Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill

on behalf of the Hon Meka Whaitiri (Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): I move, That the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill be now read a second time.

Right now in the heart of Hawke’s Bay is 40 hectares of land known as the Tomoana Showgrounds. It is prime production land and home to one of our region’s favourite events, the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society’s Hawke’s Bay A & P Show, and host to some of our region’s most prestigious events—including the Napier Port awards for primary excellence, the Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards, and the Hawke’s Bay Horse of the Year—and to New Zealand’s best farmers market, which I am sure many in this House will have attended, and, if not, I can strongly encourage you to go along and support us.

Over the past months, the showgrounds have been transformed into a distribution centre to support our Hawke’s Bay through its cyclone recovery, where hundreds of volunteers have been helping, along with individuals and families and businesses and organisations across the country, in giving support to our cyclone recovery; and where there has been a distribution centre, using the army and the civil defence force to get out food and generators and clothing and support to those in need throughout our region. It is also part of the Waipatu community, where, along with myself who lives in the area, my fellow colleague the Hon Meka Whaitiri—whose name is on this bill—also neighbours, and we are connected into her local marae.

I would like to acknowledge Meka Whaitiri as the member whose name is on this bill, the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill, and who is currently out supporting cyclone efforts on the ground. Can I start by thanking the Governance and Administration Committee for its efforts in examining this bill—in particular the chairperson, Ian McKelvie, alongside the Hon Michael Woodhouse and David Bennett and my colleagues Rachel Boyack, Naisi Chen, and Jamie Strange. This bill was originally scheduled to be reported back to the House on 11 April, so I would like to thank members for the way they have expedited this process while still allowing for the appropriate scrutiny of the legislation. The committee has recommended the bill be passed without amendment, which would mean that the settlement on the sale of the Tomoana Showgrounds can go ahead as planned on 31 March this month. I’d like to thank the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society and the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand for its submissions in support of this bill, and also to the submitter who did not support this bill. The scrutiny of the legislation at the select committee is an important part of our democratic process, and it’s crucial that everyone has the opportunity to have their say.

The reasons for the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill were well traversed during the first reading, but I will just go through them again for the benefits of members and anyone tuning into Parliament at the moment. This is a simple and practical piece of legislation which will enable the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society to sell its interests in the Tomoana Showgrounds without being required to invest the money from the sale and purchase into other land. The society has agreed to sell the showgrounds to the Hastings District Council for $1.75 million under an arrangement that will give the grounds reserve status, ensuring it is protected for the community and ensuring that the land is forever used for agricultural purposes, because it is prime production land. The council also has plans to prepare a reserve management plan and, with the community, to determine how the showgrounds are looked after and to create events in the years to come. So, just as for the purpose our forebears did, we will have this for future generations belonging to the people of Hastings for the benefit of everyone in Hawke’s Bay and beyond.

Now, the reason this bill is needed is because currently the provisions of the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Act 1908 require that the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society invests the money that it receives from the sale of this land into purchasing other land suitable for the purposes of the society. The Act controls how the sales must be handled and what can be done with the proceeds. But this may not be in the best financial use for the society. In their submission to the select committee, the society said this bill would allow it to invest in more productive opportunities, and it does not consider the purchase of further land to be beneficial for the objects of the society. Importantly, this will still allow the society 10 days of an annual fee used for the Tomoana Showgrounds in perpetuity, which means it can continue to host all those great events that Hawke’s Bay is so well known for and to promote the primary sector.

Our farmers and growers are some of the best in the world, and they have had a really hard time of late with the cyclone in our region, and it is important that we do all we can—all we can—to ensure that we can support our farmers and growers and, yes, our kiwifruit growers into the future too. It is an industry that employs so many people across Hawke’s Bay, and, as we all know, it is such the backbone of our regional economy and it deserves everything we can do to support it.

It was great to see that the Tomoana Showgrounds has been so useful in this last month as a hive of activity and somewhere where we can all come together to support the cyclone recovery. I thank all parties in Parliament who supported this bill during its first reading, and I can assure members, once again, that this bill has also had strong community support. Now, it’s been important, through this robust process, that as the Hastings District Council is looking to purchase this land, it was also put out to consultation to our own community. Of that, over 90 percent of those who submitted supported the sale to the Hastings District Council. I think, once again, this firmly cements why we see such a pocket of prime productive land being able to be used for community good and also for the future of our region. I’d also like to acknowledge the submissions both from the Hastings District Council and also from the Waipatu Marae community.

Society members voted in favour of the sale. It has been through, as I said, this consultation process. This bill enables a sensible and practical outcome for the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society and means that our region will be able to continue celebrating and promoting the successes of our local food and fibre sector. I think, once again, this is a show of true regional support, and, in doing so, I would also like to acknowledge all members who have supported this for the society and who have met with the society. I know early on in the consultation process, the local MP for Napier, Stuart Nash, and I met with the society to hear all of their ideas and how they wanted to see a great outcome for our Hawke’s Bay showgrounds. And, again, I hope that for everybody who hasn’t yet been to the farmers market, please put it on your list, because it’s markets like that and it’s supporting local businesses that will help our region so much.

I also know, when I look across to the other side of the House and I see members from the National Party, like Nicola Grigg—I know that she will be there, supporting Horse of the Year, a great, wonderful local event that we all enjoy. I commend this bill to the House.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. For those who have tuned in expecting members’ bills, it’s worth just explaining that on members’ day we do private bills first, and this one, of course, is sponsored by the Hon Meka Whaitiri, the MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. So this is the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill. Although we have agreed and expedited this bill in a shortened process to ensure that we have this bill passed before 31 March, which is the settlement date, I think it is just really important to acknowledge that often the media—well, actually, they probably never report on the pieces of legislation that there is cooperation across the House on, and this is one of them. It’s a sensible, practical bill. It’s not something that’s being done for the first time, Eric Roy, when he was the MP for Invercargill, shepherded a similar bill through for the Southland Agricultural and Pastoral Association.

So, as the member Anna Lorck who spoke before me said, this has been to the Governance and Administration Committee. There were only four submitters, and the majority, of course, were in favour. There weren’t any changes that came out of that select committee, which I think is a really good example of a well written bill and a bill that has had the significant support of the agricultural and pastoral (A & P) society in Hawke’s Bay. So for those who didn’t listen to the speech before or have just joined us, it is basically a sale from the Hastings District Council, who will take up this land, and the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society will still have access to use it for the events for 10 days a year, and, of course, the very significant and successful farmers market—of course, it is National Farmers Market Week this week across New Zealand, and the Hawke’s Bay one has to be one of the better ones across the country. I agree with the member that now is definitely a time to support our growers in the Hawke’s Bay.

So the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society have been clearly behind this piece of legislation. It’s been out for consultation in the Hastings District Council area—93 percent of the submitters were in favour, so this then just becomes a bit of a technical or procedural legislation. It’s not legislation that governs other A & P societies, just this, because of the original Incorporated Societies Act 1908 that said that if they sold land they had to purchase for a similar purpose, but, of course, the purpose of these societies is very different—actually, no, it’s not different; they just undertake their work in a different way. So events like the Horse of the Year, which, of course, was cancelled again this year—very gutting. Very gutting. But it will absolutely be back, bigger and bolder than it has been before. And it is important to recognise that the showgrounds at the moment are the significant distribution hub for welfare support for the cyclone-hit area, so it just goes to show that facilities and assets like this in a region can turn on a dime to support the community as necessary, and they do. So National’s pleased to support this piece of legislation. We have done the work in the select committee, or, at least, my colleagues have—Mr McKelvie: Mr A & P of the National Party caucus. Ha, ha! So we are proud to support this in the second reading and it’ll be great to see this passed later tonight.

