van de Molen TimTIM VAN DE MOLEN (National—Waikato): Thank you Mr Speaker. Look it's a pleasure to rise now and take a call on the second reading of this bill. It has been an interesting process that we've followed. Firstly I'd like to acknowledge our racing spokesperson Ian McKelvie for the great work he's done on this—a fountain of knowledge on the industry Mr McKelvie is and as he mentioned—Andrew Bayly: A fountain of knowledge on many things.TIM VAN DE MOLEN: On many things indeed yes but in particular his involvement with the racing sector over a period of several decades now has been very influential in this particular piece of legislation. I would also like to acknowledge Nikki Kaye for her contribution from the sports and recreation aspect because they are both important elements in the consideration of this Racing Reform Bill. Now I did want to though mention the process as well because we've had a very truncated process here—the select committee process in particular. Having only 11 days did not give the public a wide enough window to submit and we heard that from a number of the 42 or 43 submitters we had who expressed concern around that short window especially being over a long weekend as well. It's another example of the Government not following best practice in terms of a process that enables the public to engage with Parliament to have their say on what for them are important pieces of legislation depending on their areas of interest and the industries. So that is one area that we were a little disappointed by. We've heard the reasoning for it around the desire to have this legislation passed and in place by the start of the new racing season to enable that totalisator levy to be reduced and those funds to then flow through to the codes. But actually as the Minister pointed out there's a need for that funding of course but actually this should have been in place 12 months ago. The previous race fields legislation the Racing Amendment Bill that was started under the previous Government had its first reading went through a select committee process just after the forming of the new Government and actually there was broad consultation. The Minister then withdrew that in order to consider the results of the Messara report and then what that legislation might look like eventually ending up where we are now. But actually there was no reason why that couldn't have been passed 12 months earlier. I remember sitting on that select committee the Primary Production Committee as it was then that was considering the bill which is actually a more appropriate committee than the Transport and Infrastructure Committee to consider it. At that stage the Racing Board and the codes within that were making it very clear around their need for these additional funds to be promptly delivered by the passing of that bill for exactly the same reason as now 12 months later or more than 12 months later we're saying again that it's urgent to be implemented. The Government didn't deliver for the racing industry 12 months ago. They could have had another $15 million to $20 million of revenue over the last 12 months to this point that they didn't get because of the racing Minister's decision. So that was slightly disappointing but I certainly appreciate their now increased desire to have it in place for this season. We do support this bill. There were a number of considerations that we threw back and forward across the select committee based on what submitters were telling us and what we'd heard and the knowledge we had on this side as well. Really what we're trying to get to is a point where no group or code whether that's racing or sporting codes—none of them should be worse off as a result of this bill. That's the outcome that we're looking for. We want all of them to be better off to have more revenue to be able to promote their industry their codes as a result of this to help reinvigorate in particular the racing industry. We're aware there are issues there. The public knows that. The industries in particular know some of the challenges that they're facing in that space. So it's important that we do get this across the line for them. Now we talked a little through the select committee process as well around some of the uncertainty that this legislation proposes with regards to there being no clear representation on the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) board in terms of the different codes being represented and that was a concern but the parties were prepared to act in good faith on the basis that that transition happens over the 12-month period that has been allowed for under this legislation. Also in the worst-case scenario there is the ability to then roll that over for up to a further 24 months if necessary to enable that process to be completed and to enable the right outcome to be achieved through the subsequent legislation that will be coming before this House. Actually at that stage as we were going through the select committee process there was no limit on that and that was a concern for a number of submitters as it was for us on this side of the House as well. It's important to have some structure around this and just having an open-ended ability to stretch this out with no finite date on it was not acceptable. So we're glad that submitters supported that and actually the Government has chosen to accept that recommendation as well to put a maximum two-year extension on the RITA process. So that's got us to a point now where we're broadly comfortable that we can support this with confidence in that it will provide the right outcome for industries within their different codes on this particular bill. Now one other aspect that was mentioned in I believe the Minister's contribution at the start of this second reading and it was supported by Mr Jones—and actually Paul Eagle mentioned it as well—is around the vibrancy in the communities. I have the same in the Waikato electorate. There's plenty of racing in that electorate and we are very proud of our racing heritage there. Small communities in particular love their race days and whilst that was an element of the Messara report which was more controversial in terms of closing a number of those tracks there are plenty of communities that absolutely love it. They get their annual race day one or two or three or however many it may be and for Mr Eagle his comments around the Chatham Islands race club in particular—people love that. It's a real sense of community for them and part of that is enjoying the festivities of the occasion which means having a bit of a flutter on the TAB or likewise perhaps enjoying a cool beverage or two throughout that day's entertainment as well. So we may well be looking at putting forward a Supplementary Order Paper in relation to enabling that consideration for alcohol consumption at race fields around particular race days when it comes to the committee of the whole House stage. So that's something we'll be considering: whether we do look to bring that into this legislation and this process as well or whether we look at a second tranche potentially further down the track. Those are the key points that I really wanted to cover off there and the last one that I'd note—which is more relevant within the Waikato—is that under the Healthy Rivers plan change there's uncertainty around how to consider equine properties in that. They're not dairy farms and they're not sheep and beef farms so how does that sit in terms of the impact it has? So there are a number of ongoing challenges within the broader racing industry as well that we do need to be looking at and so that's one that I'm mindful of too. I just want to acknowledge though that whilst we see these challenges this is one aspect that we will see support for the racing codes and also the sports codes in terms of additional revenue which I am confident will help to reinvigorate some of that. We would like to see some increased stakes and that's a significant part of what helps to inspire people to get involved in this sector. Some of those potential owners who may choose to get involved in a syndicate the trainers the jockeys the stable hands the breeders and everyone involved in this—we all need to see a little more contribution and this will help to deliver that. So we do support it and we look forward to this being rolled out and to the racing codes and sporting codes getting an increased share of revenue to enable them to do better as a result. Thank you.