Roche Denise: New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 11 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:11995. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENISE ROCHE (Green):Tēnā koe.Tēnā koutou e te Whare. I rise to take the second call for the Greens on the New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill. It is no secret that we have been opposed to this bill since we first uncovered the dodgy dealings that have resulted in the legislation we are discussing today. The Greens have a proud history of opposing mining on schedule 4 land opposing deep-sea oil drilling and opposing fracking and we oppose this deal because it favours another nastyextraction industry one that hoovers money out of the pockets of those who can least afford it and just like the worstfrackers it leaves a hell of a mess. We all live with the consequences and we all bear the costs.And what are the costs? Well we do not know. We have some clues. The regulatory impact statement says that there will be increased problem gambling from the 230 extra pokies and more tables. There will be increased risk of suicide and domestic violence. There will be more kids going hungry and kids being neglected and left in cars. We know that there will be increased crime as a result of increased gambling opportunities. We know that there will be more thefts of businesses and charities to fuel gambling. We know that there will be more gangs more P dealers and even some international criminals laundering their money at the extended casino.In terms of cost-benefit analysis that really has not been done. The Government keeps stating that there will be jobs and there will be benefits to the economy but actually the losses and the social harms that we will all pay for have not been factored into the equation. I ask the Government to do the maths. I query the overstated economic benefits. The research undertaken by the Australian Productivity Commission shows that casinos suck the money out of the surrounding areas and take it away from restaurants from theatres from shops and the surrounding area. It will basically concentrate all that money at the Skycity venue.Yesterday I went to a talk by Robert Wade from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was talking about inequality. He showed a graph representing the ever-widening income gap between the very rich and the very poor and showed how most of the wealth in Anglo countries is concentrated with the wealthy. Here the top 1 percent of income earners own 16 percent of New Zealand’s total wealth compared with the bottom 50 percent who own just 5 percent of the wealth. He explains how this comes about by the policy directions that Governments take that ensure that wealth stays with the wealthy. He talked about the money empathy gap where those who benefit from the Government policy directions who have lots of money develop less empathy for those without money considering those on low incomes even as feckless. He also talked about the need to get rid of the big money from the political system and to stop political parties taking donations from big businesses. Does that sound familiar?This legislation illustrates very very clearly everything he said. We have a deal on the table here that will deliver a convention centre in Auckland and it will increase inequality in Aotearoa New Zealand. We do not have to do this deal. We really do not. If we really need a convention centre publicly funding this would cost in the vicinity of $20 million per year over 35 years. That equates to less than $10 per year per taxpayer. We would own that convention centre. We would control that convention centre. We would avoid the increased social harm that will certainly come with it under the Skycity arrangement. We would also avoid a 35-year compensation clause that unconstitutionally chains future Governments to providing profits for Skycity Casino’s shareholders. I call on all MPs across this House to ditch this bill.