Menéndez March RicardoRICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green): I just want to set the record straight because the ACT Party spoke to a multitude of things that have nothing to do with the bill. And part of why the select committee's report in relationship to participation in sports ruled all of those submissions out of the scope of the bill was because the Integrity Sport and Recreation Bill does not cover or address who gets to participate in sports. And that is something really important—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Can I just—Order!RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH: I'm responding to the ACT Party member.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): No. The member will sit down. The member's comments are beginning to reflect on the ruling around relevancy and I will ask the member not to do that but to stick to the substance of this debate and discussion of the bill. Please don't argue with me.RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH: OK. Well I will speak about the submissions that were out of scope and that were ruled out of scope by the select committee because what the Integrity Sport and Recreation Bill sets up is an integrity unit. It has nothing to do with who participates in sports. That is why we considered the submissions that were speaking about issues regarding integrity in sports such as the wellbeing of athletes such as the wellbeing of young people such as the wellbeing of rainbow peoples. And as was noted by previous speakers this was done constructively and collaboratively because the members of the select committee understood that we needed to set up an integrity unit that looked after the wellbeing of athletes. Something that as previous members have noted had been an issue for too long; that we needed a body that could look after the wellbeing of athletes to then allow the different bodies of sports to determine who gets to participate in sports.So one of the things that was noted in the submissions was the need to better address the wellbeing of young people but they also spoke about how we needed to use precise language. For example changing the words rainbow communities" to "rainbow peoples" to then specify what we mean by that. We also looked at reviewing and putting in place provisions so that anti-doping rules were reviewed at least once every three years because we recognised that anti-doping as a concept and as a regime does change over time and therefore those rules need to be changed over time. And I want to acknowledge as well that the field of sports is broadening to include things like e-sports. This is why it's important that we have an integrity unit that is also resourced to cover the broadening of the scope of what we consider sports. For example anti-doping issues in e-sports can be different. Things like caffeine and Ritalin that are now used in a completely different scene are things that are now going to be able to be considered as part of this unit.I think part of the other thing that we considered was about the potential make-up of this board and what the things are that we're looking at when we're thinking of what we want the Minister to consider when it comes to appointing members of the board. While it is good to see that there is consideration for Māori representation it could be greater. I think we also could do better in terms of the representation of rainbow people. For example having gender minorities being represented as well because a lot of these issues are deeply deeply complex. On the one hand there may be the argument that there is not a huge number of people in Aotearoa with this level of expertise but what I would say from the work in the community that we've done is that there is. There is a huge range of people who are passionate and understand the needs of our sporting community. So we also need to tap into that and we need to develop that expertise as well so that we have the ability to have succession in this board in a way that enables all these diverse communities to be able to guide the integrity unit in a way that prioritises wellbeing.So the Green Party is supporting this bill because we do acknowledge the need to have this integrity unit. We need to also learn from overseas examples such as Australia that has a similar unit and what they've done that has worked and what hasn't and keep an open mind in that regard. We need to also then commit to resourcing this unit so that it can do its work appropriately because ultimately a lot of this will involve adequately consulting with different community groups. For example part of what we've acknowledged is that we do think it's important to add things like having national sports and recreation organisations and women and girls amongst the list of relevant stakeholders that the commission must consult. In order for this to be done adequately proper resourcing will need to go into the unit so that that work in the community can happen because we've seen what happens when we set up bodies that are supposed to consult with different stakeholders. And if there's not enough staffing resources to do that at a community level then it's the loudest and most well-resourced voices that then win when that consultation happens.Finally I want to honour the people who came and submitted who submitted in good faith and with a clear understanding of the bill. I think the committee was able to identify really tangible improvements we could make to this bill. This came from a diversity of voices. I think this once again highlights the importance of the feedback from our communities about how legislation can be improved to centre the voices that are coming to Parliament. So the Green Party looks forward to supporting this bill looks forward to continuing this constructive conversation and pushes back against the comments from the ACT Party regarding what they believe is relevant or otherwise to bring up in Supplementary Order Papers later in the debate."