Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill

Might I add my congratulations to you, Mr Assistant Speaker Robertson, on this being your final day not only in Parliament but in the Chair. I acknowledge your 27 years of very good service to the people of Manukau East and its various guises under the boundary changes and everything else, and the hard work you have done for them. On their behalf you have been a great local MP, and I know that you will be a great local board member as well. I look forward to seeing you at various events in that role.

I move, That the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Law and Order Committee to consider the bill. This is a short but very important bill. It is designed to protect the integrity of New Zealand sport. New Zealand has a well-deserved reputation for playing fair, and this bill aims to protect that. Match fixing is a growing problem internationally and has been described as the No. 1 threat to sport. As we have seen from recent events, New Zealand is not immune to this growing threat. That is why the Government is taking action on this matter. The International Centre for Sports Security has estimated that over $140 billion is laundered worldwide every year through sports betting. This illustrates the extent to which organised crime is seeking to exploit the sports sector. Although there are some existing offences that may cover match fixing, this bill will put beyond doubt that match fixing falls within the scope of deceptive conduct covered by the Crimes Act. This will give enforcement agencies the ability to investigate and prosecute instances of match fixing.

This bill is particular timely given the New Zealand co-hosting of the Cricket World Cup and the FIFA U-20 Football World Cup from early next year. Both football and cricket are known internationally to present match-fixing risks.

Match fixing involves deceptive conduct aimed at predetermining aspects of a game or race in order to make betting returns. There is the potential for large amounts of money to be made from match fixing, and this inevitably attracts criminals. Match fixing not only misleads those who place legitimate bets on a game but also deprives New Zealanders of an honest sporting contest and affects the integrity, growth, and development of New Zealand sport.

Besides being a national pastime, sport provides significant benefits to our nation. The economic, social, health, and personal benefits of sport and recreation in New Zealand are estimated at $12.2 billion. Criminal sanctions are needed, therefore, to deter match fixers from damaging our sporting sector. Our counterparts in Australia have recently acted to address match-fixing risks. Various Australian states have now passed legislation that specifically criminalises match fixing. Given our close sporting ties with Australia, it is important that we also move to deter match fixers.

This bill is not the only thing the Government is doing to protect the integrity of New Zealand sport. The Minister for Sport and Recreation, the Hon Murray McCully, recently announced the release of the New Zealand Policy on Sports Match-Fixing and Related Corruption. The national match-fixing policy provides a comprehensive framework for collaboration across Government, the sports sector, and the betting industry to address it. The policy will, amongst other things, help to ensure that national sporting organisations have sufficient processes and procedures in place to protect their sports. This will include such measures as regulations prohibiting match-fixing activity, with associated disciplinary procedures and sanctions; placing appropriate restrictions on sports betting; and ensuring that education is available on match-fixing prevention strategies. This bill therefore forms part of a package of measures the Government is progressing, the cumulative effect of which is to create a strong framework to protect New Zealand sport.

Importantly, those who engage in match fixing, including players, coaches, officials, and administrators, will face very serious consequences for their actions, whether from the criminal justice system, their sports organisation, or both. The bill makes it clear that anyone who obtains a benefit or who causes a loss by engaging in match fixing will commit an offence against section 240 of the Crimes Act and will be liable to a maximum penalty of 7 years’ imprisonment. I consider section 240 of the Crimes Act to be the appropriate vehicle through which to make it clear that match fixing is a criminal offence.

It is possible that section 240 already captures a range of match-fixing conduct; however, this has never been tested in court, so the bill removes the uncertainty around that. The amendments contained in the bill are relatively minor and are designed to clarify the application of section 240 to match fixing. The bill is not designed to affect the application of section 240 to other, non-match-fixing - related offending; indeed, that is why new section 240A has been created. To make it clear that the bill applies only to match fixing does not change how section 240 applies to other offending.

In drafting this bill it is important to avoid criminalising the kind of rule-breaking that will inevitably occur in sport. This might include, for example, ball-tampering in cricket or deliberate foul play carried out for non-betting purposes. Such rule-breaking can be dealt with by the national sports organisations in a way considered appropriate for their sports. It is not something we necessarily want to have criminalised. What this bill does is to criminalise acts or omissions aimed at manipulating a match for betting purposes rather than for tactical or strategic sporting reasons.

The bill applies to the manipulation of the overall result of a match or any event within a match. This has been made deliberately broad given the range of betting options that are now available. Match fixers may now seek to influence only small aspects of a match, such as the timing of a no-ball bowled in cricket, or the first point scored in a rugby match. This is known as spot fixing and is perhaps the hardest form of match fixing to detect. The bill does not criminalise the use of inside information, such as information about pitch conditions or team strategies. I consider the abuse of such information is better dealt with by the governing sports bodies rather than the criminal law.

The last technical point I would like to make about the bill is that it also applies to races, including, for example, a horse race, dog race, car race, or boat race. Races, just like sports matches, are susceptible to being fixed.

Match fixing is a growing threat. That threat will be heightened when New Zealand hosts the Cricket World Cup and the FIFA U-20 Football World Cup early next year. This bill helps to address that threat, and it does so—[Interruption]

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Order! Can I just draw the attention of members who are interrupting on each other to the fact that that is out of order in the people’s House. If you want to make interjections, then it is fine to do so on the person who is addressing the House—in this case, the honourable Minister—but not on each other.

