Robertson GrantST PETER'S PARISH ENDOWMENT FUND TRUST BILLSecond ReadingHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central): I move That the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill be now read a second time. I have every intention of being back in the House after 14 October as part of a Labourled Government. When that happens I will no longer be the member of Parliament for Wellington Central because I am not running in that seat and the excellent Ibrahim Omer will win that seat and be the MP for Wellington Central. So as I come towards the end of my time 15 years as the member of Parliament for Wellington Central it's with some pleasure that I'm able to stand in the House today and deal with what is a relatively minor matter but quite a significant one for St Peter's Anglican Church. At the outset I want to acknowledge in this second reading the work of the select committee in having gone through this bill. Like all bills there were always issues; there are always things that come up that need to be dealt with and the committee dealt with those in a very sensible and rational way. I want to thank them for allowing members of the St Peter's parish and trust board to be represented within the sessions of the committee. It allowed problems to be dealt with immediately and I think that kind of approach is actually a very constructive one which select committees might want to think about more often when they're dealing with private bills and bill of this nature—local bills that are very particular to the institution—and the knowledge of what it means how a change would impact in this case the St Peter's parish and the endowment trust fund; having those people in the room is particularly useful.I do want to acknowledge Ross Tanner for the extremely hard work that he has put in to this bill over a significant amount of time and—indeed many of the other things he's done in the Wellington Central community over the years that I've been serving it—and all of those from the parish who are represented today for whom this bill matters. To go back to the beginning as it were St Peter's is a church that many folks will know. It sits very conveniently down on the corner of Vivian Street and Willis Street. It's very close about 30 or 40 metres from my electorate office where I've been for the last 15 years. During that period of time I've attended numerous events at the church ranging as I think I might have said in my first reading speech from somewhat the extraordinary Wellington Fringe Festival awards nights—which are not when they play out the kind of thing you would expect in a church I can assure you but they're a lot of fun—all the way through to candidate debates very serious debates on issues and I want to acknowledge Stephen King who's in the gallery and Charles Waldergrave and others who have led the Ngā Kōrero series that has happened at the church. That's been an exceptional act of public interest to have those conversations in the community with the doors as they always are at St Peter's wide open.It's also and I got this wrong in my first reading speech—I think I said the wrong Wilson and the chance of doing it again; it's Godfrey isn't it?—that's what I'm looking for yes. Yes Godfrey Wilson who delivered in 1967 a landmark sermon on homosexuality at St Peter's church and the church has always been an institution that has and certainly in my 15 years celebrated diversity. As a church that does this work—social justice work; community engagement work; celebrates diversity; it's an arts venue; it's a venue that all Wellingtonians know is an open space for them; it currently hosts The Free Store Wellington—there are a lot of the most vulnerable residents of Wellington who see St Peter's as an integral part of their daily lives. So it's with that background that we bring this bill to the House; a church that has been there for a very very long time and has much more to offer Wellingtonians and indeed the whole of New Zealand but this bill will help them do that. The particular trust deed that is being amended here dates back to 1922 and its provisions are very much based on a 1920s legal model. The investment powers of the trust board are limited in the existing trust deed and the provisions are silent on many of the legal provisions that govern the endowment fund. The 1922 trust deed also restricts the size of distributions to the lesser of either the amount of income earned in the current year or the preceding year limiting the ability of the trust board to effectively distribute income for the intended charitable purposes. There is a great deal more money in the pot now than there once was and unfortunately because of the nature of the deed it is not possible for the trust board to be able to give the money out in a way that I think they would like and indeed all of us would like to see.So the trust board has recommended a revised endowment fund trust deed to address limitations and difficulties in its current operations. The revised deed is clarifying the investment powers of the trust board bringing them into alignment with current best practice and removing those limitations on distribution that I mentioned in a revision of the trust deed. This will allow the trust board the parish to be able to play its role in the social justice and community interventions that I mentioned before but also make sure that current and future trustees and the board itself is compliant with relevant legislation.It's important to note that the bill did go through all of the necessary things that happen when a private bill comes forward so as far back as April 2021 there was a special general meeting of the parish to be able to work through the issues. There was a bit of coming and going with Crown Law—such is the nature of these things—but we found ourselves to come in front of the select committee with a bill that I am very pleased the committee has put through without amendment. I think that proves that the hard work that did go into it was well and truly worthwhile.There were a couple of matters that were raised in the committee which the committee dealt with very well and I probably will leave committee members if they choose to to talk about that or we can take it up in the upcoming committee of the whole House stage. But they were matters which I think were dealt with relatively easily around the question of distribution and exceptional circumstances and around the interaction of this piece of legislation with in particular the charitable trust Acts and the Anglican Church trust Acts. In both cases the committee talked to their advisors listened to the church and came to the conclusion that the bill could continue in the state that it was brought in front of the House.So for me this is a bit of a landmark day when it comes to the work of a local MP because much of it is in this kind of vein where we work with organisations closely in our community for the greater good and St Peter's is most definitely an organisation that does that. They will now be in a position to be able to use more of the funds that they have for the good deeds for which they are well-known and to do so in a way that is legally safe and robust enough to be able to survive any future changes that might occur to other pieces of legislation. So with that I do want to commend the bill to the House. I want to thank the select committee again for their work. I want to thank members of the St Peter's parish the trust board in particular for their hard work in bringing us to this place and to wish the church well in its ongoing work in our city. I was once asked what my vision for Wellington City was at a Rotary club of Wellington event and I said I wanted Wellington to be the opposite of loneliness. And I think St Peter's church does a great job in making our city that very thing. I commend the bill to the House.