"\u003C!DOCTYPE html\u003E\u003Chtml xmlns:xlink=\u0022http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\u0022 xmlns:xsi=\u0022http://www.w3.org/2007/XMLSchema-instance\u0022 xmlns:mml=\u0022http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Chead\u003E\n    \u003CMETA http-equiv=\u0022Content-Type\u0022 content=\u0022text/html; charset=utf-16\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cmeta name=\u0022viewport\u0022 content=\u0022width=device-width, initial-scale=1\u0022\u003E\n  \u003C/head\u003E\n  \u003Cbody style=\u0022font-family:sans-serif; font-size:100%;\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022fd8348758ac341e298520f05b29e95ee\u0022\u003EWEDNESDAY, 1 APRIL 2015\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000003\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00223ed9b12b324b45aba81ce5869ef027e9\u0022\u003EWEDNESDAY, 1 APRIL 2015\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000002\u0022\u003EMr Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000004\u0022\u003EPrayers.\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000005\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f7260189b728401991122c5a9fd2da6b\u0022\u003EMotions\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000006\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002223f01fa4f42842e68a51c7c629cb8a46\u0022\u003ENuclear Disarmament\u2014Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Review Conference\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022 data-id=\u0022d19f99f4980546ebbeb8bc1c050bcb1a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000007\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d19f99f4980546ebbeb8bc1c050bcb1a\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF (Labour\u2014Mt Roskill):\u003C/span\u003E I seek the leave of the House to move without notice and without debate a motion relating to the forthcoming Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference, asking the nuclear States to meet their commitments.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000008\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221075e229e3cf421ea915b14e81ba742e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I will just put the leave. Leave is sought. Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? The Hon Phil Goff.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000009\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002216d60d97388748c6b220968c994be260\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF\u003C/span\u003E: I move, That this House urge nuclear weapons States at this year\u2019s Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York in April to fulfil their side of the bargain they struck 45 years ago in signing a treaty to eliminate their nuclear weapons in exchange for other nations not proliferating nuclear weapons, and call on them to now act to honour their unequivocal undertaking to disarm under Article 6 of the treaty.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000010\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000011\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00223ffc06272f2d465d8027168882263419\u0022\u003EPoints of Order\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000012\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022347477ce8b28424d9b7aca7b99e09469\u0022\u003ECriminal Procedure (Removing Paedophile Name Suppression) Amendment Bill\u2014Leave to Introduce\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022 data-id=\u0022530b0cc5f18d401695d500643530e388\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000013\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022530b0cc5f18d401695d500643530e388\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek leave for a bill, the Criminal Procedure (Removing Paedophile Name Suppression) Amendment Bill, to be introduced and debated on the next members\u2019 day.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u00221f270075a62a4531bf017d0f5ce3218e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000014\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221f270075a62a4531bf017d0f5ce3218e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that course of action. Is there any objection? There is. There is objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000015\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002207177761d9524fa9a3c4daa1a7e354c0\u0022\u003EOral Questions \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000016\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022687cd194154f47759ea768a2c08f154e\u0022\u003EQuestions to Ministers\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000017\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002208ad5d17419246cab58230715f81ad79\u0022\u003ERoading, Northland\u2014Bridges Upgrade\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022 data-id=\u002251b9f35a13594bc49e234e29321c70dd\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000018\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E1. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002251b9f35a13594bc49e234e29321c70dd\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader\u2014NZ First)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements regarding the Northland by-election?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u0022ba5a09db03d3473084fb680b90c9fe2c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000019\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ba5a09db03d3473084fb680b90c9fe2c\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E Yes, in the context they were given.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000020\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f14fcb311e1148c19dbc70133f553910\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Does he stand by his statement regarding the 10 one-lane bridges that \u201Cthese bridges need upgrading and they will be.\u201D; if so, how does he explain a massive variation in costings of between $32 million and $69 million?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000021\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022db304edae63c4587b3860ba934259030\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: In answer to the first part of the question, yes; in answer to the second part of the question, not all the work has been done to be absolutely sure of what the final costs will be. That is standard whenever we do procurement around new infrastructure like roading.