💬 Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. It is always good to end Parliament on the right note. The body of case law under section 240 relating to, for example, what constitutes obtaining pecuniary advantage or causing loss will apply to the amendments contained in the bill. Consideration was given to a stand-alone match-fixing offence or to a regime of match-fixing offences. However, while many other countries are grappling with how best to tackle this issue, and whether specific offences or the general law is best to prosecute such activity, an amendment that links in with section 240 was considered appropriate. This section of the Crimes Act has been identified as most likely to capture match-fixing conduct. Its application to match fixing can be put beyond doubt by the short amendments contained in this bill.

The bill will protect the integrity, growth, and development of New Zealand sport. It will deter those in a position to improperly influence a betting outcome by manipulating a sports match. Sport is a huge source of national pride to us Kiwis and is something that must be protected from criminals. I commend this bill to the House.

I recognise the Hon Trevor Mallard.

I am pleased after 27 years of working together that you are able to do that. Mr Assistant Speaker, I do want to acknowledge your service to this Parliament and say that if this Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill is the last bill that you are dealing with, it is something that is appropriate, given the fact that you are, yourself, a proud parent of an international athlete. I want to acknowledge that, acknowledge you, and thank you.

I am going to ask for a little bit of indulgence to wish a couple of teams all the best. I want to say that the Commonwealth Games team, I think, is going exceptionally well. I follow the cyclists, and clearly what has happened is that in the last decade or a bit more, as there has been less doping, New Zealand athletes have been doing better and better at cycling relative to the rest of the world. I think that is something that is really good.

I want to wish all the best to the Black Ferns, who are about to enter into the International Rugby Board Women’s Rugby World Cup, and say to Fi and the team: you are in Paris. When I last watched a World Cup, it was in Edmonton and I know where I would rather be. Edmonton was an awful hole in the cold and the snow when the world cup was there. I want to wish Jackie Patea, who is the second Wainuiōmata Black Fern, all the best, as well as Claire, Kelly, and Kat, all of whom I was touch judge for over a period of years when they were playing in Otago. I sort of regard them as like my own kids. I have watched them grow and develop into great rugby players. To Linda Itunu, who is my bodyguard on occasions—my plus-one for this year’s Steinlager Rugby Awards—I would just hate to be anyone who was tackled by her. She is one of the hardest tacklers I have ever seen.

With a little bit more indulgence, I would like to refer to another major sporting event, a historic event, that is occurring at the Hutt Recreation Ground this Sunday, when Hutt Old Boys Marist play Wainuiōmata. One thing that we know is that this one is going to be so hard fought that there would never be any suggestion of match fixing in it. The people out there know that I have strong family links to the Hutt. Again, I was a touch judge for several years for one of the Hutt teams and, in fact, not much over a decade ago I had to turn out for a senior second team in an emergency, when the alternative was the coach who had concussion playing for them. I think it is fair to say that all I did was run up and down the 15-meter line, asking them not to give me the ball, but, of course, they did every now and again.

There is a history of people going over the hill between Wainuiōmata and the Hutt. The earliest example I know of is Kara Puketapu, who was a Wainuiōmata resident, a very, very good rugby player, but, unfortunately, he used to play for Pētone. Currently there are the Risdon brothers, Wainuiōmata residents—a prominent Wainuiōmata family, both parents and grandparents. Piri Weepu actually played for Hutt Old Boys Marist before he played for Wainuiōmata and probably played more games against Wainuiōmata than he played for Wainuiōmata against the Hutt. So there is a history of people going over the hill. But for the first time these two teams are going to meet in a Jubilee Cup final. That is the premier final for Wellington, and for Wainuiōmata it is our first time in that since the club was formed in 1946. So, as a local resident, as someone who has followed the team for a number of years and watched some great young men develop into great rugby players, I want to wish them all the best and say, notwithstanding my family contacts, I will be calling out for Wainuiōmata.

Just to make clear, we are talking about a match-fixing bill, the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill. It applies to sport, it applies to racing, and, notwithstanding the comments of the colleague to my left, Andrew Williams, it does not apply to the Ōhariu or the Epsom electorates. If it did apply, I think it is fair to say that there would be some questions because people are going into a race saying: “Please don’t vote for me.” I would generally be absolutely opposed to that, other than the fact that my very good friend and colleague Holly Walker in Hutt South is taking a very similar approach. I just want to say that I have therefore got slightly mixed feelings about people who are running in an electorate and are saying: “Give us the party vote but not the electorate vote.”

The bill itself makes a minor but important change. It makes it very clear that match fixing is a crime. I think, arguably, looking at the face of the legislation, match fixing is probably already a crime, but what this bill does is put it beyond any doubt whatsoever, and it is being done in time for the football under-23s and for the Cricket World Cup, both of which are not far off as far as we are concerned.

I do want to thank the Minister for Sport and Recreation for his consultation. Like most legislation in the sport area, it is something that we do on a bipartisan basis wherever possible. Even though this is relatively minor, it does do the trick and therefore we will be supporting it. I am very pleased that the Minister has chosen not to go as far as organisations like the International Rugby Board has gone in its draft rules. My view is that the draft rules of the board are nuts. To take an extreme example using Piri Weepu and his mum, theoretically if I have a cup of tea with Piri Weepu’s mum, I am not allowed to then go and bet on a sporting match, because there is a relationship between him and his mother, obviously, and his mother and me—one of friendship—because that relationship would be caught by the International Rugby Board rules. I think that that is something that goes far too far.

