The Governance and Administration Committee has examined the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Exemption for Race Meetings) Amendment Bill. We recommend all amendments unanimously. We have decided not to make a recommendation to the House about whether this bill be passed.

We note that the vote on the first reading of the bill was treated as a conscience issue. We have therefore made recommendations for amendments to improve the bill’s workability, but leave broader consideration of the bill’s merits to the full membership of the House. We do not consider that it is appropriate for us to make a recommendation to the House about the bill passing, given the bill is a conscience issue. We encourage all members of the House to consider the bill, and our amendments, and form their own conclusions about the bill’s passing.

This is a Member’s bill in the name of Ian McKelvie MP. It would amend the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 to make race meetings exempt from the offence in section 235 of using unlicensed premises as a place of resort for the consumption of alcohol. “Place of resort” is not defined in the Act, but the New Zealand Police have issued guidelines on what turns a lawful gathering into a place of resort. These guidelines can be found on the Police website.¹

The bill as introduced would exempt a racing club from this offence if alcohol was being consumed on its premises on the day of a race meeting. The exemption would apply if the club held an on-licence or on-site special licence to sell and supply alcohol in an area within its premises for the duration of the race meeting.

Currently, if an unlicensed racing club’s premises are found to be used as a place of resort for the consumption of alcohol they could be liable to a fine of up to $20,000.

During our consideration of the bill, we heard diverse views from a range of submitters, including racing clubs and advocacy groups, about whether alcohol causes harm at racing events.

As part of our consideration of the bill, we have examined its consistency with principles of legislative quality. We have no issues regarding the legislation’s design to bring to the attention of the House.

Clause 4 would insert new section 235A into the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act. This section would exempt racing clubs from being considered a place of resort.

As introduced, the bill would provide for all racing clubs to be exempt from section 235. Not all racing clubs need or want the exemption. Larger clubs often have the resources and staff to provide hospitality services and do not want to allow attendees to bring their own alcohol to the premises. We recommend amending section 235A to specify that only small clubs would qualify for this exemption.

Our recommended amendment would insert the word “small” into proposed section 235A(1)(a) so that the exemption would only apply to small racing clubs. “Small racing club” is defined in the Racing Industry Act 2020 as a racing club that holds 3 or fewer betting licences in a racing year. We also recommend replacing the term “racing club” with “small racing club” in proposed section 235A(2)(b). That paragraph carries the meaning of “small racing club” as defined in the Racing Industry Act 2020 across to proposed section 235A.

The bill refers to the Racing Act 2003 to define terms it uses. Since the bill was drafted, the Racing Act 2003 has been repealed and replaced by the Racing Industry Act 2020. To reflect this, we recommend updating the name of the Act in proposed section 235A(2).