Goudie Sandra: Sports Anti-Doping Bill — Second Reading 
Goudie Sandra: Sports Anti-Doping Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5602] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 I would like to begin by commending my colleagues Shane Ardern and Brian Connell for the excellent work that they did in the scrutiny of this bill to ensure that the appropriate level of protection the right incentives and the right enforcement procedures as far as New Zealand is concerned to play our part in the world of sport were in place. Of course for such a small country New Zealand does extraordinarily well. There was indeed robust discussion on some aspects of the bill with appropriate amendments made to strengthen the integrity of the bill before it became an Act. 
Concerns were raised in regard to the privacy of individuals the sharing of test results with police and the broadening of the consultative requirement of the Sports Drug Agency to include athletes. I thought that was a particularly pertinent point raised in discussions with submitters. I could not see any reason why athletes should be left out of the consultative processes and I think that requirement is certainly a step in the right direction. This will allow not only national sporting organisations but also athletes a reasonable opportunity to comment on any proposed rules. We recommended an explicit requirement to give athletes in national sporting organisations a reasonable opportunity to comment on proposed rules. 
The Sports Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand is to be renamed the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand with the deletion of the word “Disputes” which will make it appear to be a less confrontational body. I think that is to be applauded because we want people to feel confident that it is an agency that will look at all sides of the issues and all the facts of the case and make a judgment accordingly. The New Zealand Sports Drug Agency’s name is to be changed to Drug Free Sport New Zealand in order to reflect the agency’s current trading name. 
The bill was hardly contentious with only two submissions being received and those two submissions were presented to the select committee with discussions resulting. Advice was also sought from Sport and Recreation New Zealand officials who had some good knowledge to contribute to the few concerns that were raised about the bill. 
National is pleased to support the Sports Anti-Doping Bill because we believe in fair play and playing by the rules with integrity honesty and courage. We believe in the strengthening of character by meeting challenges openly and honestly free of the taint of any subterfuge or fraudulent or corrupt practice and in this instance of course the use of drugs. We totally deplore the use of drugs in sport. 
There is nothing better than preparing oneself along with one’s team if one is in a team situation for the challenge of meeting an opponent or an opposing team. I am glad that I actually had the opportunity in earlier years to swim competitively to play softball rugby squash indoor basketball and like my most excellent colleague Eric Roy—who made a wonderful speech during the first reading—to compete in high school discus throwing competitions. However I did not advance to the lofty heights of my most excellent colleague Eric Roy. I thought it was quite interesting that we both had some skill at throwing the discus. 
Talking sport I was delighted to catch up with the Silver Ferns and their outstanding coach Ruth Aitken here in Parliament tonight. Ruth just happens to live in my electorate. I am definitely very fortunate to have such a wonderful person be part of my electorate. I think we need only to look at the Silver Ferns to see what can be achieved in excellence in sport at the highest level—and that is without any taint of anything that might even hint at drugs or any sort of subterfuge in achieving the lofty heights that the team has reached in the sport of netball. 
National is very pleased to support this Sports Anti-Doping Bill. We think it will go a long way in curbing any future transgressions. Drugs are becoming far too prolific in sport. We need to be much stronger in making sure that sport maintains its integrity and is free of any form of drug use. My colleague Brian Connell was concerned that anyone indulging in recreational drugs was going to be able to get away with that; that even though those people might be detected using recreational drugs in a sporting context there was no provision in the bill for that information to be passed on to the police for further treatment through the judicial process. This concern was raised in the select committee. It was felt at that stage though that it should be left out. However I wonder whether we have made the right choice and whether we should not be putting through an amendment to allow information on people using illegal recreational drugs to be passed on to the police for appropriate action to be taken. This may come about in due course. 
People might decide that an amendment to the legislation is required. I think it is something that is worth considering because so often now people in our communities are resorting to drugs. The drugs are staying in people’s systems for a lot longer and are affecting their performance at all levels and if they are playing sport it will certainly have an effect. We should take a very tough stance and a very strong position on that with in my view zero tolerance. I am very pleased to be part of National’s support for this Sports Anti-Doping Bill and I commend my colleagues once again for their excellent efforts.