I regret that this bill has taken so long to get in. We knew from about October of last year that it was coming. I regret the fact that it has been relatively low on the Government’s priority list, as far as passing it is concerned, but we will support it. If there is a requirement—and I think there probably should be—for a shortened select committee period, I do not think we need to do it as part of the motion in this House, but we will facilitate it through the select committee after the election. I hope, as a result of that, it is passed before Christmas and the rules will be very clear before the cricket. I think, as all of us know, there is more money bet on cricket than any other sport in the world by quite a large factor. We support the bill, we support our Commonwealth Games team, we support the Black Ferns, and we support Wainuiōmata. Thank you.

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. Can I begin by congratulating you on what was a wonderful valedictory speech last night, along with the other members in the House who gave their valedictory speeches as well. As a colleague from the adjoining electorate of Manurewa I want to pay tribute to the work you have done in South Auckland and the work that you will continue to do. Thank you very much for the way in which you have helped me in terms of understanding the processes in the House. I certainly wish you all the best for the future.

I also want to begin by congratulating our Commonwealth Games team. We got our 12th gold medal this morning. Congratulations, Val Adams. It is the 600th medal that New Zealand has won in the Commonwealth Games. I think as a country we are certainly a superpower within the domain of sport, which is why this Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill is so important. I too want to wish the Black Ferns all the best. If they win in France, that is five world championships in a row. I think it is a pretty outstanding achievement. Maybe they will be a finalist in the Steinlager Rugby Awards this year, if they achieve that feat. They have never been a finalist, and this could be an opportunity for the New Zealand Rugby Union to acknowledge them.

💬 Hon Trevor Mallard: It’s their time to win.

Maybe this will be the pinnacle for them—that is correct, Mr Mallard.

Labour does support the bill, and as Labour’s associate spokesperson on sport and recreation I am going to highlight a few points about why this bill is really important. This bill will criminalise core match-fixing behaviour. The regulatory impact statement says the focus on core match-fixing is for several reasons, the first of which is that “core match-fixing behaviour presents the biggest risk to the integrity, growth and development of New Zealand sport.” Sport in New Zealand contributes over $5 billion to our economy, and I think what we have seen this week is that in addition to that economic benefit, it also contributes to our sense of identity, our sense of pride, and actually our place in the world. The reality of this bill is that if anything is going to challenge or inhibit or interfere with sport and the place it has in terms of our society, then we must do all that we can.

The context of sports betting in New Zealand is interesting. The Department of Internal Affairs website says the 2012-13 statistics show that gambling in New Zealand is a $2.1 billion industry. In terms of specific TAB sports betting, it totals $294 million. That is a lot of money, and I can see why some people would be interested in putting some of that money in their pockets by doing things that are completely contrary to what sport is all about. Having been a sportsperson myself, I say that sport provides the opportunity to set goals and to work hard; to invest time, effort, energy, and family and community support to achieve a gold medal or a personal best. That is actually what sport is all about. The contribution of sport to our society in terms of providing the framework for people to be successful and to achieve and to be part of teams is something I do not think should be underestimated.

The second part of the regulatory impact statement that I want to highlight is that a more significant set of offences would likely be unachievable within the time available. We want this bill enacted by the end of the year because of the Cricket World Cup. The Hon Trevor Mallard is absolutely right. A one-day cricket match generates over $6 million of sports betting. So when we look at it in that context, it is incumbent on us to enact a piece of legislation before the Cricket World Cup, which will begin in early 2015.

The other context that I wanted to highlight was actually around sports codes and their responsibility within the context of sports betting. I am going to take a counter view to the Hon Trevor Mallard in that I actually endorse the International Rugby Board’s anti-corruption policy. The board has been really staunch about this because it thinks that this is a big threat to the integrity of its code. If you are caught participating in match fixing, that means a lifetime ban. If you are caught betting once, you can be banned for a year. But what I want to highlight is that the National Rugby League, for example, has been incredibly proactive. In fact, it banned David Williams, who plays for Manly, for the remainder of the season because the league had caught him betting not only on other National Rugby League matches but on matches where he himself was involved. It took a very staunch stance. There were other players who were caught betting, and they got a two-game suspension.

But the relevance of any information, Mr Mallard, can be seen from the weekend, actually. The Warriors were playing Manly. No one knew that Shaun Johnson was injured, up to almost before kick-off. What is the relevance? Shaun Johnson is a very good player, and anybody who has been watching the Warriors lately would have seen what an instrumental player he is. He does have the ability to affect the outcome of a match. Knowing that Shaun Johnson was injured and he was not going to play would have affected somebody’s ability to make or not make a bet, so whether anybody gets any inside information that then puts them at an advantage to make a bet and to make money absolutely falls within the remit of this piece of legislation.

I guess the third point from the regulatory impact statement was that we do not anticipate high levels of corruption, but the reality is that there is an international threat within the context of sports betting and match fixing. Sport is a huge business today.

So I want to congratulate the Minister for Sport and Recreation on bringing this bill to the House. I want to congratulate my colleague the Hon Trevor Mallard on being involved in discussions with the Minister. This is one of those pieces of legislation that has support across the House, so we will be doing everything that we can to support the passage of the legislation. Finally, I just want to congratulate Kereyn Smith, Rob Waddell, and the team at the Commonwealth Games, particularly the cyclists. What I have seen in their teamwork is the ability for some of them to put in the hard yards during the race without an expectation that they are going to get a medal. I think that that level of teamwork epitomises what I would like to see across society—that it is all about the greater good. It is all about an outcome where New Zealand gets a medal. It is not about the individual doing what they do based on self-interest but actually based on their identification with something that is bigger than themselves. The members of the New Zealand cycling team are fundamentally doing what they do because they are proud to be New Zealanders. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

I will take just a short call on the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill, a very good bill. The previous speaker spoke about Shaun Johnson. I just want to mention the fact that of course Shaun Johnson is an Ōrewa College old boy from my electorate. So I just wanted to highlight that fact. We are all very proud of him, obviously.