Look, obviously we are coming together as a Parliament to support the second reading of this bill, and, as acknowledged by the previous speaker, Louise Upston, it is great to have that agreement across the House. I do want to acknowledge at the start of my contribution the devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the Hawke’s Bay region. It’s nice to be able to do something constructive here today that we know will be of benefit to the Agricultural and Pastoral (A & P) Society locally and also of benefit to the wider region and the primary sector.

I do want to acknowledge the Hon Meka Whaitiri, whose name is on this bill, for her work in shepherding it through, and also my colleagues from the Hawke’s Bay: Anna Lorck, who spoke earlier in this debate, very eloquently, about the purposes of this bill; and the Hon Stuart Nash. I notice that Anna Lorck referenced the work those two MPs had done as options were worked through before this bill came to this House, and I want to congratulate and thank those two hard-working MPs. I’m not surprised that they were involved and engaged in this process early on, but I do want to acknowledge that, because local MPs are incredibly important for a region and the Hawke’s Bay region has two very strong local MPs in Stuart Nash and Anna Lorck.

This bill grants authority to the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society to sell its interests in the Tomoana Showgrounds, as well as any other land in future that it might acquire, and allocate the proceeds of that land sale towards objectives that align with the society’s purposes—that is, rather than simply having to reinvest in land, as is the status quo. That gives them a degree of freedom to promote economic interests associated with agricultural and pastoral causes, to do education, to bring town and country closer together—and the other various objectives of the society, which are wider social good things that will continue to support, grow, and prosper the region. Award scholarships, education programmes—those kinds of things will all be things that will come under the purposes of that A & P Show.

It will also enable the society itself to diversify its investments, to look at managed funds, to look at what is the thing that will give the best return to support those purposes and activities in the future. I mean, it may well be land purchases, but it gives them that flexibility to work out what is best for the society and for their contribution to the Hawke’s Bay region. It is a forward-thinking way of going about things, and so it is a real pleasure to be in the House supporting this.

Of course, all members in this House will have their own A & P Show stories, and, Madam Speaker, if you’ll forgive me—I don’t like to bring the Speaker into the debate, but I’m sure that you’ve been to the Palmerston and Waihemo A & P Show and enjoyed it as much as I have over the years. We’ve got good ones in our region that bring people in, that give those living in the towns the chance to interact with animals and to see how our agriculture and pastoral sector operate, to see the vintage machinery that’s on display, to eat the candyfloss, the hot dogs, to see the horses in action in the shows, and so forth. And those experiences are incredibly valuable, I think, in terms of bringing us together as a country. As a kid, I worked with my cousins on farms, but that’s becoming less and less accessible as there are fewer farm owners in this country and as there are more people. It means that those experiences that I had growing up are not guaranteed for every kid in New Zealand, and I think having A & P Shows and having access to the agricultural sector is something that we all want, in this House, to preserve.

I think, too, when I think of A & P societies—I also think of the volunteers that run them. These organisations are run off the back of work of volunteers, and, in the case of the local one up our way, Madam Speaker, that you will have been to many times, you know the people on the microphones: the Jim Hopkins of this world, the Taranaki gremlin, is it, who gets on that microphone as well. The presidents—Cody Jenkins is our local president at the moment. The past presidents—Paul Mutch and Gary Dodd. Those people that get out there, that do the work, that convene the committees, that gee up the community to get there, to make it a show that everybody can enjoy, including those visitors who come from out of the district to be a part of it. You know, I just do want to pay tribute to those volunteers.

Now, the Hawke’s Bay show. I did take the liberty of having a look at what’s coming up this year and do commend the website to any of you at home, should you not be captured completely by the debate that’s happening right now. You know, it points to those events that I think of as quintessentially New Zealand: shearing competitions; equestrian events of a very high class; you know, seeing the working dogs, the goats, the cattle on display, the sheep; home industries. And, of course, I’m told, this year, carnival rides are promised to return to the Hawke’s Bay A & P Show, and hot dogs on sticks of course will be there too. So I do encourage New Zealanders to get along to these shows and to have the experience, the quality experience, that comes with them.

Mark Cameron: The candyfloss is no more.

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: The candyfloss, sadly, is hard to find, as our colleague across the House comments, but many of those things which we think of as quintessentially Kiwi will be there, and I do commend the show to the House.

Now, other colleagues have commented on the fact that this sale, which will see the land transferred to the Hastings District Council, will still allow the A & P society to have 10 days’ access to it a year. It will be kept in good condition. It will be used, no doubt, for wider community purposes. It is a piece of land that will be maintained as a reserve, managed by a trust with representatives of the A & P society council and the nearby Waipatu Marae. And it’s great to see all of those members of the community coming together to preserve the purposes and to support the purposes of the A & P Society. And, of course, the investment will be worth $7.5 million to the society as well, as a starting point, and they have said that they anticipate they may well put that in a portfolio to ensure that they are generating funds to support the purposes of the society.

So it’s my very real pleasure to speak on this bill. I’ve been told by the Hon Stuart Nash previously that it’s a very popular bill locally, well supported. And, as I did at the outset, I do congratulate those local members for their work in the background on helping people to work through the options and for their support and hard work in the community—the Hon Stuart Nash and Anna Lorck and, of course, the Hon Meka Whaitiri—and also for their work through the challenging period that the Hawke’s Bay has just gone through and continues to go through in response to the terrible weather events that have passed through.

So I won’t continue my contribution. I’ve covered off the things that I wanted to say about the A & P society and its purposes, and the sensible steps that this bill is taking to help the society continue its proud legacy—through wise, prudent investment—in promoting and celebrating the agricultural, food, and fibre sectors of the Hawke’s Bay region. And so I am proud to commend this bill to the House.

Well, Madam Speaker, I think one of the delightful things about this particular bill is it’s giving this House an opportunity to trot down memory lane and embrace and enjoy the richness which agricultural and pastoral societies have brought to New Zealand, and I would like to take this opportune moment to inform the House that it’s currently hearing a submission from the Mayfield agricultural and pastoral (A & P) society’s 1989 district rider champion followed closely by the 1989 Methven A & P society’s district rider champion.

So it is with great pleasure that I rise and take this opportunity to also support along with my National Party colleagues the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill. Obviously, we in the National Party take enormous pride in our rural roots and each and every one of us within this House, I would wager, has spent childhood days and months and years at A & P Shows around the country. As much as I am a one-eyed Cantabrian and very proudly the MP for Selwyn, I’m also half - Hawke’s Bay and my mum grew up in rural Hawke’s Bay. She’s a good Pōrangahau girl and my granny is currently residing in the Mary Doyle retirement village in Havelock North. So my acknowledgment and love to my granny at the moment.

