Robertson Grant; Kuriger BarbaraST PETER'S PARISH ENDOWMENT FUND TRUST BILLFirst ReadingHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central): I move That the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Governance and Administration Committee to consider the bill.The purpose of this bill is to modernise the governing arrangements of the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund which was last updated by the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Act 1927. I don't think any member of the House was here and possibly no member of the House was born at that time. So needless to say the legislation—Nicola Grigg: Ian was!Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I was looking at Mr McKelvie when I said that—choosing my words wisely Nicola Grigg who made that comment. But needless to say the legislation is a little out of date.To provide members with a little bit of background St Peter's church is on Willis Street in Wellington. It's about 50 metres from my electorate office and it's one of the oldest institutions here in our city. Throughout many years the church has provided important community services for the people of Wellington. It has been the home of a number of very influential members of the Anglican Church. I think of Godfrey Nicholson who delivered an extremely important sermon around the rights of homosexual people at St Peter's in the late 1960s which was a groundbreaking sermon; the Rev.—I think he's the Very Rev.—Richard Randerson who is a person who has led the Anglican Church over many years a campaigner for social justice been appointed to many different Government bodies; and even produced a city councillor in Brian Dawson who was also the vicar there too.It is a parish that is well-known in Wellington for its emphasis on social justice which has been a fundamental part of their mission from their formation until the present day. Throughout my 15 years as the MP for Wellington Central I visited the church countless times—as have other colleagues such as Nicola Willis—for candidate meetings public forums book launches. I've even been there for the Fringe Festival prize-giving on a few occasions—which is about the least religious event I can think of but the church has always been extraordinarily welcoming of these sorts of events.The advocacy as I say their support of communities like the rainbow community their connection to the Anglican Chinese Mission the Wellington City Mission the Downtown Community Ministry—which actually when that was called the ICM" many years ago was really driven by people from St Peter's—The Free Store which is there now and Wellington's ethnic food bank.Members of the St Peter's congregation contribute to national issues; make submissions on issues like climate change Working for Families fair pay agreements and the living wage which has been a very big part of their work. The church has hosted in recent years the Ngā Kōrero debate series which as I say I've had the privilege of being a part of along with a vast array of community groups—including I might note interfaith groups where St Peter's has always been very open. So this is a church which prides itself on being a place where the community can gather a place where people can come for support—and I'm proud to introduce this bill on their behalf which will help them to keep serving Wellingtonians now and long into the future.In terms of the trust that sits at the heart of this bill we need to go back to 1922 when the trust was created to manage the endowment of £1347 for the benefit of the parish. The intention was that that fund and any legacies donations and surplus revenue added over the years would be invested in securities to "accumulate at compound interest." Clause 4 of the trust deed says that no part of the fund could be distributed until the accumulated investments totalled £1500.The St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Act 1927 changed the minimum amount the fund needed before distribution from £1500 to £10000—96 years later there's significantly more than £10000 in the pot and St Peter's would like to be able to put a chunk of it to good use. I think the simple fact that the trust deed and the subsequent Act are talking about pounds probably indicates why the Act needs to be updated.What the bill does is it essentially fixes the trust deed and brings it into the 21st century. Since the 1927 Act Parliament has passed the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 the Anglican Church Trusts Act 1981 and the Trusts Act 2019—and St Peter's church quite rightly wants their trust deed to align with current legislation. This includes changes to the legal liability of trustees and enabling updates to the trust's board governing arrangements.Just briefly working through the bill the preamble explains the context and history just as I have outlined it now and has standard introductory clauses. Clause 4 restates the purpose of the trust bill in the same manner as described in the original trust deed: "such purposes of the parish that are of religious charitable or educational nature as the vestry from time to time directs." Clause 5 makes the most important change to the trust board's investment and distribution powers. Under clause 5 of the original deed they cannot distribute any more money than the amount of income accrued in the previous financial year. As members would no doubt realise this significantly restricts the ability of St Peter's church to invest back into their community. Clause 5 changes this to allow the trust board to distribute up to 4 percent of the endowment fund in any financial year or any additional distribution up to 20 percent in certain circumstances. It also allows the board to lend to the parish.Clauses 6 and 7 deal with the administrative powers and legal liability of the trustees. As I say this brings the trust board into line with current legislation.Clause 8 revokes clauses 4 and 5 of the original trust deed. These two clauses were the ones which restricted the ability of the trust to invest more into their community. Revoking these clauses also empowers the trust to purchase property—previously they were only allowed to receive land or buildings via gift or bequest.Clause 9 futureproofs the trust deed by allowing any future changes that may be needed to be made under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 or the Anglican Church Trusts Act 1981 so we don't need to go through a lengthy private bill process again. Finally clause 10 repeals the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Act 1927.This bill has been widely consulted upon within the church community. I understand that members of the parish have also spoken with members of Parliament here. I want to thank St Peter's for their work in getting the bill into the shape that it is. I am merely the vessel by which it arrives in Parliament as is the nature with private bills. But as the member of Parliament for this area for the last 15 years and a close neighbour of the church I am delighted to be able to help them go forward into the future and achieve their goals of supporting their community as they have done so often over the years. I commend the bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Barbara Kuriger): The question is that the motion be agreed to."