I also wanted to mention—I see the Hon Trevor Mallard is in the House—Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze, because he is a cyclist himself. I was the first secretary of the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club. We built a lot of the technical tracks up in the Redwoods there. I want to acknowledge those guys, because all of our athletes are doing a fantastic job, obviously, in being ambassadors and representatives at the Commonwealth Games. But, actually, these two young men have put in an outstanding performance to take the gold and the silver in what is a very difficult and demanding sport. I wanted to acknowledge them.

This is a very important bill. We have seen what has been happening recently. It has obviously been highlighted with what has been going on in the cricket world. It is very important that we have integrity within our sport.

💬 Louisa Wall: I forgot to say: “Go the Crusaders!”.

Yeah, exactly. Louisa was just saying: “Go the Crusaders!”. I do not know whether I can join her in that sentiment, being from Auckland, but anyway. It is our last New Zealand team, so of course we will get behind them and give it heaps. Give it heaps, guys.

This bill will clarify that match fixing is a form of deception under section 240 of the Crimes Act—the offence of obtaining a benefit or causing a loss by deception. I was just talking with my colleague Alfred Ngaro, and I notice that Kris Faafoi is opposite. We are all members of the Parliamentary Rugby Team. We have just watched the Football World Cup. Half those falls that they take—we do not really know what they are about. [Interruption] I think this is a really important part of the bill. Like I said, I will take a very short call. I am very happy to recommend this bill to the House. Thank you.

It is rare that the sport and recreation spokespeople of parties get to speak on a bill. We are usually congratulating some sports team or other on fantastic efforts overseas. So I am very pleased to take a call on this bill, the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill. I personally am an obsessive follower of particularly cricket, cycling, and rugby. Some say that we are, in fact, a sports-obsessed nation. I guess there is some evidence for that. If I think back to 1981, there were plenty of people who were saying that sport, in fact, with the opportunity for the rugby tour from the Springboks, should take precedence over fundamental human rights breaches. The sense of priority evident in that line of thinking suggests that there is something deeply askew in the minds of many. We still see that kind of thinking today. My personal favourite example of that askew thinking came in the 1980s when a magistrate was found dead in the Huka Falls after being murdered when a bondage session went wrong. The comment from Auckland Cricket, because this magistrate was also an umpire for Auckland Cricket, was “We can’t afford to keep losing umpires like this.”

💬 Hon Members: Ha, ha!

Although I am a cricket tragic—not to that extent!

Why is sport so important to us? Partly, it is that as human beings there is something great about seeing human beings test the limits of what is possible in terms of their ability and skill, and so seeing any great sportsperson performing is fantastic. There is also something inspiring about the effort. One of my earliest memories of sport was from the 1968 Olympics. It was right at the very end of the marathon when a guy called John Akhwari, representing Tanzania, limped into the Olympic stadium. People had gone home, the lights were off, and the TV cameras followed him through the streets of Mexico City when all of the other competitors had gone. His spirit, his endurance, and his commitment to finishing were deeply inspiring.

Perhaps even more important is the sense of representation. At the weekend I had very considerable interest in the Crusaders game. I was interested in the rugby regardless of whether it was a good game or not between the Warratahs and Brumbies—as it turned out, it was a pretty rubbish game. But, actually, my sense of stake in the game and my sense of stake in the outcome were not nearly as great as for the Crusaders’ games. Why is that important? It is because of that sense of representation that we have when we feel a sense of connection to the person or team that is competing. That sense of representation is important because we feel a sense of ownership of the success or otherwise of that person or team. When they succeed, it feels like we ourselves have succeeded a bit.

I join with others in congratulating the success of our Commonwealth Games team. I am very pleased that Mark Mitchell mentioned the achievements of Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze. Anton Cooper is a great young guy whom I met through the Tour of New Zealand a few years ago. I know that right now kids are competing against each other on their way to school on their bikes—you know, who is going to be Anton and who is going to be Sam. That is fantastic, because that inspiration that they are providing will lead to that next level not only of competition at that elite level but also of increased physical activity, which goodness only knows this nation certainly needs.

But what about the other side? At one point in my life I worked in the evenings for a cleaning company. The cleaning company was owned by a guy who trained racehorses in the Waikato and the other cleaners were jockeys and people who worked in the stables—people who worked in the industry. After listening to their conversations during our breaks about what was coming up in the weekend’s races, there is no way in the world that I would ever bet on horse races unless I had inside information about who was actually trying to win a race and who was deliberately just stacking the odds for their next race. The industry is rigged.

As people know, I am a cycling obsessive as well, and I am one of those people who believed, against all the evidence, in Lance Armstrong. I followed his career, and I wanted to believe that he had transcended that terrible illness that he had and through his own efforts achieved that amazing success. It came as a body blow to me—and I know to others who perhaps had suspended their disbelief—when the evidence finally became irrefutable. Cheating in sport is like a cancer to sport and to those benefits that we get from it.