But National does take the opportunity wherever possible to support any opportunity to modernise legislation, and this is the epitome of that really. It’s taken a piece of legislation that is well over 100 years old and is seeking to make it fit for purpose. It certainly doesn’t seem right in this day and age where there are multiple investment opportunities available to what are, as the previous speaker acknowledged, by and large volunteer organisations who, as we all know—you know, everybody is rattling the can for the donor dollar at the moment and things are tough. It is very difficult for A & P societies to remain solvent in many cases and to put on these shows that we’re all waxing lyrical about because we do love them dearly. So we do think it’s important to allow A & P societies flexibility with their financial decision-making and to move from one legislative framework of investing—if you sell a piece of land, you can only invest in another piece of land—to allowing societies, as has previously been seen with other societies around New Zealand, the opportunity to invest in shares and investment portfolios, in other land should they want to, in long-term deposits and all those kinds of things. That seems the right and proper thing to do if it is to contribute to the sustainability and longevity of these organisations and the wonderful facilities they provide and events that they do put on for our community.

As is the normal practice, in a second reading we do look back to the work carried out by the select committee; in this case, the committee very ably chaired by our good friend Ian McKelvie, the Governance and Administration Committee. I have had a quick look at a couple of the submissions. The Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society’s own submission I think really eloquently gets to the crux of the issue when it says it doesn’t make sense for us to be restricted, to have to use the sale proceeds from one piece of land to purchase more land, and that they very much want to secure the sustainability of their organisation. I’ve got a number of A & P Shows run by A & P societies around my electorate in Selwyn and numbers do dwindle. You know, people are busy and we don’t always get the gate takings that you would have seen in yesteryear. So it is, I think, very important that they are able to invest in their long-term viability by whichever means they see as right and proper.

I did also take a look at the Royal Agricultural Society New Zealand’s submission to this empowering bill and I did take great heart in their ethos and their rationale, and that is to support our members to promote rural excellence, sustainability, and innovation as being key to their organisation. A number of speakers have referred to the fact that these societies, and indeed a number of the shows and the events they put on, are a wonderful showcasing opportunity for local communities, particularly rural communities, to, as we often say, bring country to town and to engage with our urban cousins and friends and show what we rural folk have to offer.

So on that point, we on this side of the House are very pleased to support this bill. We look forward to the future resumption of the horse—what am I trying to say, Anna Lorck?

Anna Lorck: Horse of the Year.

NICOLA GRIGG: The Horse of the Year show! I’ve finally come to the end and crashed and burned. But, look, thank you very much for the opportunity, Madam Speaker. We commend this bill to the House.

Kia ora, Madam Speaker—te Māngai o te Whare. I rise to speak on the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill this evening, but before I do—noting that this is a very significant day for New Zealand—I do want to say al salam alaikum. I know that all of us during today have taken a pause and remembered the horror of what happened in Christchurch four years ago. I know that all of us are thinking today of the victims of that massacre and of their families and of the communities, and are striving to continue to do what we can to bring together communities and prevent that sort of division and hatred.

In a very real and very simple way, an A & P society in a country town like mine plays a pretty important part in bringing our society together, so it is not irrelevant to be talking about a society like the A & P society, which we all have in our various provincial towns, and we all know in our various provincial towns, if you’re lucky enough to be a provincial MP—as I am—the significance of it. But before I go any further, there is also one other group to talk about, and that’s the owners of this particular agricultural society, because the A & P society of Hawke’s Bay at this moment is struggling under the appalling impact of Cyclone Gabrielle. I understand from its two devoted local MPs Anna Lorck and Stuart Nash from the region, as well as from the Hon Kiritapu Allan, that, in fact, the Hawke’s Bay showgrounds that we’re talking about tonight have remained untouched.

So this land has not been damaged by the cyclone; in fact, far from it. This land has acted as the community hub that an A & P society should be, although one would hope that it would not have to step in in an emergency, as it has had to here. I understand from Ms Lorck that the showgrounds have become an emergency gathering place, a place for the community to seek safety and succour and shelter, and that is a testament to what an agricultural society—an A & P society—should be. So I am delighted to know that that land is, in fact, safe and it has been having that impact.

When I was preparing to speak on this bill, I had a look at the history. I understand it goes back to the 1850s, when the society was formed, and it’s one of the oldest in New Zealand. I believe it was in 1858 that the first show was held. It wasn’t held on these grounds; it was held on the old racecourse grounds, which at the time were owned by the A & P society.

This society is not unused to big upheavals in its property management. It bought the current grounds—51 acres, as I understand it—when the racecourse grounds just became too small for what it was doing, and there was controversy. There was controversy in making the move out of the immediate surroundings. It was felt that it was too distant, but, in fact, taking the big jump has proven to be the best thing for the society, because it is still going strong.

So we come to what is happening now. Now, we have a society and a community who are shattered and dealing with incredible hardship and the appalling uncertainty of having your entire life ripped out from under you. It is, therefore, fitting that we enable part of that group for the A & P society to go on to do its job better and better, and we enable it to do what it wants to do, which is to sell this bit of land so that it can go on providing that hub and that meeting place for the community and that base for the development of the community spirit that it has been for over a hundred years.

So for those watching—as I’m sure there are many at this time on a Wednesday evening, glued to parliamentary television and worrying about what the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill means—what they want to do is sell the land that they have. They want to sell it to the council. The council have agreed to hold it in perpetuity. The council have agreed that the A & P society will be able to hold all its events, as it normally does, on that land, as it has done ever since 1912, I believe, when it first purchased this particular block in 1858, when it purchased the racecourse block. It will still be able to go on holding its events every year—and I think there are four of them, over 12 days a year—but it will be freed up by being able to sell the land for cash to the council, and that money can be invested in the many things that an A & P society does around town and for the community.

I have some knowledge of what an A & P society does in the community. Our previous speaker Nicola Grigg spoke proudly, I believe—as I was coming back in, I heard her speaking proudly of her own time on the equestrian course. I myself am an indifferent horsewoman, but my sisters Georgie and Jessie are superb, and did, in fact, participate in many a Whangārei A & P event on their horses.

But rather than the show, which has always been a highlight for Whangārei—let’s start with that. In Whangārei, every summer, early December—my goodness, it’s the summer show. It was the highlight of your childhood. When you live in a place like Whangārei, you don’t get the Ferris wheel very often and you don’t get candyfloss very often, and this was our one, yearly opportunity. I visited and loved it again with my kids.

We had the hiatus of COVID, which was very difficult for our local society and our local producers. It has been hard and tough, and I have sat with Evan and Chris and the team in Whangārei and mourned the loss of one more A & P society opportunity, because it is such an important social event if you are in a provincial and a rural community.

But it’s more than that. An A & P society like ours in Whangārei reaches out and supports the development of the primary production sector in so many ways. For example, in Whangārei, they actually hold an apprenticeship programme, effectively—I’m looking across at my colleague Mark Cameron, who is nodding with great love and affection. They have started a training programme for young farmers, which I think started with six and has been building regularly, where they have enabled young people living in Tai Tokerau, who often don’t want to leave their local homes and travel off to the big smoke of Whangārei—they have enabled them to move into farming families and do their apprenticeships on the ground, on the farm. They support them and they mentor them through their various standards and the academic work, and in this way, the Whangārei A & P Society is growing our base of farmers and rural producers.