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224a639f1910934e4db6a073ba4abac624\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Whose idea was it to double lane the 10 bridges, and on what date was he informed that the announcement would be made?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000023\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222a489e469b2e43219cc5c130324f523b\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: In answer to the first part of the question, Cabinet. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000024\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221897e1c6c39d459387dcee87e2ffd0de\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Well, how does he square that answer with the Northland National Party candidate\u2019s statement that it was his idea? Who is not telling the truth here? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000025\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227cce41c204814ead8e5a132d3492d38d\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The question has been asked. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221b30ec7a21544c1e8b3b787b8108430b\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: The member did not ask me where the idea originated from.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000027\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f500c689879842e08463456bb17fc82b\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I know that you study the Hansard of questions and answers and I know that you are fully aware that these questions were asked on 10 March and on 17 March, and that the Ministers and Cabinet, particularly the Minister of Transport, have had all that time to get these answers right and to be able to answer them truthfully in the House. I ask that you require them to do that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000028\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f968252a5e247978de7ef73218274d0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! I am not sure that is a point of order, but if the member thinks that an answer has been given in this House that is incorrect, there is an appropriate way to deal with that, and it is not via a point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000029\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220fc65e1b818045a199f0697dc9320d26\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. But surely it would be far cheaper for the taxpayer if we do not go through\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000030\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022deac070331e04ffea7393b649fcd8570\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The member will resume his seat. That is certainly not a clarification and it is not a point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000031\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002238b461fb8b164a84aadb374f57e321bc\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Is he in favour of the \u201CDarby and Joan\u201D Bridge being double-laned, considering that it would require cutting down two landmark, protected native kauri trees, and that very low numbers of vehicles actually use the bridge\u2014often just to see those kauri trees?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000032\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a20805ac87364e03810f4efef498dd0d\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I am advised that the member is incorrect in the assumptions he made in his question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000033\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c9d1ac263ee64360bbfc50d196ba8b23\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. What has happened here is that the Prime Minister has got up and challenged the very veracity of the question, which simply was that it is a landmark bridge\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000034\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225a806b53e6d3416e85e33ec0f0d866a5\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! This is a point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000035\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c9b4abeaf63745b891d93802c73a3979\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and it got an environmental award because it harmonises with the two kauri trees, and he says I am incorrect with my assumptions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000036\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002222f373b8234b4c7eb44dcf2f7e89052e\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a53cc75a471341c4a4cc2656bf5a8297\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, I do not need assistance from the member. The member asked a question. The Prime Minister disputed the facts that are in that question. That is the right of the Prime Minister. The way forward is supplementary questions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000038\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b6c0a731d47c4680a36ba18a37804f98\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order, Mr Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000039\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f2b79892b93f41c3b5f21493ece7fa0e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, I have ruled on this matter. I am not putting up with a repetition of yesterday where my points\u2014[Interruption] Would the member sit down. [Interruption] Order! I am very tempted to be asking the member to leave. The member can continue asking his supplementary questions if he has some left, but I have ruled that the question that was asked has been addressed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000040\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bad2257522ea46b89c678837925ad5b7\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: When I said that somebody was in favour of the \u201CDarby and Joan\u201D Bridge being double-laned and that it would end the landmark, historical, and environmental award given to this bridge because of the kauri trees that have to be cut down, which one of those assumptions was wrong?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000041\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022786c9903d58d495da8e778f9e8ae9ce5\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: That was not the question the member asked me.