Hayes John: Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill — First Reading 
Hayes John: Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill — First Reading 
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JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
: 
 It gives me a great deal of pleasure to speak in support of the first reading of the Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill. It has been fascinating sitting on this side of the House and listening to a certain amount of diatribe from colleagues across the floor on issues around running elections. If we think about how well they structured the last election we know that yes they know all about running elections! 
The point about this bill is that we must have a successful Rugby World Cup. It is really important for New Zealand it is really important for our global brand and it is really important for our economy. We can expect somewhere between 70000 and 85000 visitors over a 6-week period. More important something like 4 billion people will watch matches over that 6-week period. We want to showcase New Zealand. It is our opportunity to show the world what a great place this country is. This bill will make the Rugby World Cup a success because it will allow temporary streamlining of Government regulatory processes to ensure that the tournament and the many activities around it that we will support can be organised and managed really effectively. 
That is incredibly important. Despite comments from my Green colleague David Clendon and from Labour colleagues about the ease with which resource consents can be procured for things like marquees I have to tell them that that is not the case. I have constituents in Masterton who want to erect temporary marquee-type structures to grow vegetables in. After 3 years they still do not have their consents because of the complications of the processes that we have inherited from the last 9 years of Labour Government. Some of that stuff is an absolute nonsense and we cannot afford to have that sort of restriction in the lead-up to an event of the size of the forthcoming Rugby World Cup. The hosting requirements of a spectacle of this scale present really big challenges so it is crucial that we have special legislation that is set up so that the event is a success and to make sure that we maximise the opportunities that the event presents. 
The Rugby World Cup will be the largest event ever held in New Zealand—the largest event ever held in this country. This bill is necessary because the existing regulatory approval processes are not sufficient to cater for the extraordinary requirements of a tournament of this scale. This is due to their long time frames which despite the advice from our Green colleague have to be either endured or moved to one side. 
The point of this legislation is to establish a Rugby World Cup consenting authority which will support existing regulatory regimes by accommodating the extraordinary requirements of this tournament which New Zealand will be hosting. This authority will offer an expeditious alternative to the existing processes which are simply not adequate. The bill will provide for a temporary structure and a single regime for determining for example Rugby World Cup liquor licences. The police I have to say support the single regime. It will give the police greater powers of enforcement of liquor-licensing provisions and will shorten the process for enforcement authorities to suspend and revoke licences. No urgent consent requirements such as road closures can be considered without a recommendation from the Rugby World Cup authority and without consultation with the Ministers responsible. 
There is a precedent of course for this type of legislation and those of us who like me are interested in yachting will remember the America’s Cup which was held in Auckland. That was an extremely successful event. This bill which is going to the Government Administration Committee will establish the consenting authority and will empower it to consider applications for regulatory approvals that would otherwise be necessary for activities that are reasonably necessary for the proper conduct of the event and the tests. 
The bill also includes two provisions to deal with urgent applications or unforeseen approvals during the Rugby World Cup. It is inevitable that some things that people have overlooked will crop up at the last minute. So on the recommendation of the authority the Minister may firstly ask the Governor-General to prescribe Rugby World Cup permitted activities by an Order in Council during the period 1 July 2011 to 31 October 2011 only—so it is a very short period of time. Secondly the legislation proposes to grant urgent approvals during the tournament window only. That will be from 9 September through to 25 October. Both powers will be exercised only at the recommendation of the authority and will require consultation with responsible portfolio Ministers. 
I think this legislation is providing a lot of common sense. This event will make a huge impact on our communities. Even as I speak the ex - Mayor of Masterton Bob Francis a wonderful man and chair of our district health board with a lifetime as a referee— 
Michael Woodhouse 
: Very good referee in his day. 
JOHN HAYES 
:—that is exactly right; he is an excellent referee—is across in Argentina selecting referees for the competition. A huge amount of work is going on. We in Masterton for 2 weeks will get one of the teams to host. That is really great. There is tremendous interest in rugby in my electorate and I think the Rugby World Cup will really excite and engage our community. 
As I said earlier this event is the third-largest sporting event in the world. We will have huge television audiences and I want my electorate and all of New Zealand to be written about in a really good way so that we give tremendous additional benefit to the marketing of our main products like dairy products meat and wool. To do that we have to be really organised so that we can provide time-critical consents for this event. 
With those few words I say that I look forward to this legislation going to our committee. Thank you.