Swarbrick ChlöeCHLÖE SWARBRICK (Green—Auckland Central): E te Māngai tēnā koe. Tēnā koutou e te Whare. It pains me to stand up and to break the consensus and the joy that has broken out across the House. If this legislation calls for anything it is for a sense of consistency. As far as that goes members in this place who were here last term will know that the Greens voted down similar legislation back in 2019. So if members are interested in a nuanced discussion about that well buckle up.So what we're talking about today and many have contributed to this debate is particularly the men's Rugby World Cup as the case has it. This legislation in fact about licensing and alcohol licensing is obviously within the context of the Rugby World Cup but fundamentally it is about access and availability of alcohol—Aotearoa New Zealand's favourite drug consumed by 80 percent of those of the age to do so a quarter of them to really harmful ends. As this House has canvased in many debates previously we do have quite a problem in this country with regards to how deeply intertwined sports and alcohol is. That of course is why the former National Government back in 2014 commissioned the ministerial forum chaired by Sir Graham Lowe recommending for example an end to alcohol advertising and sponsorship of sports but I digress.What many speakers have actually touched on is the fact that we are seeing this kind of legislation become ever more frequent. I think that there is an inherent problem with that when we have a kind of predictability of what is fundamentally quite an ad hoc approach and as actually my learned colleague from the ACT Party just raised the fact that this was tabled in lightning speed and that the House is now passing it just as quickly. To that effect I think that all of us would agree that there is perhaps the need for some greater interrogation of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 because if we are consistently needing to have this exceptional law change in these circumstances then perhaps much like the circumstance with Anzac services as raised by Vanushi Walters then it is the case that we need to go about interrogating and fixing the law itself.But at present we do have a mechanism for those who would like to be open for these hours for the likes of the Rugby World Cup or for other special events as the case may be. That of course is for licence holders to apply to get a special licence to the district licensing committee. Interestingly enough if the district licensing committee finds that they do not want to grant a special licence then they are finding that overall that application is inconsistent with the purposes of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012. Mr Speaker I hope you get where I am going here. It is ultimately about how we can provide these special licences in such a way as to potentially reduce harm.There is actually no evidence at this point in time—and to that effect I'm really interested in what comes through in the Justice Committee process—that there is a widespread problem with the special licensing process. Again if it is the case that there is a problem with the way that these special licensing provisions work then we need to go about changing the primary legislation which of course we have an opportunity to and I would hope that all of the House agrees on.But just reflecting on some of the things that I've been speaking to local police about in my electorate of Auckland Central as many others have touched on it is actually the case that the police in my patch tell me that the biggest issue that they deal with is alcohol and unruly patrons of certain hospitality venues and therefore they are massively encouraging of a better regulatory environment for the control of alcohol as again a drug if we're to speak freely and frankly to which I would hope that all members in this House have consistency on when it comes to evidence-based approaches.So for sake of consistency the Greens will be opposing this tonight but we'd say once again that if there is a need to consistently bring legislation like this whenever there is a men's Rugby World Cup or a Women's Rugby World Cup as the case may be then it's the case that we need to amend the primary legislation because otherwise we are at risk of continuing to operate in an ad hoc way that ironically and perversely becomes all too predictable.