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000042\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022778b944604394ee4b0cef932e5022c1b\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I have studied the Westminster system all around the world, and I have never seen\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000043\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002200c1ed23169f4c76881c2053acd647ce\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] Order! A point of order has been called. I will listen to it and I expect to listen to it in silence. Would the member quickly get to his point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000044\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229ce85956487e42fda6942f251d56fb0b\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: My point of order is that I am asking the Prime Minister to outline what assumptions he says we have got wrong in our questions on this matter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000045\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022764a870336c7408e93bfd273bc3bc114\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I think the problem here is that had Mr Peters been able to table a full design specification for the renewed \u201CDarby and Joan\u201D Bridge, he might be able to make the assertions he has, but he cannot and he does not need to make these assertions until that is the case.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000046\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225b223786a3e7423bb80b4f6cae0d7104\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am not sure that helps us forward in this case. The Rt Hon Winston Peters has now been\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000047\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8eb8e3bd0904703a8b850d8debf1b55\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000048\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dcd1dd0d954847a3ab5d7226df677c21\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, I am on my feet. He has repeated now a question that is not the question he asked and that is the difficulty. The question was a very long-winded question. The Prime Minister has addressed that question\u2014I accept not to the member\u2019s satisfaction. [Interruption] Order! The way forward is further supplementary questions. It is not to then question the answer that has been given.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000049\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d5be8286d12048499f59a5e2b7f91f5f\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I asked this question No. 4 in one way and the answer was that I got the assumptions wrong. I asked the question in a different way\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000050\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222de56d01dcee42f1bff153bfc1d5a5f4\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Again, I have dealt with this. Sit down. The member asked the question. The Prime Minister addressed the question\u2014I have said, to my satisfaction; I accept it is not to the member\u2019s satisfaction. The way forward is further supplementary questions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000051\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e4a0b30e2d1246cd8d18a416e54e75ab\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Is he in favour of the \u201CDarby and Joan\u201D Bridge being double-laned, considering that it would require cutting down two landmark, protected native kauri trees, and that very low numbers of vehicles actually use the bridge\u2014often just to see those trees?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000052\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223f6b95927e68428f970d330b2dc9d46f\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: In answer to the first part of the question, yes. In answer to the second part of the question, the member is wrong. The trees will not be cut down.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000053\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00225d9bac78c4094d978d2170ed2ab0160a\u0022\u003EEconomy\u2014Impact on Families\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022 data-id=\u0022dc66bdb184014103bc5b48f5cc14c076\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000054\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E2. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dc66bdb184014103bc5b48f5cc14c076\u0022\u003EALASTAIR SCOTT (National\u2014Wairarapa)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received showing how the performance of the New Zealand economy is translating into benefits for New Zealand families?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022 data-id=\u00228d73a523c94b4ce8be15ac21c9889848\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000055\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228d73a523c94b4ce8be15ac21c9889848\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance):\u003C/span\u003E Yesterday ANZ released its economic outlook report for March. It indicated that the momentum of last year\u2019s economic growth is likely to continue into this year, and it expects 3 percent growth for this year. It points out that there are risks to the New Zealand economy related to low energy and low commodity prices, but it expects job growth, wage growth, and continued low interest rates, which for households means job security, moderate wage increases, and a greater ability to repay debt rather than pay higher interest rates. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000056\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225b9cd1d14c2f4de886fbc240eb0bc338\u0022\u003EAlastair Scott\u003C/span\u003E: What measures come into effect today that will directly benefit New Zealand families?