GEORGINA BEYER (NZ Labour--Wairarapa): As a member of the Local Government and Environment Committee I had the privilege of being involved in the passage of this bill through the select committee, and attended the submissions that we heard in Napier from all the parties concerned who wanted to submit. I hope, at the end of the day, the people of Hawke's Bay are the winners. I congratulate the sponsor of the bill, Geoff Braybrooke, on the way that he has conducted himself in championing the people of his electorate and the wider region as this bill has progressed. It has brought out a few sore points that have been niggling away at the local authorities and the leaseholders over this vexed issue of Glasgow leases.

We hoped that, as a select committee, we had come up with an innovative---dare I say---solution for Parliament to consider, but without being extraordinarily prescriptive. This is a local bill, and, as we have witnessed, the members from all sides of the House who reside in and represent that area have advocated well as far as the intention was concerned. The intention of the select committee has been carried through, despite some of the disagreements that have occurred in the latter parts of the passage of this bill.

I hope that benefits will be able to be achieved by the civic leadership of the area. As a result of Mr Braybrooke's amendments, which have altered the bill as it was reported back from the select committee, the spread of benefits will be wider, particularly for the environment as well as for the people. Funnily enough, the very northern part of my own electorate of Wairarapa extends into the regional council's area, and I am pleased to know that the coastal area down to about Porangahau, which is part of my electorate, could benefit from the solutions to this issue that we are concluding this evening.

I commend the bill to the House and hope it has support from all sides. I thank the members on the select committee for the work they put into it. As has been mentioned, there was genuine and sincere concern about the issues raised. I believe that as a select committee we represented them well in our deliberations. The bill returned to the House, and there has been some alteration, but, by and large, the intent of the select committee has been achieved.