a contributor to their local economy. They might be areas like Woodville that regardless of the future of its track will remain an area that is committed to horse training. They might be areas like in the south of Wairarapa that have one of the most beautiful boutique racetracks in the country that attract people from right around the country every summer and for the occasional winter meeting and it is a track that is self-sufficient and will continue to stand alone. There are areas like the Waikato that are world renowned for the quality of product that they breed and export. But in order for that to continue to be an export product we need to offer the races that demonstrate that the breeding and the horses that come from those programmes are world class and at the moment that is not the case.There are many clubs around the country that are struggling to put up the prize money that is required for those horses to be acknowledged overseas and qualify for overseas races for them and their breeding programmes and the trainers and the jockeys. We have a world class system but the structure that currently exists is not supporting that world class system. You go anywhere in the world and you will see the influence of New Zealand racing in the racing industry. When I worked in the racing industry in Ireland there was a strong New Zealand presence—be it through training be it through breeding or be it through the jockeys. That is exactly the case in the Asian markets in the UK in the US as well and most notably probably in Australia. But it is under threat.What is proposed in this bill will allow the first step towards making the changes that the racing industry needs so that it can be sustainable so that not only can the three racing codes be supported but the national sporting organisations of this country can be supported under what is essentially a unique structure—one that I think this Parliament should be pleased that it introduced and should be pleased to be taking the opportunity to be revising and improving right now."