I well remember a fantastic whirlwind century that Chris Cairns scored in a 1-day international against England. It stayed in my memory for a long time. What should I make of that now? I am not sure. I am a person who loathes sports betting. I wish it had never been introduced and that it was not a part of the sporting scene now. For me, match fixing is another form of cheating, and cheating undermines all of that nobleness of spirit that we encounter in sport, that we derive from sport, and that we celebrate in sport. Match fixing has absolutely no place in sport, and the Green Party fully supports this bill.

As everybody knows, New Zealand First lives in the real world. New Zealand First recognises—

💬 Alfred Ngaro: Which world is that one, Winnie?

We will tell you shortly; just be patient. I know it is going to be good and I know it is going be relevant to the National Party, but you are going to have to be patient. We recognise that national threat assessments are warning of the increasing risk of crime syndicates and individuals targeting Australasia for sports match-fixing. What is match fixing about? It is about paying someone to underperform. It is about paying someone to not do their job and to actually put in an inferior performance. There have been high-profile match-fixing cases in Australia, and unless we address this practice and take it seriously, match fixing will significantly damage the integrity, value, and growth of New Zealand sport and our reputation as a nation.

We agree that the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill will address match-fixing risks, and that those risks are real. We have the Cricket World Cup coming next year and we have the FIFA U-20 World Cup here next year, so it is pretty important that we get on top of this legislation now. We know that, of course, match-fixing worldwide is dynamic, and it is a fast-developing area of law globally in terms of what countries are seeking to do.

Although we support this bill, we consider that it does not go nearly far enough, because match fixing in sport is bad and must be stopped, but match fixing in politics is much worse—match fixing in politics is much worse. We have heard Judith Collins talk about integrity and issues like that. Match fixing undermines the very core of our democracy. It pays people to underperform and not do their jobs. It pays people like Goldsmith to pull down his hoardings in Epsom—to pull down his hoardings in Epsom. How National members can possibly talk of integrity and get up in this House and extol the virtues of what they are doing is simply beyond any rational, reasonable New Zealander. Match fixing in politics stinks. It is corrupt. It goes to the very character of our society and it is being condoned by the National Party members today because they are its main proponents.

Needless to say, one party in this Parliament has never done that and never will. For 21 long years and 21 to come we have stood on our own. We have never taken money off people like that for any political purpose. They can make allegations, but I fought a court case, you recall, on an electoral petition, and Nick Smith fought a defamation case, right? Did he ever declare it? No, he did not. He told Parliament this, and yet Margaret Bazley, the registrar, told me in a letter, which I am happy to table, that he never did declare it. In short, Mr Smith, you deceived Parliament, so do not sit there thinking you can get away with that fraud and deceit today.

💬 Hon Members: Oh!

Oh, yes, that is true. I have got Margaret Bazley’s letter. Do you want to see it? If you do see it and I am telling the truth, will you promise to resign? No, you will not.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Order! The member is far wide of the intent and the principles of this bill. This is about sport, crimes, and match fixing, so I ask the member to come back and relate to the principles of this bill.

I have never left those principles. I am saying that match fixing stinks and it stinks at all levels of society. It stinks if somebody fixes, for example, nomination forms or scholarships for a certain family to go to university and denies more talented families the chance. All those things are rotten. They corrode society.

At its highest level, we have got match fixing in politics. So how can you possibly say to the sportspeople that this is wrong, this cannot go on, we are going to stop it, and yet condone it in your own business or your own profession? Pray tell me that, Mr Ngaro. Mr Mitchell, can you possibly tell me that? And for the faint, embarrassed voice from down in the South Island of Jacqui Dean, why are you smiling? Does Jacqui Dean believe that rorting the system, cheating the system, is right? Jacqui Dean comes from an electorate where people down there believe in the law. They have got principles. Why is their MP out of step? Why does she think it is a laughing matter to match fix?

💬 Jacqui Dean: Because you’ve got your grumpy face on.

Ms Dean, do not try to shout out—you know, just opening your mouth and letting the wind blow your tongue around. We need a better performance from you than that. In fact, there are only 7 weeks to go and it is quite possible that member will not be here. We know that we will be. For example, if you come down to Kelston Hall on Sunday, 10 August at 1.30 p.m., you will see what show time looks like, as we launch our campaign. To anybody who hears that out there, will you please tell your neighbour, especially if you are in west Auckland. Come down yourself. It is free, you are welcome, it will be enlightening.

There we will be talking about sports match-fixing, but, particularly, we are going to be talking about political match-fixing, because if the principle is wrong for sport, then it is wrong for politics. How can the National Party say one thing about sport and match fixing and yet be its main guilty proponent when it comes to the big issue of democracy in our country? It is just wrong.

💬 Hon Damien O’Connor: Lead by example.

Yes, the Labour member from the West Coast, Mr O’Connor, is right. He says: “Why don’t they lead by example?”. But then, there is an old saying—

💬 Hon Anne Tolley: Why don’t you win a seat?

Oh yes. Here is the Minister of Police. “Lead by example”—that struck a nerve, did not it? Now she starts shouting. This is someone who jacks up and match fixes the crime statistics.

💬 Hon Members: Oh!

Well, she has. She got caught doing it. This is what she said when she got caught: “It’s not happening, but if it is, I am going to investigate it.” All in the same sentence—“It’s not happening, but if it is, I am going to investigate it.” Now you try and rationalise or make logic of that statement.