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000057\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c0f5bb88fe95471d87f370ca38de430b\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: The prospect of sustainable economic growth means that the Government is able to act to support families. So from 1 April paid parental leave will increase by 2 weeks to 16 weeks, and by another 2 weeks on 1 April next year. The parental tax credit will rise from $150 a week to $220, and the entitlement will increase from 8 to 10 weeks. Average ACC work levies will fall to 90 cents from 95 cents. The HomeStart scheme starts on 1 April, which will enable around 90,000 New Zealanders to be assisted to buy their first homes. New Zealand superannuation will increase by another 2 percent, meaning that it has increased by 31 percent since April 2008, more than double the inflation rate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000058\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e698cdbd20b3463586b81758d4830764\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: In light of the primary question, when considering how the performance of the New Zealand economy is translating into benefits for New Zealand families, has he considered the household labour force survey, which shows growing unemployment in every region of New Zealand since his Government came to power?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b8ac2ccf100e484e8ae3d0b36987c152\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: On \u201CPlanet Labour\u201D there was no global financial crisis, but in New Zealand there was. So, just to remind the member: unemployment went up pretty sharply in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and it has been dropping fairly consistently since. It is still too high, although I might notice that it is significantly lower than Australia\u2019s, where unemployment is rising, which accounts for the fact that many New Zealanders are voting with their feet and staying home and coming home because they have a good prospect of getting a job here.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000060\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227e22bb95-9afb-449c-bcd2-de9fd4f2277c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ad3ee7abeeb74f69a0cb1774a034f0c3\u0022\u003EDavid Seymour\u003C/span\u003E: How is it that the Government can afford to hand out so much money and index so many benefits on 1 April, and yet does nothing to index tax thresholds to inflation for the benefit of the people paying for it all?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000061\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a30d93d7ef6c4fd78812a55b75fba2b5\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: That is a fair question, and, as I think was indicated by my colleague the Minister for Economic Development last week, that is something that will be discussed in the context of future options for moderate tax reductions for New Zealanders. But I might say that at the moment inflation is around zero and that is enforcing a discipline on the Government because we are not collecting more tax because of fiscal drag, which is a very unusual if not unique set of circumstances. But this Government is a responsible manager of the Government\u2019s finances, and we will try to deal with that pressure.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000062\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227e22bb95-9afb-449c-bcd2-de9fd4f2277c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229a4d03689cc24df281eaa150538e53eb\u0022\u003EDavid Seymour\u003C/span\u003E: In light of the Minister\u2019s reference to a unique set of circumstances where fiscal drag is low, is this not the perfect time to make the switch and index tax brackets to inflation?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000063\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e02eb33ca8d94840bad5df4cdc1494df\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: No, it is not the perfect time, but it is the perfect time to start such a discussion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000064\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002244a72338664340538cdb04bf0265ff40\u0022\u003EAlastair Scott\u003C/span\u003E: How is the Government able to deliver to households the benefits of sustained growth in the economy?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000065\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c605bdca3754403c83dee28a72a94e18\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: We can deliver some benefits of sustained growth, but I must say that for most households it is their workplace that is delivering those benefits, such as more job security in a growing economy; moderate wage increases year on year, which over time will lift our average wage by $5,000 to $6,000 over the next 4 years; and, of course, the general economy, in which interest rates are lower than they might otherwise have been, and that gives households more opportunity to pay off debt. The Government can contribute, of course, through its fiscal policy, where we believe that the measures such as those that are coming in on 1 April are moderate but supportive of families, and that is some of the benefit that they get from a well-managed economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000066\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221c5ad1acb6fb494a98bb5b9fca7bcaa9\u0022\u003EAlastair Scott\u003C/span\u003E: What did the ANZ report say about risks to the economy?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000067\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a710ad4d0c294a3b8428ae4c499ca1df\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: I think it pointed out some of the risks that have been discussed in the House before. Part of that is very important, and it is around the outlook for our trading partners. So with China and Australia, both economies have some question marks as to their rates of growth. There are also question marks over the current low commodity prices, particularly in the dairy industry, and the extent to which they stay low or bounce back to what we would regard as a long-run acceptable and normal price level. Fortunately, the New Zealand economy is resilient. It has proven it can deal with headwinds, as it has done over the last 4 or 5 years quite successfully, and we have every confidence that even if some of these risks eventuate, we will be able to handle them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000068\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002212ecc4e629644fa1983caa8669d4b6c6\u0022\u003EAccident Compensation Corporation\u2014Levies and Impact on Government Financial Position\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022 data-id=\u00228f6f9d8f52da4c4e963c1f451c509d1d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000069\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E3. