This is an example of the view of governments on preformance enhancing drugs in sports and why they will ALWAYS be outlawed.
Performance-enhancing drugs are actually an evil. They undermine sport itself by removing from it honesty, ethics, fairness, health, respect, courage, commitment, and solidarity. As a nation we should be proud to take a lead in this area, and make sure that we do all we can to eliminate any thought of a culture ever developing in this country that regards winning by any means as being, in any circumstances, remotely acceptable. It is not. As a previous speaker mentioned, and I agree with the point, at a certain age young men and womenI am not sure of the age at which they do thismake up their minds that they want to be an All Black, a Silver Fern, an athlete, a swimmer, a triathlete, a marathon runner, a cyclist, or whatever it is. At that level we must ensure that we get the point across very, very clearly that it is certainly not sportingin fact, it is the oppositeto take performance-enhancing drugs. Otherwise, our country will have let loose a virus that will have tremendous long-term negative consequences for us. Performance-enhancing drugs, in short, have no redeeming features.
We support the bill, and we hope that, if necessary, the tribunal and others will come back to us if they need additional powers in the future.
Athletic competition relies on a basic premise: one mans best against anothers, one womans best against anothers, or one teams best against anothers. The entire phenomenon of sport rests on that simple idea. When someone cheats, the value of victory becomes worthless. That is a key part of the very culture of this great sporting nation. Although we may push the ruleseven test them to the limitwe are a nation that plays hard but fair. Fair competition is not a moral ideal; it is a basic principle, which is directly tied to the enjoyment of competing and the value of victory. The contest has more value when athletes compete cleanly. When there is a winner in clean sport, it means something. With doping, someone merely crosses the line first.
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