💬 Hon Anne Tolley: Get on with it.

Oh yes, I know that the member is embarrassed. I know that the Minister of Police is seriously embarrassed, because it is all about the old saying: he who pays the piper calls the tune. It is bad in sport and it is revolting in politics.

It lowers the standards of this once-great democracy. Can you imagine Keith Holyoake or people like that condoning this sort of thing? He would be rolling in his grave. But, then again, there are some members there who have never heard of Keith Holyoake. They have never heard of him. They do not know what he stood for. Mind you, he was a nationalist. He did believe in putting New Zealand first. He certainly did believe in putting New Zealand first and not trying to buy a result. That is why he was our longest-serving National Prime Minister, and, boy, I think you guys are in trouble this time, because you ain’t going to make it. I know what the National Party’s latest polls say. I know what they say about New Zealand First and you cannot match fix those. [Interruption] Oh no, no, no, Mr Smith. You are going to be seriously concerned, because there is one thing that is going to happen—match fixing in sport or whatever—in these 7 weeks. Every week we are going climb, and every week you are going to be more and more nervous, and the match fixing will not save the National Party. What a tragedy!

Mind you, National members could disown their practice. They could say: “Put the hoardings up, Mr Goldsmith. Put them up in Ōhāriu. Campaign real hard for the National Party.” But no, they will probably make that fatal mistake of thinking that everything of value can be bought. Well, it cannot.

Can I just start my contribution by wishing to all those members who have chosen not to return to this House all the very best—to the Assistant Speaker who was formerly in the Chair, Ross Robertson, from our side of the House, 27 years of service to this House is obviously something worth celebrating, and to everyone else who has chosen to leave politics.

This Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill is a very important bill for the purposes of making sure that we are ready for two events: the Cricket World Cup, which kicks off, I believe, in February next year, and also the FIFA U-20 World Cup. We also want to make sure that for the integrity of those two events we stamp out any sense of match fixing that may go on around them, and also, in a sense, that for the children in our own communities who play sports every weekend, they grow up making sure that the sports heroes they watch on their television screens are out there doing as best as they can.

Can I acknowledge Trevor Mallard and his contribution. I think Hutt Old Boys Marist versus Wainuiōmata this weekend at the Hutt Recreation Ground. I just want to tell a quick story about Trevor Mallard and his love for Wainuiōmata. One Saturday afternoon I invited him to Porirua Park as Wainuiōmata played the mighty Norths rugby club in my electorate of Mana. He was lucky to get out of there alive, to be honest, because of the amount of barracking and abuse of people from my electorate. From a member of Parliament it was, to be completely honest, unbelievable. I thought that kind of behaviour from a member of Parliament was unforgiveable. I actually told Trevor that he was lucky to get out unscathed. What was unfortunate was that Wainuiōmata won that game by one point in a last-minute intercept and a length of the field try. So at that stage Trevor Mallard was being chased by someone trying to serve a summons on him, and I tweeted exactly where he was and that they should come and get him.

That kind of passion for sports in our communities is really important. The fact that people travel long distances and fervently support their rugby clubs every weekend is something that we want to maintain in our communities, something that we should not lose. If we are letting the scourge of sports betting infiltrate the higher levels, then I think what we will see happen is that people will not give a damn about sports whatsoever, which would be quite sad. We need to make sure that we protect the integrity of our highest levels of sports to make sure that our grassroots sports do survive.

I am also a cricket tragic, like the Green Party member Kevin Hague. It has been nice to leave Parliament and go home to watch an hour or two of India versus England, which is going on at the moment, but that is obviously the sport that is at the moment in the spotlight in terms of match fixing. Louisa Wall mentioned earlier that the regulatory impact statement showed just how widespread fraudulent betting and match fixing is. I think it was something like $140 billion in 2010. That being 4 years ago, I think it has probably got a lot worse than that over time.

This year has been an unfortunate year for that sport in terms of a couple of instances. I guess it is sad that we are having to bring this bill through, but we are naive to think that New Zealand is not going to be hit by this in some shape or form. So it is for all those kids who are playing cricket, probably not now but in the summer. I played cricket for the mighty Hoon Hay club, which is in the fine electorate of Wigram, which is represented by my colleague here, Megan Woods. I think for the sense of those kids to have heroes—certainly Richard Hadlee, Stephen Boock, Ken Rutherford, Lance Cairns, all those guys whom we believed in when we were growing up, wearing their test cricket beige and white with integrity and playing their guts out to make sure they would win for their country, Lance Cairns and the Excalibur, Martin Snedden and that catch that should have been a catch. It was a great thing to watch Sir Richard Hadlee get those 400 wickets at Lancaster Park and Nathan Astle get, I think, 286. You know those guys are in there giving their all for their country. To think that sports betting could cast a shadow over those kinds of things for our youngsters. I think we need to make sure that we are stamping down on this kind of behaviour and this type of match fixing quite well.

So, in a sense, what I think we have got here is probably the first step, and we should take more action when this Parliament has more time. We do need to make sure that we are ready for those two events: the Cricket World Cup, which a lot of eyes will be on, and the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which officials tell us could be open to some form of match fixing. As we have said on this side of the House, we do support the Government’s move to make sure that we stamp out any allegations or any hint of anything that may go on during those two tournaments that may not be above aboard.