Therefore, it is important for the development of farming standards that we allow the healthy and friendly, although often intergenerationally passionate, rivalry that is the A & P society’s many competitions. Whether it be over preserves or livestock, it is important that we enable the community to come together at our shows and enjoy each other’s company and have the rush of candyfloss and the thrill of the Ferris wheel. But it is important that we enable them also to continue the work they do outside the showgrounds to support our primary production sector to get better and better and to continue to be the basis of New Zealand life that it really is.

So I commend the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society for having the vision, once again, to take a bold leap into the unknown and to sell off its asset to safe hands that will preserve it for all the good that it’s been doing in the community as a community recreation space, to enable it to continue to fulfil its place and its purpose within our provincial societies, supporting those in the agricultural and pastoral sector. I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Al salam alaikum. I join with colleagues from around the House in remembering our Muslim whānau down at Christchurch at this time and the heaviness that they must still feel in terms of the loved ones that they have lost as well. Rātou ki a rātou, tātou ki a tātou, moe mai rā. [They congregate, as we do here, rest in peace.]

The Greens rise to support the second reading of this bill, the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill. A lot of the reasons why we are supporting this bill have been canvassed around the House. I also want to acknowledge the community resilience—the resilience of community, the resilience of the people across the Te Matau-a-Māui, the Hawke’s Bay, in terms of the way that they’ve been moving through Cyclone Gabrielle, and just to let the folks at home know that we continue to support them and we continue to think of them.

I had a bit of a nosey on the old Google machine because I suspected that the A & P grounds would have been used in the cyclone effort, so I want to acknowledge the remarks by Anna Lorck, the local MP there, who confirmed that this was indeed the case, that this was a place where people gathered and got together and looked after each other and had that connection. I reflect also on the objectives of the society, which is there to promote agricultural, pastoral, horticulture, viticulture, and forestry resources, but also community as well, and to see a very, very recent example of that.

Everyone’s taken a bit of a trip down memory lane in terms of the A & P Show and it actually sparked up a memory for myself actually. I was thinking back to the first A & P Shows for myself. I had, as a child, come back from the islands and landed in the raging metropolis of Levin, where they had an A & P Show, and this was the raging 1980s. One of those shows, they rounded up a whole lot of the local kids and we helped kind of shepherd the sheep down the pens. I’m hoping we were useful. I felt useful—12-year-old me felt useful—as we shepherded these sheep down and they had the sheep shearing competition. Probably my enduring memory of those times was going home high on candyfloss and stinking to high heaven.

The Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill is about helping the society to fulfil its own objectives. It wants to be able to sell this property, and any other land it acquires, without the current restriction that requires it to invest the money received from the sale to purchase other land suitable for the purposes of the society as required by the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Act 1908—1908, so long ago. Even longer ago than when I was in Levin, back in the eighties.

This move of theirs still fits within the objectives of their society by moving it still into public hands under the ownership and the stewardship of the Hastings District Council that still will be able to fulfil their objectives—still holding those amazing events over that 10 days, all the different shows which bring people together. It is about promoting horticulture. It is about promoting agriculture. It is about promoting all those things, and also community, but it’s also about building memories as well.

And so this bill, it’s a small bill, but it’s a big thing for this community and for this organisation. I also want to acknowledge the consultation work that has been done here by, I guess, the local MPs and people involved as well, reaching out to the marae and making sure that those connections are there as well and solid. So the Greens commend this bill to the House. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to take a call on this bill. I’d like to start, also, by al salam alaikum and joining my colleagues from around the House, as we’ve heard today, as we all think today of our Muslim communities, remembering the atrocities of four years ago.

I rise in support of the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill in its second reading. I’d like to commend my colleagues on the Governance and Administration Committee for their work on this private bill; the sponsor of this bill, Minister Meka Whaitiri, who brought this bill to the House; and, of course, my colleague Anna Lorck. The bill empowers the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society to sell its interest in the Tomoana Showgrounds and any other land it may acquire and then apply the money received from the sale of the land towards purposes that are consistent with the objects of the society.

As we have already heard several times, this bill is a simple and practical piece of legislation. Currently, the provisions of the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Act 1908 require the society to invest the money they receive from the sale of land in purchasing other land suitable for the purposes of the society. What this bill does, it treats provisions of the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Act 1908, the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Amendment Act 1912, as well as the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Amendment Act 1920 as never having applied to the society. This is done to achieve the purpose of allowing the society to apply the money received from the sale of the land towards purposes that are consistent with the objects of the society.

Now, as we have already heard, this bill, of course, comes to us in the shadow of the devastating impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle in the Hawke’s Bay region, which remains under a state of emergency. Many people for whom this bill applies will continue to live with a degree of uncertainty in their lives and are still disrupted. The cyclone was such a devastating and traumatic event for so many people and so many businesses. We will get through this. We will rebound strongly from Gabrielle, but it will take a lot of effort.

At this point, I would like to acknowledge Anna Lorck, the MP for Tukituki, who kicked off this debate. What I’ve also learnt is that she was in a previous life the Waipukurau show queen, wearing a beautiful red sash after being anointed as such. But I would like to commend her for the relentless work on the ground in her affected communities, as well, of course, as our colleague Stuart Nash, and Anna has already described those events in her speech, of how that region has suffered so terribly.

The Agricultural and Pastoral Society recently entered into an agreement to sell most of its showground to the Hastings District Council under arrangements which will give the grounds reserve status, and so that means that it will be protected for the community. The council also has plans to prepare a reserve management plan, with the community to determine how the showgrounds are looked after and then create opportunities for many events in years to come—and Anna Lorck has already run us through some of those events that are being held there.

I do remember—it’s a while ago, but a bill that is as similar as it can get to this bill was passed in 1991. It was the Kaipara ki Mahurangi Kumeu District Agricultural and Horticultural Society Act 1991. What that Act did: it provided specifically for the activities undertaken by the Agricultural and Horticultural Society at the showgrounds, and it was referred to as a landmark for all New Zealand A & P societies at the time, because until that time they had been restricted to renting their properties or their buildings for short terms.

Agricultural and pastoral associations, as we have already heard from many speakers around the House, thinking about their personal memories, are, of course, part of the fabric of rural New Zealand, and shows and expos have been part of the rural communities for over a hundred years in many communities. Last weekend, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Kumeu A & P Show, and it was really great to have Prime Minister Chris Hipkins attend and enjoy the festivities. He received a really warm welcome and was asked for what must have been hundreds of selfies and photographs as he was trying to get over the very large grounds. He led a tractor parade—and you may have seen that on the news—and was riding up front in a very shiny red tractor. He also signed one of those giant pumpkins—

Andrew Bayly: Massey Ferguson.

Mark Cameron: Go, Massey Ferguson!

MARJA LUBECK: You got it, you got it—it was a Massey Ferguson indeed. He also signed one of those massive pumpkins, as we do see at those A & P Shows, and that pumpkin was later on in the day auctioned off for $400. I’ve got it on good authority that that is the highest price that one of those pumpkins has ever raised at the Kumeu A & P Show.

Ian McKelvie: Our pumpkin soup.

