Clark David: Copyright (Parallel Importing of Films) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeClark David: Copyright (Parallel Importing of Films) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 15 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:13880. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North): I rise to express Labour’s support for this bill the Copyright (Parallel Importing of Films) Amendment Bill. It is a bill that as the previous speaker Jonathan Young has said weighs up the various factors at play and comes down with a compromised solution of having a shorter period until this effective subsidy passes.We on this side of the House and the National Party opposite had some robust conversations in the Commerce Committee. Many of us played devil’s advocate at different times and took different sides of the debate. It was a good select committee discussion. It was well chaired and I say to the member Jonathan Young over there who chaired it that he chaired the discussion well.We had some interesting conversations. We expanded our own knowledge of the sector. We had advice from officials on many things. We considered factors like the seasonal factors and how when a film turns up it is released generally at school holiday times and how those differ between here and overseas where the majority of films come from. We talked about competition with other films from similar genres and how that affects the timing of the release of a film. We talked about the availability of advertising such as billboards and the like which can create pressure on certain times to screen. We talked about the profitability or otherwise of some of the cinemas that have to make the transition to digital over time.All of the issues were weighed up and on balance the 120 cinemas roughly in New Zealand were given the benefit of the doubt in terms of allowing them a little more time to make the transitional arrangements necessary. But as previous speakers have said we do expect this to be the final transition. We expect this 5-month delay period to be where it ends and thereafter these things will be released at the same time.This bill expires on 31 October 2016. Labour gives its qualified support for the 5-month delay on the basis of the impact on provincial and rural cinemas which have less capacity to show those high-grossing movies simultaneously which is what is required to be competitive in the market place because we are concerned about what is going on in rural New Zealand. The Labour Party of course thinks that there are other ways that this problem could be tackled. Certainly higher wages in the regions would go a long way towards making this kind of transition affordable and to making those cinemas profitable as people would then have the ability to go out and enjoy the kind of entertainment that some of us think ought to be taken for granted—that people could go out and enjoy a movie or take the kids to a movie occasionally. Well unfortunately there are many families in New Zealand for whom that is no longer a reality. That is in part because these films are shown at a cost that is prohibitive but of course the reason the cost is prohibitive is that wages are low and families in the regions do not have enough to make ends meet. That means that people are struggling and consequently those who provide the entertainment to those people are struggling also. So this bill strikes a balance in the meantime.We would like to see the Government have a fuller response to the economic issues facing New Zealand instead of having a two-speed economy where Auckland is running away and the rest of New Zealand is struggling and where economic growth is really lagging behind what it ought to be in a time when we have had such high dairy prices internationally. Our trade terms should have been better. This Government has underperformed in the economic sector and regional New Zealand is hurting. One of the ways we are seeing it expressed is here in this bill where people are not able to afford to go to the cinemas to support those community facilities which we on this side of the House value.I am pleased that the discussion was good in the Commerce Committee I am pleased with where the bill has got to and I think the industry will be pleased with the additional time. I think from the tone of the conversations and debates that have been had in this House that the industry will realise that this is the last extension and we will not be talking any more about my colleague KrisFaafoi’s fascination with the movieThe Smurfs and the Magic Flute again if luck is on our side. This third reading—Kris Faafoi: Academy Award - winning performance from Papa Smurf.Dr DAVID CLARK: —will be the last opportunity to discuss as my colleague says the Academy Award - winning performance from Papa Smurf. We did actually discuss in the Commerce Committee the release time of the Smurfs movie.The Smurfs 2 was one of these high-grossing movies so it actually came up as a topic that we discussed around the table and how that as a concrete example plays out when this legislation goes through. Mr Faafoi admitted in an earlier speech though that the first movie he ever went to see wasThe Smurfs. It sounds like he was a bit of a fan as a younger man. I am sure he will say more when his time comes to speak on the bill and I hope that is where his contribution stops. I may be inviting a contribution I welcome less if I pursue this line much further.For Labour we are happy to support the bill. We are happy that it is a temporary measure and we want to see these community facilities preserved but we also think that the bigger issues in the economy need to be addressed. This Government needs to look out for jobs and for higher wages so that people can actually afford to take their kids to the movies. Those simple things need to be addressed. This Government needs to get on top of the economy rebalance it where it is failing and focus on the issue that matters to New Zealanders—that is jobs.