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228f6f9d8f52da4c4e963c1f451c509d1d\u0022\u003EANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that \u201Cfalling off a high horse in Northland can force ACC levies up\u201D; if so, is that why the Government has set work and earners levies above the levels recommended by ACC?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u002203273918386b484abd4bbee33a6ee82c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000070\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002203273918386b484abd4bbee33a6ee82c\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E I say to the junior leader of the Opposition\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000071\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226d714ed2d6294773927be6238ea733cd\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000072\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225486ae445e264b699ca7c92f404f68e0\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014yes and no.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000073\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224932aa64f8cc451498ce3d97a9a2e2ed\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] Order! It is that sort of start to the answer that does not help the order of this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000074\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d2fe69e0402640c2a38446e057b96a0a\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Is his concern about horses in Northland really about high horses, or well-run thoroughbreds? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000075\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e959bf61a14541acb6369ad1cb3d0fd4\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: All I know is that in 2014, like in 2011 and 2008, we went off to the races and we won big time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000076\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f7d70de59bb14234a806e62d3f4e9093\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Given that ACC itself has recommended against the $350 million overcharge, why is National forcing Kiwi businesses and workers to pay excess ACC levies that even ACC says it does not want or need?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000077\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002224c0ba1fb9124e7bae01841a8a0d05da\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I would remind the member, firstly, that the ACC board often makes a range of recommendations. In 2010-11 the Government actually increased ACC levies by $1.137 billion less than what was recommended by ACC. Today, actually, I read an interesting quote that said the following: \u201CThe Employers\u2019 levy remains the same at an average of 90 cents per $100 of payroll. Although ACC recommended a reduced levy rate of 85 cents, the government decided there was a need to give employers more stability in levy rates from year to year, as well as building up reserves.\u201D That was from Lianne Dalziel, Labour\u2019s ACC Minister in 2002-03.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000078\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220c3d3bb8788d42aa990fc864fc2e08c4\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Moving on 13 years to this year, is it in the public interest, particularly the interests of levy payers, for ACC to take more in levies than it needs and more than it wants when its work and earners accounts are already overflowing; if so, how?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000079\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002273fd5e52dec14d59b62dc01c9ba1422b\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I take it from the member that he is thinking that we should do as he says, not as Labour has done. That seems to be the subtext of his question. I go back to the point I made earlier. Over time the ACC board has made a series of recommendations. The Government adopts what it thinks is right. It is on track to do that. As you know, from 1 April\u2014today\u2014there have been further cuts. There will be more on 1 July, I think from memory. It is on track for about $1.5 billion worth of cuts in the last 12 to 18 months alone.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000080\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002285fb924a51254ad990c2023e5bd13e41\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Given his failure to end his ACC rip-off this year, will he now commit to cutting next year\u2019s ACC levies by at least $350 million in the coming Budget; if not, why on earth not?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000081\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ae36690a6f924f39b472cdfebaa53ee9\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: What the Government will do is get a further set of recommendations, as is required by law, from the ACC board and consider those in context. But I would make a couple of points, and that is that if one looks at ACC and the factors that drive its levy recommendations, one sees that there are a number of moving factors in there, including the discount rate. So the member just better be a little bit careful what he wishes for, because the ACC board may well come out with a recommendation he does not like.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000082\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221ebfe908d0834aeeb23e4799a3c15923\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Why did he fail to tell New Zealanders that most of his ACC reductions were just reversing his Government\u2019s earlier levy hikes, put in place because of Nick Smith\u2019s creative and fake crisis as the smokescreen for privatisation? Why does he not reverse those? Tell the truth.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000083\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dd706e8f00c24776943eea5ad44be053\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221de21dab34a644e6a414bc7e6599b239\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: It is true that this Government put up ACC levies when we first came into office. [Interruption] Interestingly enough, the member says \u201Cunnecessarily\u201D. The recommendation from the board, which, by the way, he wants us to adopt this year, was to put them up by $1.3 billion, and the reason the board wanted them to go up by so much was that Labour left ACC unfunded and broke. What a disgrace from the Labour Opposition. What a disgrace.