Brooking RachelRACHEL BROOKING (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker for an opportunity to talk on this third reading of the Incorporated Societies Bill. Now as we've heard from many of the other speakers this bill replaces the 1908 Act. I think it's important to acknowledge the importance of that 1908 Act in giving legal personhood to entities these incorporated societies so that they can continue on even when the membership of them changes. We've seen and many other speeches have talked about all the different incorporated societies within New Zealand. We've embraced the concept of incorporated societies with about 24000 of them. They cover a wide spectrum of things from arts groups sports charities unions marae—and even political parties we heard from Glen Bennett. So they're very important.What I want to talk about in this short contribution is the good process that this bill has been through to modernise the important 1908 Act. So we know that it was a request to go through the Law Commission the Law Commission reported back there were exposure drafts—it's been a long time coming and here it is. We've heard as well from a number of the speakers that one of the issues with the 1908 Act is that it really just deals with the birth and the death of the society that legal person and that this bill in its modernisation is to really add the framework for the life of that society.So the provisions include exciting provisions about constitutions—and we heard the Hon Andrew Little speaking on the significance of these provisions—and about officers and membership. We heard also from the Hon Andrew Little and also Elizabeth Kerekere in her contribution about the importance of the clarity on information for members and the privacy requirements; registration; annual general meetings—they'll be exciting I'm sure everyone in this House has attended a few of those—how voting happens; and of course accounting records. And then there's these new provisions for dispute resolution that we've heard Jamie Strange the Minister and Dr Elizabeth Kerekere talk to.Now this new bill is presented in the plain English that we expect of our Parliamentary Counsel Office drafters and it will be much easier for the people that make up these committees in the incorporated societies to follow. I note one of the submissions was from the Queenstown Tennis Club and noted that their—Joseph Mooney: Great tennis club.RACHEL BROOKING: I see the member opposite me looking up—membership of the committee included a driving instructor a vet a Department of Conservation ranger a teacher a civil engineer and a film production worker. I'm sure they will be relieved as are many committees around the country to have a much clearer framework to be working through.We've heard also about the good process in the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee. That was in the report back from the select committee about changing the threshold for what is a small incorporated society—that there was extensive bipartisan discussions to reach a consensus. I do pause to note the difference of opinion about clauses 53 and 54.It would be remiss of me in my remaining short amount of time to not note that the Regulations Review Committee wrote to the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee and the select committee considered what the Regulations Review Committee said and that was about how a whole lot of societies are governed by their own private Act. So these can convert to come under this new piece of legislation and there'll be regulations to do this. But the Regulations Review Committee said that that should be clearer and that the Minister should only make a recommendation when the conversion was appropriate where having regard to the purposes of the Incorporated Societies Act."—and that recommendation was taken up.So I would like to commend this bill to the House. It's an important part of New Zealand's fabric. And well done to the Minister and the select committee for ushering it through. Thank you."