Bennett DavidHon DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East): Thank you Mr Speaker. We have a very favourable atmosphere in the House here tonight. Everybody is in favour of passing this bill and is speaking in very glowing terms of what's happened in the legislation. So I just want to carry on that train of thought and first of all acknowledge the Minister the Rt Hon Winston Peters who has been dedicated to the racing industry for many years and has been able to shepherd this bill into Parliament and through it. He has added to it in some ways that I think the racing industry will be very thankful for and also those in the sports bodies will equally be thankful for. I'd like to also thank all members of this House that have debated in earnest this bill and have come to the conclusion that it is something that we all need to support in a worthwhile and consensus manner. I think that that is a great tribute to the parliamentary process that that can happen and has happened in this case. So I think that's great to see. Also the speed with which the bill went through is not really much of a problem when you consider that the effect of most of this bill is something that had been suggested late in the last term of the previous Government and also that had gone through a select committee process early in this term of Government. So it has been something that's been on the books for some time and that race fields legislation—as it was when it was discussed then—is essentially the core of the consumption and information charges that are in this bill. That is something that had been debated over a number of years and had had submissions on it over a period of time so the quickness of this approach to the bill isn't really an issue when we consider that we have had that debate in the past. One of the big issues that has come out of the bill is the role of sports and we need to be frank with that as well. There will be some sports bodies that will be advocating for the best that they can get out of any legislation in regard to sports betting and that is a negotiating stance that you would not expect them to resile from. You know they have to look after their interests and they want to get the best result they can for their sports bodies. On the other side of that the racing industry feels that it has an equally strong role in that regard because the TAB is something that had been set up by the racing industry many years ago and without that body the sports organisations wouldn't have had the ability to capture that income. So they do feel—and rightly so—that they have invested and built up that asset that is being used by other bodies. There is a natural tension there and it is not a tension that we should be afraid of. It's actually good in the sense that it keeps everybody honest and it keeps everybody working together. There will be some points of difference as we go through this process and there will be some heated discussions in the back rooms between the sports and also between the codes but that is normal and the negotiation that one would expect to happen as a bill like this progresses into the reality of making it actually work and how we decide on the distributions and governance of the board. Those were the two main issues that had been raised during the select committee process. They were around governance and the distribution process and what equation would be used for the distribution of funds. All parties took a good-faith element to that and they are going to take on the basis that they are not represented on the board necessarily in their own right but they trust that the people that will be represented there will take a good-faith approach to solving those issues. Similarly with distributions that good-faith approach has been taken. I think that is something that we can take a lot of credit for in this Parliament—that our sporting organisations and our codes are willing to undertake such a big leap of faith but in a good-faith manner—and that is something that we can all learn from. When we look at how that actually translates in practice there will be some important roles over the next year or so. First of all the Minister for Racing and the Minister for Sport and Recreation will both have extremely important roles. They will act in consultation together and they of course will have slightly different negotiating positions representing the parties that they represent. But they all know that the prize at the end of this is something that will be to the benefit of all parties and I'm sure that they will be able to come to a conclusion that will be in the best interests of everybody. In regard to racing in particular I think that there is a special emphasis on the Minister for Racing as to how these funds are used. In the first reading in the second reading and in the committee stage I made it clear that I think that there is an opportunity here for the Minister for Racing to take an active role now in how this money is used. I would hate for this money that is going to the racing industry just to be diluted across all races and to not actually achieve those transitional and transformative requirements that are needed to get racing into the space where it can take advantage of the opportunities going forward. This is an opportunity for racing to use that money wisely and not just put it into the pot and think that it's going to be the saviour because it won't be. The quantum of it is not enough to do that. But if it is used wisely it can be the incentive to create that change within the industry. In providing that incentive we can get those good stake moneys going in certain races and we can get the infrastructure in certain racecourses that will provide that product mix that will take New Zealand racing to the next level. So it's important that we use that money in the right way. When we come to sport this is of huge benefit to sport. Sport's about 27 percent of the betting currently going through the TAB. Now that will only increase over time. If you look at the modern demographic of our country there will be people here that have come from many different countries and they will have many different sporting interests. You're seeing that change within our sporting practices now and that will flow on into the betting practices too that you will see. Also New Zealand sport is highly regarded around the world and it will be something that people will want to take an active interest in as well. So with that 27 percent that currently is there for betting on sport that can only but increase. That percentage will increase over time and that creates an issue for the second tranche of legislation that the Minister is proposing and that is something that will deal with the TAB its ownership its structure and its use of its assets. That is a much more difficult proposition. If you're in the sports bodies and you are having an increase in your betting turnover of course your incentive is not to see resolution of that necessarily at this point but at a future point in time when you have a higher percentage. So there will be some conflicts there and I think the Minister will find that more difficult than this legislation to get the necessary agreement around everything. There are conflicting views around the role of the TAB going forward amongst the racing codes and also those participants in the industry. So we wish him all the best with that and we look forward to that coming forward to the House but we recognise the challenges that there will be in that area. Overall I just wanted to thank everybody in the racing industry. They make a tremendous contribution to this country. Not only are they out there every morning and afternoon looking after their horses and dogs working hard to try and get the best out of their industry and to breed the best horses for New Zealand so that we can sell them on the international market but they are true standard-bearers for this country. They are one of our representative primary industries. They are seen as New Zealand Incorporated" on the world stage and they sell and market New Zealand as much as any other primary industry. Similarly our sportspeople do exactly the same. So if we can encourage those people that go out there and sell what New Zealand means on the international market and make our communities happy in participation and enjoyment for what they deliver then I think that's a good thing for this Parliament to do to be able to support them so that they are able to continue that work for the best interests of our people."