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000085\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022d3fba62e5561433c94469a2484bb52fa\u0022\u003EHousing Market\u2014Subsidies and Median House Prices\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022eb49ee66-7ca7-472d-a4a1-b099fd594dfa\u0022 data-id=\u00229d38aba7c26a4cfe8b39bb9cfef445ea\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000086\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eb49ee66-7ca7-472d-a4a1-b099fd594dfa\u0022\u003E4. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229d38aba7c26a4cfe8b39bb9cfef445ea\u0022\u003EDr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader\u2014Green)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Building and Housing: Does he agree with the Reserve Bank Governor\u2019s advice in relation to proposed changes to the Welcome Home Loan Scheme and KiwiSaver Subsidies that \u201Cover the longer term, subsidies have the potential to add to existing house price pressure in what is a highly overvalued market\u201D; if not, why not?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022 data-id=\u0022c294b095ba46463590c23080ae489559\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c294b095ba46463590c23080ae489559\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing):\u003C/span\u003E The member overlooks two important facts in the advice from the Reserve Bank Governor. The first is that it was dated 18 June and was directed at an earlier version of the HomeStart package in which it was proposed to increase grants for buying existing homes by 50 percent. The final HomeStart package agreed by Cabinet on 18 August took this advice into account and left the grants for existing homes as is. The second fact is that the member does not include the Reserve Bank Governor\u2019s complete advice, in which he said: \u201CThe targeting of a higher subsidy for new homes would be expected to have a positive effect on new housing supply.\u201D Consistent with this advice, the final package doubled only the subsidies for new housing supply.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eb49ee66-7ca7-472d-a4a1-b099fd594dfa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b3111169d3ea4779a2adb81d4343a26a\u0022\u003EDr Russel Norman\u003C/span\u003E: With regard to new housing supply, does he agree with the Reserve Bank Governor that increasing these subsidies will result in \u201Chigher margins for developers and builders\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000089\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002282c16f9c445e461fa8d0eaf1ddf82dc3\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Again, the member is being cute with his quotation. He forgot the word \u201Cmight\u201D\u2014forgot the word \u201Cmight\u201D. Actually, it is our view that by providing a grant to the homeowner, we can have confidence that they will shop around and get themselves the very best deal. We do not agree with those members\u2019 policy, and that is that they do not trust homeowners and they want the State to build the houses they think homeowners want.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000090\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eb49ee66-7ca7-472d-a4a1-b099fd594dfa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b132bdc6f03f471399c3853d64c66f6a\u0022\u003EDr Russel Norman\u003C/span\u003E: By how much have median house prices risen in Auckland since his Government took office?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000091\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227446bc7ee7084160b7f71ff83666c876\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: There is new data on house prices out today. It shows that in the course of the 6 years of this Government house prices in Auckland have gone up by an average of 5 percent per year. It is interesting to compare that with what house prices went up by on average under the previous Government, where the average was 10 percent per year, or double\u2014that is, house prices were going up an average of double during the previous Government\u2019s 9 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000092\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eb49ee66-7ca7-472d-a4a1-b099fd594dfa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226325f55cf5c54802a27e3be769476802\u0022\u003EDr Russel Norman\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister aware that the median house price in Auckland has gone up under his Government by more than $250,000, and does he think that is sustainable?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000093\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225d597968eee047be8c9f39b1c919801c\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: No, I do not think it is sustainable. That is why this Government has passed more legislation in respect of housing than any Government in the last 20 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000094\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3b3c2d1c21341c88680d6fe3cf8a543\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: Tinkering and photo ops.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000095\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a9523350d6e04f4ab1e23281771d53e2\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: The member says that it is tinkering. I would suggest that the special housing areas legislation\u2014which has opened up land for 34,000 houses; more land has been opened up in Auckland in the last 12 months than in the last 10 years\u2014is the sort of policy that is required. The biggest cost increase in Auckland has been in the price of the section, and it is actually the sort of policy that is advocated around a tight metropolitan urban limit, which the Green Party supported, that is at the core of Auckland\u2019s house prices.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000096\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eb49ee66-7ca7-472d-a4a1-b099fd594dfa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ba0bdc60a52940a3b1d06e6c7acffa0e\u0022\u003EDr Russel Norman\u003C/span\u003E: In light of the fact that this Government has now been in office for more than 6 years, what responsibility does he take for the fact that median house prices in Auckland have increased by more than a quarter of a million dollars, and how on earth are people supposed to afford those kinds of house price increases?