Scott Alastair: Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Extended licensing hours during Rugby World Cup) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeScott Alastair: Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Extended licensing hours during Rugby World Cup) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 26 August 2015. Volume:708;Page:6202. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa): This is a fantastic bill. I am very pleased to be standing in support of this bill because it gives the whole country an opportunity to celebrate our national game together. Too much talk has been about the alcohol anger and anti-alcohol speak but it is not about the alcohol; it is about getting together. It is about getting together to celebrate giving people the opportunity to gather in communities with their whānau with their families and with their kids and enjoying the camaraderie and the celebration of the sport.I am also pleased to read that there are no restrictions on the games. All games are in. I mean there could have been a view—alcohol is usually the excuse—that for some reason we had to restrict the games to just the All Blacks or perhaps it was going to be just the northern hemisphere games against the All Blacks or perhaps it was just countries that we have free-trade agreements with or perhaps it was just American continent games. But there is no restriction and that is a great thing because that demonstrates again that the game is an inclusive game and it demonstrates that New Zealand is an inclusive society. We are here together.I note and acknowledge Louisa Wall’s comments around her experience with the licensing vis-à-vis the rugby club. I accept that this bill allows this House to be a licensing board on behalf of all New Zealand so there will be consistency across the country when it comes to special licences. So this is us legislating a special licence for all New Zealanders. The people who are opposed particularly the Greens are just not on this planet. They have become the wet blanket on this bill which is about celebrating our national sport. Really? Are we really going to get a whole lot of people stumbling out of bars at 8 o’clock in the morning or 9 o’clock in the morning after a rugby game? That is just a nonsense whether it is in Courtenay Place or in Perry Street in Masterton. It is just not a reality. Unfortunately the fearmongering the scaremongering—I can tell you that it is absolutely exaggerated and is a sad indictment on what should be a celebration of this country’s sport.Back in the day—and I looked out to see when Colin Meads actually did play. He finished his games for the All Blacks in 1971. It was a little while ago but I do remember getting woken up by my father to watch the game—in black and white so I must have been about 6 or 7 years old. Now in this Rugby World Cup festival we can get up and go down to the pub. Why should we not be able to go down to the pub and meet and commune with our relatives and people in our communities? It is not about the alcohol. We can have an orange juice. There is no obligation to drink. There is no compulsion to drink. There is lemonade. There is orange juice. There is even water.The other point it that not all bars will be open for all games—clearly not—and that is the great thing. This legislation gives the operator the licensee the option and the choice to make and it will be commercial decision-making on how many dollars will come in the door because of the event. That is the way it should be. So most pubs will be open for the All Blacks but Namibia versus Georgia—probably not a great following in Perry Street in Masterton.I would just like to wind up by thanking David Seymour for bringing this bill to the House. It is a very good bill. It is going to gather communities across New Zealand together in celebration of our national sport and I commend this bill to the House.