Little AndrewSecond ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): I move That the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Rugby World Cup 2019 Extended Trading Hours) Amendment Bill be now read a second time.It's a great pleasure to take this call and lead off this debate. In the current Air New Zealand health and safety video that appears on jet flights around the country with which many members in this House will be familiar there is a scene at the end where Stan Walker is talking to Israel Dagg and says I wonder when the next All Blacks - Air New Zealand health and safety video will take place?" And George Gregan pops up over the back and says "I reckon in about four years." The same theme I think appears with this legislation because the last time we did this was four years ago for the last Rugby World Cup and there is a theme emerging here that every time we come to this event in particular and possibly even other events we're passing legislation to allow something that is pretty natural to most New Zealanders which is to want to get together with friends and family in a convivial environment to enjoy each other's company enjoy the sporting extravaganza and also to imbibe alcoholic beverages of their choice.For some of them actually not to even imbibe alcoholic beverages—to have orange juice or a cup of tea or coffee if that is their wont. But the main thing is people like to come together on these special occasions and not everybody's front room or living room is big enough to host and entertain a multitude of friends and family. So people like to find venues where they can do that. And not everybody is as hip and young as some members in this House like Kieran McAnulty who quite happily go off to the big crowded sports bars and partake of the kind of loud and very very active and animated activities that go on in those sorts of venues. And there are some people who want to go to the more I would say mature venues like clubs charter clubs to enjoy that convivial environment admittedly with the binging of slot machines and other things usually in the background. If you go to a New Plymouth club that's what you get and you can enjoy the pool tables as well. But this bill is about recognising something that I think New Zealanders would expect this Parliament to recognise: that when our sale and supply of alcohol regulation doesn't cover a perfectly reasonable situation which is the situation in which some clubs and other licensed premises want to open for hours beyond their licensed hours to allow people to gather and enjoy the sporting extravaganza then they should be allowed to do so. It is a pity that in some cases where licensed premises have applied for extensions to their licensed hours to the local district licensing committee they've been knocked back or they've had imposed upon them conditions such as the need to run a raffle or even have a guest speaker or you know have to have streamers and decorations and all the rest of it when actually what people want to do is gather around a big screen in the company of others and enjoy the spectacle.So this bill is about enabling that thing to happen for the 2019 Rugby World Cup which commences at the end of next month 20 September and goes through to 2 November. In the pool games look there's varying levels of interest it is true. I'm not sure how many will be queuing up for the All Blacks and Namibia game or even the All Blacks and Canada game but people might—well people will queue up for many of the other games and once you get out to the knock-out phase of the competition people invariably take a lot more interest. As we know because the All Blacks are rated No. 2 now I think behind Wales—you know they'll be up against it but New Zealanders will want to get in behind it. So this bill does that.It's not without constraints. Those licensed premises whose current licence does not allow them to be open during the hours when some of these broadcasts will take place must notify their local police station and their district licensing committee seven days beforehand that they intend to do so. They must apply the same conditions that are on their existing licence and there's a few other constraints as well. But otherwise as it was in 2015 it's a very modest piece of legislation very time limited. It will allow an opportunity for people and the clubs who want to host them and the licensed premises who want to host them to enjoy that sporting event. I should acknowledge that we're at this place because of the drafting work and the advocacy of David Seymour from the ACT Party. I also acknowledge Nikki Kaye from the National Party. We were able to dust off the legislation from 2015. It applies mutatis mutandis as they say in the legal profession in relation to the 2019 event.Simon O'Connor: More Latin I say.Hon ANDREW LITTLE: But by and large it applies and I know that Simon O'Connor is fully available for Latin translations off-line if anybody needs it. So that is what it does. I know that there are some members who are concerned that this might signal something that some people in New Zealand are uncomfortable about and that is what is described as an obsession about alcohol accompanying important events. And I think at a time when you know there is some commentary around at the moment causing us to reflect on the efficacy of our alcohol distribution law and regulation it's a legitimate point to raise. That said I don't think that the provision in this bill that allows this temporary amendment and temporary provision to allow premises to be available for people to congregate and enjoy the sporting event with alcohol available is going to cause undue harm or problems that might apply in different licensed premises in different circumstances under the current law. In fact I think the experience of 2015 was that when the legislation allowed premises to open longer there was no harm caused beyond what was prevalent at the time with the extra distribution of alcohol for those purposes on that occasion in those circumstances. I don't think anybody is anticipating anything different on this occasion. So on that note I think this bill achieves a very confined very specific purpose and I think that it does the job expected of it. I commend this bill to the House."