MARJA LUBECK: So, it was—no, it’s not good for pumpkin soup because, apparently, they’re very watery when they reach that stage. So, really, it just goes to the animals. It was really good to see tens of thousands of people over that weekend enjoying the show being back, because, of course, COVID over the last couple of years meant the show being cancelled or scaled down for the last couple of years. I do want to echo the sentiments of my colleague David Clark, who previously commended the efforts of the many volunteers in our communities that make sure that these A & shows can be run in our communities. The next one, in Kaipara ki Mahurangi, is on 18 March, and so I hope people are taking the opportunity to visit Warkworth on that day.

A little bit of history on the Hawke’s Bay A & P Show—my colleague Emily Henderson gave you a short version; well, I’ve got the long one: “The first … show was held in 1863 in a paddock in Havelock North. An agricultural and pastoral society and its annual show was recognised as being important to Hawke’s Bay by the early pioneers [because] they knew that the future wealth of the province would be generated by agriculture and horticulture. By the 1920s, the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society’s annual show had been based at the Hastings Racecourse for more than 40 years. [Now,] The society had owned the property from 1878, but in 1884, sold and then leased the property back from the Hawke’s Bay Jockey Club for the show. It was suggested at the 1906 AGM that the society once again look at owning a property [and that actually eventuated] in 1911 when 51 acres of Nelson Bros land at Tomoana was judged to be an excellent location after [it was advertised] for possible [other] sites. The purchase by the A & P Society was assisted by William Nelson’s generosity in making … financial arrangements. However, it [took] many [many more] years before this site [could actually] be used.

“At the Hastings Race Course, the buildings belonging to the A & P Society had been erected in the middle of [a] race track. [And] they weren’t allowed to be high as to block the view of spectators, and [so they] were only temporary. The oval was not that suitable for parades of stock, and inadequate for future growth.” So the A & P Society judged that that was not good enough and they wanted better. “The land at Tomoana was debt-free from 1918, and the A & P Society in 1920 had about £10,000 in the bank.”—judging by today’s value, that would be roughly about a million dollars—“Building an infrastructure of cattle and horse pavilions, produce hall, latrines, grandstand and offices at Tomoana was going to be very expensive and [judged to be roughly about] £30,000”—so about $3 million in today’s value.

“… shifting … the “northern boundary” of Hastings was upsetting [to] some [because they] didn’t see [moving] from the racecourse as necessary and [they thought it was] too remote.” So there was a fund-raiser, and the funding was “used to extend the show ground property from 51 to 62 acres, and in developing the property in 1923. In 1925”—as is mentioned before—“the first show was held at … Tomoana and a record 20,000 of the [then] 65,000 Hawke’s Bay population attended.” And that was that history.

So the society is now paving the way for initiative and forward thinking in the rural sector, contributing to more positive economic development across the region. As several people have mentioned, the bill has very strong community support. Hastings District Council wrote a letter of support, as has the Waipatu Marae. Society members have voted in favour, and, also, I learnt that over 90 percent of submitters have voted in favour of the sale.

Now, the reasons for this bill have been very well traversed by previous speakers. Anna Lorck referred to this in her previous speech as “a show of true regional support”, which I acknowledge it is. I commend it to the House. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was going to regale the House of all things A & P up and down rural New Zealand and Mr McKelvie—

Anna Lorck: Go for it!

MARK CAMERON: I certainly will, Anna Lorck! Talking of wood chopping, combs and cutters, Heiniger gear, running handpieces through wool. Show hunter, for all things, Anna Lorck, and round the ring to do with ponies. My daughter rides, evidently, at A & P Shows up and down the country. I have had the luxury of going to dozens of these things—

Andrew Bayly: Have you won any prizes?

MARK CAMERON: No, sir, I have not. To Mr Bayly: I’ve entered the wood chopping event and failed woefully in my exploits. Interestingly in all of this, at now nearly 51 years old, I’ll have probably been to over 100 of these and I absolutely love them; they are all things rural New Zealand. And without pontificating, I will certainly celebrate A & Ps up and down New Zealand. And here’s to Hawke’s Bay trying to ameliorate all the issues that they are currently going through and then having this bill being brought to the House. Interestingly, for me, having read back some feedback from submitters—and of course I don’t sit on the Governance and Administration Committee, as you’re all aware—the overall consensus to the bill was one of support. It’s been well traversed and canvassed in the House.

The bill was noted to empower the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society to have the ability to sell its interest—and forgiving my pronunciation—Tomoana Showgrounds to use those funds received from the sale of the land to be consistent with the society’s interest, which was outside the legal scope of the original Act. Obviously, by virtue, we want to see this land and its use continue. As was noted, the original Act, in 1908, put prescriptions on the society to invest the money received from the sale into the purchase of other or subsequent land in keeping with a 160-year history and I quote, “was offered … [a] role as champions of regions crucial to agricultural and pastoral sectors.” We see this up and down rural New Zealand; the members on the other side of the House have well traversed that in their speeches.

One submitter noted “We believe this is simple change to the legislation, that currently governs our Agricultural and Pastoral Society.” Having attended a lot of these, a lot of what goes on—a lot of the organisation—is done at a very localised level, and goodness gracious me, good on the Hawke’s Bay region seeking to amend this piece of legislation moving forward so they have asset surety.

Another submitter said they go on to “make it more amenable to this day and age”, and by virtue when it comes to land use and how we use what happens in our rural backyard, you can see why they would say such things. It doesn’t make sense to be restricted, and this bill will allow for greater flexibility. I’d like to decree that makes perfect sense in allowing us to empower for more diverse investment into our portfolio and provision for long-term planning according to conditions the Ministry for Primary Industries noted in its submission: “[The bill creates] an exemption for the requirements outlined in Section 7 of the [original] Act.” MPI also noted when speaking of the Hastings District Council, “The Council will vest the land as a reserve”. A wonderful, wonderful idea, putting it back into the hands of community. Notwithstanding, the society will have the rights to the land 10 days free per year for each year in perpetuity.

Now, without overplaying my hand, what a wonderful thing that we have A & P Shows in society, and those that can attend them, knowing that is surely going to be the year following. It has become clearly evident to me that this is not a problematic piece of legislation. I am not going to overplay my hand. The ACT Party fully supports this piece of legislation to give those in Hawke’s Bay region—and more broadly, all things rural—the very support it needs. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is good to be rising and taking a call and sharing in solidarity some of the good things about New Zealand society. But before I start, I, like my colleagues around the House, acknowledge the tragedy four years ago in Christchurch. We remember and we mourn those who lost their lives and those who lost their loved ones and acknowledge all of those who have supported the victims and their families in the moment and in the years since, and in the years to come.

But back to this bill, the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill. It’s a lovely opportunity for all of us to think about Hawke’s Bay and have a smile on our faces and be reminded of what a wonderful part of the country and of the world it is, and to think about this institution, this fine tradition, these events that we see all around the country that have been encapsulated in the conversations we’ve had about this bill. We know that there are dozens of agricultural and pastoral (A & P) shows, and we’ve heard about them in the House, that connect us to our history, that connect us to each other, and connect us to our future. I think some of us in the Primary Production Committee were a little bit jealous that it didn’t come to us. I mean, there were obvious reasons why not, but many of us in the select committee have shared stories, not just in the House but in select committee that are generated by talking about this bill. We’ve heard about the history of it in New Zealand, and I’m not sure how far back people have gone, but, of course, this started in Scotland—the visionary and ambitious people of Scotland, in the Highlands, that wanted to showcase agricultural improvements. Then this was infectious, and ended up in England with the Royal Agricultural Society, which wanted to foster the use of science in farming.