Can I also take the chance to congratulate our Commonwealth Games sportspeople. They have done great work over there. Our Silver Ferns are, I think, up for a gold medal in a semi against England, and, hopefully, for a final against, I believe, Australia—another mammoth showdown. I know I am a Wellington-based MP and I do support the Hurricanes, but I was born and bred in Christchurch, so the Crusaders this weekend will bring the Super 15 title back home to New Zealand. I know that those red and black boys are above reproach. I wish them all the best. For that, we support this piece of legislation, not only for the highest level of sport but also for the integrity of sport at a community level. Thank you.

Tēnā koe i te Whare. Tēnā koutou katoa. I rise to take a short call on the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill. The Greens will be supporting this bill—of course we will—because we believe that there should be regulation to prohibit international crime syndicates from operating in New Zealand. We agree that it should be illegal to influence a betting outcome or to improperly manipulate a sporting match or a race. But I would like to note that this is the fourth bill in this term that protects and advantages the betting industry. Those in the industry are obviously very good friends of the Government.

So, just to recap, we have had the Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill, which was Te Ururoa Flavell’s failed attempt to reduce harm from pokies. That is the one that galvanised the pokie industry. The Commerce Committee received 30,000 or so submissions from community organisations that had been whipped into a frenzy by their pokie trust funders.

We have also had the Gambling Amendment Bill (No 2), which was in the name of the Hon Peter Dunne. That bill has been on the books since 2007. It has not been heard yet, but it is on the Order Paper.

There is also the Gambling Amendment Bill (No 3), which is yet to be heard but is scheduled for December this year. That bill puts in place some of the regulation that was talked about in the harm reduction bill that Te Ururoa Flavell put forward in the House, and it has the laudable aim of focusing on class 4 gambling—that is, pokies in pubs and clubs. It says that its policy objectives are to “increase transparency of grant-making … improve transparency surrounding management companies … simplify compliance and reduce costs for societies and venue owners … and ensure the efficiency of the appeals process is not undermined.” So this is the one that says that pokie venues can be paid a percentage of the pokie takings, which really sets up the pubs and the clubs to incentivise problem gambling, because that way they can make more money.

Who could forget that last year we had the Hon Steven Joyce’s New Zealand International Convention Centre Act? Its stated purpose was to give effect to an agreement between Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd and the Crown. The agreement that it referred to was that in exchange for a $402 million convention centre, Skycity would get an increase in gambling opportunities. It would also have a new system called ticket-in, ticket-out, which is a method of gambling that increases the opportunity for money-laundering. This brings us back to today’s bill, which is, of course, about crime.

The fact is that if we had passed the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 (Application to Casinos) Amendment Bill—which was the member’s bill in the name of Metiria Turei and which was, again, about crime and gambling—last year, then we would have absolutely dealt to money-launderers. They absolutely love casinos—and they love the sports betting industry, as well, because that is where they launder their money—and we would have been able to put a stop to the fact that money-laundering does occur in casinos in New Zealand. We would have put in place a situation where money going through casinos that has been stolen or obtained as a result of crime would have to be paid back. Given that a lot of the money for betting, whether the betting is in casinos or whether it is sports betting, comes from small businesses or not-for-profit organisations and has been stolen by people with compulsive gambling habits, that bill would have meant that the money would be paid back to them. The fact is, however, that the bill that was in Metiria Turei’s name, which did deal just with casinos, was voted down by this Government.

We Greens love New Zealand. We think that we can have a fairer society and a smarter, more diverse economy that is based on a cleaner environment, and we do not think this bill is going to deliver that. But it is clear that this Government loves to gamble. It has been gambling with our laws, it has been gambling with our economy, it has been gambling with our people, and it has been gambling with our environment. But, having said that, we will be supporting this bill because we believe in fair play.

Irony abounds in this particular debate on the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill. How ironic that the Government brings this bill to the House the very week when John Key is trying to stitch up the general election result with his dodgy deals in Ōhariu and in Epsom. I want to turn to some definitions in this bill. For the purposes of this bill, “deception” includes any act or omission that is done with the intent to influence a betting outcome of an activity of a kind, which includes any rallies involving human participants. People do gamble—[Interruption] People gamble on the outcomes of general elections, and John Key, with his dodgy cup-of-tea deals, is trying to fix the outcome of certain elections.

💬 Hon Trevor Mallard: Centrebet.

Centrebet takes bets on elections. iPredict takes bets on elections, effectively, and John Key is trying to fix the results with his dodgy deals in Ōhariu and in Epsom.

So what is the National Party doing in Epsom, for example? It is saying to old Paul Goldsmith, the man whom the National Party affectionately knows as “Goldie”—he should probably be called “Silvie”, because he prefers to come second. But National is saying to old Paul Goldsmith “Don’t campaign. Don’t campaign at all.” National is basically trying to fix the deal in Epsom so that the ACT Party gets a free ride into Parliament. The party of independents, the party that basically says that you should have self-reliance, is basically relying on a dodgy deal with National in order to get an MP into Parliament in a deal that is fixed by John Key. What happens to people who are betting on that outcome? People take bets on outcomes of general elections. Will John Key be infringing this law if he is trying to fix the outcome and if he is trying to influence the outcome in a way that is not transparent, that is dodgy all over, and that is an absolute rort of the MMP electoral system? Where does that leave him? He is fixing that particular match in Epsom, just as he is trying to fix the match just up the road from where I live in Ōhariu, where he is trying to basically ensure that Peter Dunne can get back in—Peter Dunne, the man who, it has been well established now, leaks sensitive information to journalists. John Key does not seem to have a problem with that.

