Mitchell Clayton: Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMitchell Clayton: Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 27 November 2014. Volume:702;Page:946. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CLAYTON MITCHELL (NZ First):I rise on behalf of New Zealand First in support of this bill. I would just like to start by acknowledging the people in the gallery who are here today who are clearly sports fans. Colin Charles it is great to see you here. I also want to speak to this bill. Unlike some of the members who have spoken here today I do not have a lot of fluffery and I am not embroiled in some cross-party discussion so I will probably keep it well and truly under my 10 minutes of allotted time.Carmel Sepuloni: Take the 10.CLAYTON MITCHELL: Take the 10 you reckon? Sounds like a bench call. This is an overdue amendment to a piece of legislation that has been around since 1961. It has been wrapped up somewhere under section 240 of the Crimes Act. It is ambiguous at best to know whether match fixing is covered by existing offences in the Crimes Act or not so what better way to ensure it exists than to clearly and concisely put it in.There is only one minor but very important amendment to the bill which I will read out to you now. It says: “… anyone who obtained a benefit or caused a loss by engaging in match-fixing would commit an offence and be liable to a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.” I think that is very very important because New Zealand’s culture is made around sports. We get great pleasure in having discussions at our local pub or around the television on a Saturday night when we watch our favourite matches and our sports games whether it be the Tour de France or an All Blacks game.I think we can all cast our minds back to the many times throughout recent times that have hit the headlines but also going back to 1981 when we had the infamous “underarm incident’ in cricket in the final of the Australia versus New Zealand Benson and Hedges World Series Cup when Trevor Chappell did the nice roll down the road—bowled underarm—for the final ball of the match which of course clearly changed the outcome or potential outcome of that match.In 1995 when the All Blacks were playing the final against South Africa of course we know the outcome of that. The All Blacks were poisoned and the outcome was altered and changed. That gives nobody any pleasure. Whether it is in your local boxing arena on your local rugby field or in a netball game nobody no matter how it fits in likes to see this sort of behaviour taking place.We are a small nation and we have enjoyed great successes in many sports both internationally and nationally. We hold our achievements very dear to us and sport forms a very important cornerstone of our culture. It does not matter whether it is from badminton to boxing rugby to racing or netball to rowing it gives us huge amounts of national pride.Like so many other New Zealanders I believe that lives are enriched through participation in sport and recreation and I wish to acknowledge the many dedicated New Zealanders working within the sporting sector to encourage more Kiwis to participate and ultimately benefit from their involvement in sport.This is why we must protect our sports from any form of mistreatment and why the ethics of sport and good sportsmanship are taught to our youngest right from the start so that we ensure that the moral and ethical values are upheld from the cradle to the grave. Ninety percent of Kiwis spend at least 3 hours a week taking part in sport and this can be increased. But it will be increased only if we have that pride when our youngsters look up to those sporting heroes live by their code of conduct and do not follow any underhandedness.Any negative stigma from match-fixing activities in sports will impact on all those participating and all those spectating from grassroots to the very elite sportsperson—no matter their experience level—right through to the volunteers who are the backbone of New Zealand sport and recreation and keep it all running behind the scenes.Here in New Zealand 50 percent of all adults participate in sports at least once a month and sport makes up $5.2 billion of New Zealand’s GDP. Interpol warns that illegal sports-betting—unregulated fraudulent betting including associated match-fixing activities—is an increasing global problem. It is estimated that such betting generated US$140 billion in 2010. This bill will ensure that we are able to address match fixing here in New Zealand because it is common sense—I just had to throw that in.This bill works alongside New Zealand’s policy on sports match-fixing and related corruption which was released by the Minister for Sport and Recreation in May. This bill is not designed to address every kind of match fixing; it focuses on the most serious kind where the intent is to influence a betting outcome. I would like to say that perhaps this Government could take a leaf out of this legislation too. It touches on what Kris Faafoi was talking about with regard to the whole Dirty Politics scandal and not just that but also in relation to the fixing of the electorate of Epsom creating an MMP—I am out of my scope—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Just bring it back in.CLAYTON MITCHELL: —I will bring it back in. Anyway we commend this bill to the House. Thank you very much.