I read about the first Hawke’s Bay show that was on Alfred Dawes’ paddock in Havelock North in October 1863, and apparently there were 22 horses and 23 cattle, 18 sheep, six pigs, a pen of poultry, and three dogs. We had 400 people in attendance, rocked up in their gigs and buggies—a very different experience from, you know, the biggest traffic jam we have in Stratford these days is when we’re all trying to navigate and negotiate with the local Rotary Club in their white jackets as they’re trying to park us in the worst bit of the paddock that we know we won’t be able to get out of at the end of the day.

We know that this wonderful institution and its different iterations around the country give us the finest in innovation—animals, produce, technology, as well, of course, as the competitions and attractions. We’ve heard about some of those, and I’ll get on to those in a minute. But the best of these A & P Shows were located on really special pieces of land, if they were smart, and the best were close to town. The Hawke’s Bay grounds, innovative from the outset, had a rail connection that meant that you did not have to drive your stock through town. How progressive are they?

Some of these events, though, unfortunately, are only to be remembered. The Inglewood gala, the closest gala to my little patch, was apparently the greatest show on earth, because it included human cannonballs, and in its heyday attracted almost 35,000 visitors. I don’t quite know how we all jammed in there, but it certainly attracted more than Americarna. But apparently, killed off in 1972 by this amazing thing called television.

We know we’ve heard about the dozens of shows around the country that remain, and this bill is about enabling the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society to continue to be nimble and innovative and remain one of the best shows in the country. So these shows connect us to each other. We’ve heard so much; we’ve shared our collective memory—town and country, north and south, young and old. We’ve heard a lot of quite competitive horse stories around the place—never rode a horse. Funnily enough—some of you may not be surprised—I only ever rocked up to the talent show. I don’t know if I ever walked away with a ribbon, but anyway, I was happy to participate.

We’ve heard so much about what a big deal this is in rural communities, and, originally, like I said, rocking up in a buggy or on a horse and now, of course, where they’re kicking tyres on some amazing tractors and other incredible innovations. Of course, we will continue to have debates about whether it’s a Massey Ferguson or something else.

But this isn’t just about bringing the rural communities together; it is about bringing our townies, to build those connections. It’s wonderful to see that one of the ambitions of the society is to use the funds that will be freed up by this legislation to promote the primary sector to a wider audience. I think that’s wonderfully ambitious for us as a country. I do want to reflect—you know, we’ve heard about all the attractions and the competitions that we’ve participated in, but I think it’s really interesting how over the generations we move from being a small child on the—

Dr Emily Henderson: Merry-go-round.

ANGELA ROBERTS: Merry-go-round—thank you. And then you get to go on the Ferris wheel, and then you get to go on the Hurricane, and then you have children and you’re back to the merry-go-round. Although apparently my colleague Anna Lorck skipped a little bit and made it to the Hurricane at age five with her mate Stuart Train, much to her parents’ horror, so proving to be adventurous from the start. So it is about creating memories and building relationships and having a great deal of fun.

The intergenerational aspect of it isn’t just about the rides, though. We’ve heard about the knowledge and everything that is shared intergenerationally, and we’ve heard about the volunteers. I just want to do a shout-out. I think last time I shouted out to our world champion wood choppers that come from Stratford, the Jordan boys, but actually this time I want to refer to another former student, Kylee Perrett, who is one of the best Ayrshire breeders and judges in the country—amazing young woman, but not just involved in breeding and judging, but has now stepped up and taken over, as her father is retired, and is involved in running and organising the Egmont and the Stratford A & P Shows. It is wonderful to see this institution and this way of life and this wonderful knowledge and really rich culture coming through in our next generation. It leads not just into us being some of the finest food and fibre producers on the planet, but is also about making sure our rural communities continue to be places that our young people want to live in and to work in and create wonderful futures for their own children.

So, like I said, the A & P Shows in the Hawke’s Bay, in particular, are about connecting us also to our future. They’ve been visionary from the outset, since they started in Scotland, and currently the frustration that they had that that very narrow requirement for them to invest in land if they divested in their land, it’s brought something to us, in addition, as a challenge. They have challenged us to do something wonderful that will enable us to connect to and build a fabulous future for this country, because they’re making us stretch our understanding of what investment means, because it isn’t just about simply investing in land, but it is about investing in people. It’s great to see their ambitions, that what they want to do is develop educational programs, award scholarships, and it allows them flexibility for longer term planning. When I look at how we’re going to go and rebuild and support the wonderful Hawke’s Bay to rebuild, the fact that they will have opportunities to be really innovative and invest in people, I think, is another great opportunity that we can see that they will have simply by us supporting them in the desire to pass this bill.

So despite the tragedy that has beset them in the last few weeks, it’s a reminder that they are going to get through this. Not everybody has been affected in the same way, but we are going to be able to help them, and this little bill is going to hopefully help them to do something mighty. And for that, I’m incredibly humble and proud to be able to recommend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am pleased to rise and speak on this Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill in the second reading, and I acknowledge the Hon Meka Whaitiri, who has brought this bill forward. I also want to acknowledge my colleague Mr Ian McKelvie, who so ably led it through the select committee process with the Governance and Administration Committee.

There’s been quite a lot of reminiscing about people’s memories of A & P Shows, and I think, possibly, Mr McKelvie and perhaps yourself, Madam Speaker, and I are the only ones that can remember that, actually, it was a day off school back in the day. This is when we all went to school every day because that’s what we had to do, our parents made us. And a day off school was something very, very major for us. My other memory of A & P Shows is not nearly as glamorous as the member on the opposite side, Anna Lorck, as show queen. My abiding memories are about eating far too much candyfloss, then going for tea at my grandmother’s. For some inexplicable reason, she always gave us lettuce salad and pressed tongue, and I can assure you that candyfloss, pressed tongue, and chair plane rides are not a good combination.

So I’m certainly very pleased to be working in collaboration in the House this evening to support this bill, which will enable the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society to sell, transfer the ownership of their 40 hectares to Hastings District Council. And why I’m particularly pleased to be speaking about this is that it’s identical to the bill that was brought forward when the Southland Showgrounds were sold. So the Southland Agricultural and Pastoral Association Empowering Act 2006, which was brought forward by my very good friend and neighbour, the former National MP, Mr Eric Roy. Of course, Mr Eric Roy was in this House for 15 years and he brought the Act forward in 2006, which enabled the Southland A & P Association to sell land and get a number of opportunities from that. So it’s perhaps good to recount those opportunities and what it’s done for the Southland A & P Association—the land was sold and a wonderful industrial development took place there which has absolutely reinvigorated that area. The A & P Show has shifted to a city council park: Donovan Park. In fact, two weekends ago, on 4 March, both my colleague Dr Liz Craig and I had stands at the Southland A & P Show at Donovan Park—it was the 103rd Southland A & P Show.