Match—

💬 Hon Trevor Mallard: “Stalker Peter”.

Ha! Match fixing is a serious issue in New Zealand and it is important that we do something about it, and that is why the Labour Party will be supporting this legislation. It is about fairness. It is about making sure that when people go and participate in sports, it is genuinely competitive and it is a genuine competition. That is something that we believe in for the sporting community. It is something that we should believe in in politics as well. It should be a genuine competition. It should not be about dodgy deals; it should be actually about getting out there, giving it your best, and actually seeing what happens on the day.

It is not about trying to stitch things up in back rooms, which is what the National Party seems to think politics is all about. So how ironic that it is saying it does not want that happening in sports. We do not want that happening in sports. We do not want that happening in politics, either, unlike this current National Government, which seems to think that general elections are something to be bought and traded, not something to be fairly contested in an election campaign, where the voters get a say based on the ideas that they want to have represented in Government and the people they want to represent them in Government. This Government seems to think that it can simply jack it up with dodgy deals that are done over cups of tea. I think New Zealanders have had a gutsful of that. They have had a gutsful of that. They have as much contempt for that kind of approach from the National Government as they have for match fixing.

So I think that this bill is a welcome piece of legislation. It will ensure that New Zealanders can have confidence in fair sports, and I think that is a very good thing, but I think that we should make sure that the same kind of transparency and fairness that we are wanting to see in sports, and particularly around betting around sports, should happen around elections as well. It should not be the case that the Government can jack up particular election results that suit its interests; it should be the case that it is the voters who get to decide who they want to have representing them in Parliament and who they want to be the Government. This Government does not seem to have any respect for that whatsoever.

This particular piece of legislation is very important because there have been international threat assessments that warn of increasing risk in New Zealand of match fixing and increasing risk that crime syndicates and individuals are targeting Australasia for sports match-fixing. There have already been high-profile cases in Australia. There have been one or two New Zealand sportspeople involved in allegations around this too, and we want to make sure that New Zealanders can have confidence that that is not happening. It would significantly damage the credibility, the value, and the growth in New Zealand sport, which is already contributing around $5 billion per year to our economy—probably more than that, actually. So we should have confidence in our sporting institutions and in the players and make sure that there is robust legislation in place that makes it clear that match fixing is a crime under the Crimes Act. That is something that the Labour Party absolutely supports.

I am going to leave my contribution at that, and simply say to the Government that this is a good piece of legislation in the sporting arena. The Government should apply the same principle to the way it deals with politics.

It is an honour to take the final call on the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill in its first reading. I want to say to the member Chris Hipkins that obviously he has probably not had a one-to-one lesson on the history of the Labour Party and its dodgy deals and the match fixing he talked about. I actually think that that is the fault of the Hon Trevor Mallard. He should have done the 101 lesson. Chris Hipkins missed a class. If Trevor Mallard had taught him, he would have told him about what happened in 1999 when Helen Clark actually did a deal with Jeanette Fitzsimons down in Coromandel. That is right, “Chippy”—sorry, Chris Hipkins—that is what they did. They did a deal there. He talks about dodgy deals, but that is OK because Chris Hipkins was not born in 1999. He is still quite young. He is still quite green, so he can be forgiven. He can be forgiven. He was not even a twinkle in the eye, so he did not know—

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Order! Those sorts of comments are a personal attack against a member. I ask the member to come back and just be very careful about what he is saying.

Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. They were just a rebuttal to the comments in the debate that were made by Chris Hipkins, just to sort of set the story straight in the sense of talking about dodgy dealing and match fixing. This is a serious bill.

💬 Dr Megan Woods: Don’t be nasty, then.

The intent of this bill is about integrity. Oh, Megan Woods said: “Don’t be nasty.” Well, it is interesting because you know we just heard the attacks that have come from Chris Hipkins. I wish that Megan Woods had actually said that to him. But, no, that is OK—“Don’t be nasty.”

Well, this bill is actually not about being nasty; this bill is about integrity. This bill is important. For those of us who have actually coached, who have actually managed sports and a number of people in sports, it is really important. I know that from many years helping to coach the rugby teams and the netballs teams of my children as they have gone through them. We know that as young children grow up they love the ability to be able to go out to enjoy sports, to have fun in sports, and that is really important. So this bill is about that. It is ensuring there is not that sense of corruption inside sports, even at the highest level. Why? Because our young people look at our most senior sportspersons and they see them as their role models, so that becomes absolutely important. This bill is about the aspect of ensuring that corruption is not in there.

I was actually in Melbourne over in Victoria last year, and I remember that at the CPA Australia conference there the Australian members of Parliament talked about their anti-corruption legislation. They talked about its impact and the need for it inside sports, especially around football and especially around cricket. So this is a good bill. The Government is taking a lead in this. We know it is getting unanimous support around the House. It is a pity that it has become a little bit of a political football that is going back and forth. What it is doing is actually important—this bill is important. It is about integrity inside sport. There is not much more to say.

💬 Hon Trevor Mallard: The member is running in West Auckland; he needs to know the difference between soccer and league.

A lot has already been said, and I know that Mr Mallard is there sort of chirping away. We know that this bill is important to the House. We look forward to it going through to the Law and Order Committee and being in force, because the key word in the intent of the bill in regard to sport is “integrity”, which New Zealand upholds in this Parliament and in this country for all sportsmen. I commend this bill to the House.

Bill read a first time.

Bill referred to the Law and Order Committee.