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000097\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225664f87a15af4c1db89e3d5ee1882170\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: The first point I would make is that when we came to Government New Zealand was building 1,000 houses per month. The latest figures, which came out yesterday, show that we are building 2,000 houses per month, and an increased supply is at the core. I had also missed this: New Zealand is a much more popular country to live in. We do not have 50,000 people a year leaving to Australia. As a consequence, there is more demand. We on this side of the House welcome that, but we also accept the challenge that we have to build a lot more houses, given that we are now a much more popular country to live in.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000098\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eb49ee66-7ca7-472d-a4a1-b099fd594dfa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220d018fa78a1240fcbc2313b29d5e7942\u0022\u003EDr Russel Norman\u003C/span\u003E: Does he think that giving $10,000 or $20,000 subsidies to a couple to buy their first home outweighs the $250,000 increase in the price of housing in Auckland, and is it not only a drop in the bucket compared with that price increase?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000099\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222cb40d14bab8477695e792932f636bbb\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: In 2007 the previous Government introduced the subsidies for people to buy a house\u2014at that point $10,000. In that year house price increases were faster than they are now. The Green Party is on record in 2007 saying that grants for first home owners were a great thing. It seems the consistency of the Green Party is that when the previous Government provides a grant for first home owners it is a great idea, but somehow when we do that it is not a good idea. That does not sound very principled to me. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000100\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eb49ee66-7ca7-472d-a4a1-b099fd594dfa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221ac8252acf0d482d9be7d978bc22831d\u0022\u003EDr Russel Norman\u003C/span\u003E: In light of the $250,000 increase in the median price of houses in Auckland under this Government, will he reconsider his policies of taking no action to restrict demand from investment buyers through a capital gains tax or from offshore demand through non-resident foreign buyers?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000101\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022820b963633bb4de1ab428cdd4482ad23\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: The evidence is very clear, particularly in the Productivity Commission\u2019s comprehensive report, that the biggest contributor to increased house prices is sections in Auckland. They have gone from $100,000 each in 2000 to $350,000. The key driver of that has been the metropolitan urban limit. That is why this Government has made the No. 1 priority breaking that metropolitan urban limit, which we have done with our special housing areas. I wish the member would simply accept that link between dumb planning policies and high house prices. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000102\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022b0686b3f671c48999da73947f8fdaa09\u0022\u003EResource Management Act Reforms\u2014Auckland Housing Market\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022 data-id=\u002274301f9b192041aa9949844b7b7815ef\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000103\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E5. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002274301f9b192041aa9949844b7b7815ef\u0022\u003EPHIL TWYFORD (Labour\u2014Te Atat\u016B)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for the Environment: Is he, like the Prime Minister, relaxed about the effect of dropping major RMA reforms on new housing supply, and does he agree with the Prime Minister that there are \u201Cmixed views\u201D about how much his reforms would have addressed Auckland\u2019s housing shortage?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022 data-id=\u00228dcbfb7bdd2c45c9bfe9f4be89aa936c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000104\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228dcbfb7bdd2c45c9bfe9f4be89aa936c\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment):\u003C/span\u003E I have checked, and the Prime Minister\u2019s comments were specifically in respect of the changes to sections 6 and 7, of which there are mixed views. The Prime Minister equally made the point: \u201Cthe procedural changes are very important.\u201D For instance, the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act, which bypassed the more clumsy procedural parts of the Resource Management Act, has freed up land supply for 43,000 homes in Auckland. This law expires in September next year, and our Resource Management Act reforms need to ensure ongoing land supply and residential development.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000105\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224820927db43b45ad8f81829fa1e02df4\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: When the Prime Minister said yesterday that there are mixed views about how his Resource Management Act reforms would have addressed the Auckland housing shortage, was this because Nick Smith says that the Resource Management Act is to blame for the rising cost of housing and hardly anyone else agrees?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000106\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220c81e52eab9f45fdb5451297422fe942\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Every member of this House knows that the Resource Management Act is the primary law that governs the creation of sections. The price of sections in Auckland has gone from $100,000 in 2000 to an average of $375,000 today. If we are serious about improving house prices, we have to focus on section prices, and the Resource Management Act is critical to resolving that issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000107\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221c0f77026a7b46c8a2692d309ca0124a\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: Which quote best describes his Resource Management Act announcement in January: \u201CAn attempt to manipulate public sentiment with unsubstantiated claims, rhetoric, and at times misleading analysis.