Like others, I want to acknowledge the wonderful volunteers that make our A & P Shows happen. So, in Southland, the president Paula Bell and vice president David Sinclair, along with their committee and all their volunteers, made an absolutely wonderful job of putting on their 103rd show. And I really want to acknowledge that many of those executive members have been working for years and years. Paula Bell started stewarding at the Southland A & P Show more than 30 years ago. So I want to acknowledge the volunteers that make this wonderful celebration of all things agricultural and pastoral, our A & P Shows, such a success. And I want to assure those that will reap the benefits of this bill that Southland has gone before them and in fact reaped many benefits. We do wish those same opportunities on the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society, and so we support the bill.

Kia ora e te Mana Whakawā. It’s always an honour and a privilege to stand in the House to make a contribution, and in my five minutes’ contribution to this, the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill, I just want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the lives lost in Cyclone Gabrielle and the floods and I want to acknowledge everyone that has been heavily affected. Also, today is 15 March and our hearts and our thoughts and our prayers are with the community in Christchurch.

I just want to acknowledge that the bill has come in the shadow of Cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier, in the last couple of weeks, I have visited Hawke’s Bay and I want to acknowledge our local MPs Anna Lorck and Stuart Nash for their tireless efforts in Hawke’s Bay. I have never been to an A & P Show, so I am part of the community that actually if the land is sold—

Andrew Bayly: Come to Pukekohe next time.

ANAHILA KANONGATA‘A-SUISUIKI: Yeah, I will—I will. You can take me there, the member Andrey Bayly. But one of the goals of the promoter of this bill, the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill, is about enabling the funds raised from this, from the selling of the land, to be able to include wider communities into its role.

I also want to acknowledge when I was there the Pacific community in Hawke’s Bay that stood up centres to support the community throughout this, like Pastors Lau and Nancy at the River Road Kings House Church in Napier; Tevita Niu Lata for supporting all the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme workers that are there packing our fruit; Tofilau Talalelei Taufale, who organised the community to come together at the time for providing support for local Pacific communities; the Samoan EFKS Congregational Church who opened their doors to the community as well. I want to acknowledge Malia and Fa’aki from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church that I went along to, just to be with the community and see what it’s like in Hastings, and I want to also acknowledge Greig Taylor of Freshco. When I visited he was really emotional in terms of sharing the experience of the water levels, of him having to look after his workers or what he calls his family. I also want to acknowledge Pastor Tivaini from the Ascend Church and the Trinity Methodist Church. I also want to acknowledge Fatongia and Olivia ’Ofa for looking after the community. I made note when I spoke that I’ve never been to an A & P Show and when I met the Pacific community in Hawke’s Bay I’m not sure whether many of them have been to an A & P Show.

I want to acknowledge the work of Meka Whaitiri in bringing this member’s bill to the House and the work of the promoter, the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society. And just a reminder that the Pacific community are there and that they are the silent voice who tirelessly toil in the background. Whether it is to prune our fruit trees, whether it is to clean out places where the horses are run, or whether they are picking our fruit, they are very important members of the community and I just want to acknowledge them in the community.

Most members have acknowledged that this is a simple and practical piece of legislation and it has been highly supported in this House. Just as I look at the time and I’m concluding my time, I want to go back to acknowledge that when I was in Hawke’s Bay—I usually am someone that takes a lot of photos, but I didn’t take many when I was there. Because I felt that outside of Hawke’s Bay, especially me from Auckland, based in Papakura—I will take the offer to attend with the member across the road, across the bench there—we have no idea of the devastation that’s happened. What it looks like to be two feet under water, we have no idea. But I want to acknowledge the community who came together as a community to look after each other. And on that note, I commend this bill to the House. Mālō.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s with a great deal of interest that I take a call on this, the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill. In doing so, I want to thank all members of the House for accommodating the Hawke’s Bay A & P and the Hastings City Council, in respect of this bill, because it has a date of 31 March, which is critical to the payment of the money which enables the Hawke’s Bay A & P to keep going. Without that, they’d have had a great deal of difficulty raising money—they’d have had no land, no equity, and still had to run an organisation. So I just want to thank the House for its consideration of that and allowing this bill to get through all stages tonight—well, I hope it does—it’s very important for them and very important for the Hawke’s Bay.

The Governance and Administration Committee considered this bill. It was a pretty simple bill to consider because it was, basically, well put together. As Penny Simmonds and a number of others noted, it had a bit of history in that it came through in almost the exact form for the Southland A & P. And there’d been a number of other A & P societies who have had legislation come through this House in this manner, including my own local A & P, the Manawatu & West Coast A & P Association, who sold their showgrounds to the Palmerston City Council in much the same manner as Hawke’s Bay are selling theirs to the Hastings City Council, and Invercargill’s was similar.

So these assets have been built up over hundreds of years, interestingly. The interesting thing about this is that almost all the A & P societies in New Zealand, all 108 of them, were controlled by the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Act 1908, which is a pretty prehistoric piece of legislation and a frustration for many of those A & P societies still in existence, because they really have to put an Act through Parliament to change the way they operate. And that’s necessary these days because we’ve seen a very big change in the way our small communities and our larger communities operate.

In respect of the comments made by the last speaker, Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki, about having never been to an A & P Show, one of the prime roles of A & P Shows is to take, basically, the rural aspect to the city. One of the absolute critical shows in that respect is the Auckland Easter A & P Show, which for years has had a very strong agricultural presence right in the middle of Auckland. The whole aim of that show, which became the Royal Easter Show, was to enable agriculture to promote itself and the good things it did to the people of Auckland City, and it is an opportunity.

It was quite interesting tonight because all the speakers have talked quite a bit about A & P Shows, and I think it’s pretty cool that people understand them and know what they’re about. And, of course, just last week, a number of us—including the current Speaker in the Chair, the Hon Jacqui Dean—were at the Wānaka show, which is an amazing event in the middle of the South Island—

Mark Cameron: Crazy.

IAN McKELVIE: —a long way from anywhere. But it took us a while to get there, didn’t it, Matt Cameron? But once we got there, we were fixed there. And that’s the secret of A & Ps: some of them are great and run hugely positive A & P Shows still; some of them are struggling. And the reason some of them are struggling—and that was epitomised in Palmerston North last weekend when, on the same weekend as the Wānaka show, we had the New Zealand Rural Games in Palmerston North. And, I suppose, to emphasise the diversity of what shows did—aside from livestock and machinery and those sort of things, and the machinery part of those shows, of course, has, to some extent, been overtaken by the Field Days that are now run throughout New Zealand. And, of course, we’ve got the South Island Agricultural Field Days in a couple of weeks’ time in Canterbury. This week—and tomorrow, in fact—we’ve got the Central Districts Field Days starting in Feilding at Manfeild Park, and those Field Days will attract some 35,000 people through the gate. So they’re pretty popular events, the Field Days. But, of course, we have the National Fieldays and the Northland Field Days. The three provincial Field Days are a little bit similar, but they have taken a lot of what the A & P Shows used to do away from them.

But, just very briefly, to emphasise the kind of diversity that we have in these things, at the rural games they showcase things such as egg throwing. You wouldn’t believe it, but people can throw an egg almost 100 metres and catch it without breaking it. I don’t know whether it was hard-boiled or not, but they do—in fact, they’re not allowed to be hard-boiled. But not only do they have egg throwing, they have, obviously, shearing, tree climbing, wood chopping, and coal shovelling. There’s a very nice bloke from the West Coast called Richie Banks who turns up there—and I wouldn’t know what age he was, Maureen Pugh might know him. But he’d be at least—I’m not going to put an age on him, because you’ll accuse me of it, but he’s not young. He’s the fastest coal shoveller in New Zealand.

Andrew Bayly: What do you mean “not young”?

IAN McKELVIE: Amazing. Well, he’s as old as I am, Bayly. And, of course, Curly Troon, the gumboot throwing champion of New Zealand, all the way from Taihape.

But the last event I just want to very quickly talk about—oh! Loader driving. They had a significant loader driving competition there, which was really interesting. And they also had what they call the big highlanders, I think, or the big highland plugs. They had to lift six stones. The lightest was 75 kilograms, the heaviest was 150 kilograms. And you can imagine a stone shaped like that, 150 kilograms—they had to lift it on to a barrel. The fastest bloke lifted those six stones on to a barrel, and they were 10 metres apart, in 29 seconds. Pretty extraordinary. But those are the sort of events that we used to see at A & P Shows, and that’s why I think that they’re such an important part of the fabric of New Zealand society.

Back to the Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds. The Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds are probably the most attractive piece of—almost the most attractive piece of Hastings, I was going to say, but they’re are beautiful showgrounds almost right in the middle of Hastings, now. I think they’re a very special part of the Hawke’s Bay fabric. Some of us will remember going there, over many years, to the showgrounds. And, of course, shows have changed, as I’ve said earlier, but it’s got a large part of the history of Hawke’s Bay contained within that showgrounds. Some of the best-known families in Hawke’s Bay have been associated with it, families such as the Nelson family, who were early meat exporters in the Hawke’s Bay—still farming in the Hawke’s Bay, many of that family. It also adjoins a very large marae, the Waipatu marae right next door—in fact, it almost surrounds it. And, of course, I can’t help but mention just right across the road is the Hawke’s Bay Polo Club, where all the very important decisions are made in the Hawke’s Bay. But it is a pretty special part of the fabric of New Zealand history.

I think the real concern, or the proper concern—but I think the interesting issue will be for Hawke’s Bay to ensure that they invest this money wisely, because we have seen, I guess, cases in the past in New Zealand where all sorts of organisations, from churches, which are the subject of the next bill, to any number of other voluntary community organisations who have sold assets like this and not retained the asset as well as they might have. We even see the odd bill coming through here which enables—and we had one with respect to the New Plymouth District, just last week, where those funds need to be protected. So you would have to hope that the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society will, as a result of this sale, put in place a very strong management of their $7.1-odd million.

The other interesting thing about the Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds is it’s protected from building on, effectively. I’m not sure what the conditions of that thing are, but Anna Lorck will know. But they can’t build on that land. It’s, I suppose, Class I agricultural land or something like that. They’ve opted to retain, I think, two hectares of that land as well. So they will still have not only the cash and the right to use that showgrounds in perpetuity but they will also have a couple of hectares of land which they’ve retained.

The challenge for our A & Ps is that they have these assets and they have a few activities. Almost all of those activities are run by volunteers, so it’s quite testing for those voluntary organisations to get full value from those assets, hence the need to sell them and have them used by the community and managed by the community. As everyone in this House will know, running a couple of soccer pitches doesn’t make much money. And so whatever you do on that are community-based activities, and they need to be supported by our local councils, whether we like it or not, because there’s neither the cash nor the ability for most of our community-based organisations to play an equitable rent that would enable these things to become commercial. One would hope this doesn’t go down the path that so many have and try to commercialise itself to that extent in the future, because that will be very challenging for it.

So I think the bill is exciting for Hawke’s Bay. In fact, I’ve met most of the presidents of Hawke’s Bay for the last few years—quite a quite a number of them—but Paul Beamish, the current president of the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society, met with me over the Christmas period to explain the urgency of this. And we had one submitter who turned up in person, and that was the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society themselves. So that pretty much sums it up. I think it’s one of those things we do in this Parliament—quite important, very important for the local community. And so I want to congratulate the—well, I was going to say all the Hawke’s Bay MPs for encouraging this to get through Parliament, particularly the Hon Meka Whaitiri. So thank you, Madam Speaker, that’s my lot.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. What a delight it is to actually stand in the House and hear everybody’s stories about how much fun they’ve enjoyed at A & P Shows over the years. They are actually a fixture of our community life. This is the kind of place where, as a kid growing up in the towns, you went to go and pat some sheep and to pat some llamas and to look at somebody’s giant pumpkin that they’ve gone and grown and to taste somebody’s cake that they thought was the best banana cake in the world. But it’s the kind of place where, actually, there’s such a good community feel and it’s a nice outdoor thing and for the kids, actually, it’s an incredible delight. The previous speaker, Ian McKelvie, got up and talked about the Royal Easter Show, which, essentially, had its routes in agriculture and pastoralism, but actually profiling our animals, our pastoral community, and what a delight it was.

I’m really grateful to Meka Whaitiri, my colleague, for bringing this to the House. This is obviously really important to the people of Hawke’s Bay—the people of the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society (A & P Society) who have entered into an agreement with the Hastings District Council to be able to have this conversation about how they can make things better going forward. It’s been a tough couple of years, and putting on any kind of event around the country has been incredibly tough, and they have through this process realised that they want to change things, they want to make things better for the A & P Show there going forward.

So they’ve come forward with this proposal. It has been through the committee, and there have been submissions to the committee. The Hawke’s Bay A & P Society submitted as the promoter of the bill and they told the committee that having this bill pass would allow them to invest in more productive opportunities. It doesn’t consider the purchase of further land to be beneficial to the objectives of the society. The thing that I love about this is that it was actually supported by Waipatu Marae. It’s really important that that letter came through as part of the process, and it’s really good to understand that it actually has the support of local iwi and that the local iwi believe that this is the right thing to do.

It is technical in nature, but the previous speakers have talked quite extensively about the problem that this bill seeks to address, but just to note that I was fortunate enough in one of my previous roles to be able to head down to the grounds itself. They have a great market which is there in the weekends, selling all range of produce.

I was also fortunate enough to be there for the Horse of the Year show—hey! You’ve never seen horsey people before until you’ve been to a Horse of the Year show. They are a special kind of people. [Interruption] Oh no, hey, I say that with love in my heart as I get daggers looking around the room. But, hey, honestly, until you’ve been to Horse of the Year, you’ve not realised how much horsey people put into their hobby with their big trucks and their setups and their tents and all of this—[Interruption] What’s that? Yes, the plaited—yep, yep; all of that stuff. It’s a sight to behold. But I remember going there a few years back, checking it out at the showgrounds, and actually it was a wonderful experience to be able to go there and see a different side of life. It’s not my world, but I think this world is wide and diverse and varied, and it was great for me to be able to go there and see. Anna Lorck was probably there with her family—I probably didn’t see her at the time.

This is a small piece of legislation which is going to make a big difference for the people that it affects, and for that reason I commend it to the House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

In accordance with the determination of the Business Committee, this bill is set down for committee stage immediately. I declare the House in committee for consideration of the Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society Empowering Bill.

In Committee

Parts 1 and 2, the Schedule, and clauses 1 and 2