\u201D, that was the Listener; \u201C[jumbled] together anecdote and slogans, common sense, and windy abstractions.\u201D, that was the Dominion Post; or \u201CA blunderbuss attempt to obliterate the RMA.\u201D, that was Radio New Zealand?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000108\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ec6e2c2fc9394c93836bb38c94505baa\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I could cite hundreds of sources that received this Government\u2019s Resource Management Act reforms very positively, and I actually even note\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000109\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e0292d0e14cb479b9b66adbd02e42387\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: Name one!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000110\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f0c30fa11dd4b149640ea266ce35e1e\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014oh, name one\u2014that Labour\u2019s environment spokesperson says that Resource Management Act changes are important. So even Labour accepts that if we are serious about addressing housing affordability, Resource Management Act reform is an important part of the package.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000111\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227638a65bf470458eaf5768170a3d2038\u0022\u003EJoanne Hayes\u003C/span\u003E: Have any changes been made to the Resource Management Act that have negatively impacted on land supply and housing affordability in Auckland; if so, when were those changes made?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000112\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cdfe8f6d42a04a2392bf79e525fb8870\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: At the heart of the Auckland housing issue is land supply and the rigid boundary imposed by the former Auckland Regional Council\u2019s metropolitan urban limit. That has seen section prices in Auckland go up by 300 percent. District and city councils had to have regard only for the metropolitan limit under the original Resource Management Act, but changes made in 2004 meant that regional councils\u2019 plans trumped local council rules. This change turned the metropolitan urban limit into a straitjacket, saw section availability drop dramatically, and saw undeveloped land prices inside the metropolitan urban limit increase, in some cases by a hundredfold.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000113\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022624fe9e3df604087be130d5282f31325\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: Does he agree with John Armstrong in the New Zealand Herald that he was using the Resource Management Act as a smokescreen; if so, was he using housing to disguise his weakening of the Resource Management Act\u2019s environmental principles or was he using the Resource Management Act to distract from his failure to fix the housing crisis?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000114\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ba791a9991144abab20d543dfa9ada59\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: The Productivity Commission produced a comprehensive report on housing affordability. It said that at the core of what this Parliament must address, if it is serious about making housing more affordable, is those planning rules within the Resource Management Act. I simply say to the member opposite that sections can be developed only through the Resource Management Act. Section prices are at the core of this issue, and, if we are serious about addressing that, reform of the Resource Management Act is critical.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000115\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b51665fb0dcb433f83f32eb8374d8028\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: Will he release the detail of his housing-related Resource Management Act changes so that parties on this side of the House can assess them, given Andrew Little\u2019s commitment that we will look at supporting them if they stack up?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000116\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a6f85ca5154d43849bfc36e221db1752\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: All in good time. The Government is going to consult with its support parties\u2014the M\u0101ori Party, the ACT Party, and United Future. When we have a bill in good shape we will introduce it to the House, and we would welcome the support of members opposite. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000117\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002265d6f7e7d2d2484990f0254299bd2c7d\u0022\u003ESuperannuation\u20142015 Annual General Adjustment\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022 data-id=\u0022826d06346a7d490186e74a940294388d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000118\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E6. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022826d06346a7d490186e74a940294388d\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER (National\u2014Bay of Plenty)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Social Development: What is the Government doing to support people receiving superannuation in retirement?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022 data-id=\u0022474cb1ee3e8f426096782580b616c8f7\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000119\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022474cb1ee3e8f426096782580b616c8f7\u0022\u003EHon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Social Development):\u003C/span\u003E Today superannuation and veterans pension payments have increased by 2.07 percent as a result of the annual general adjustment. This increase will see married superannuitants receiving an extra $11.68 each week, while those living alone will receive an extra $7.59. This Government has committed to keeping the married couples superannuation rate to at least 66 percent of the average wage, and this increase is the result of rising wages in a growing economy. Since 2008 superannuation and veterans pension payments have increased by 31 percent, double the rate of inflation, allowing superannuitants to enjoy a better standard of living in their retirement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000120\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002278c2e647894e46f49dd184cc8d31ea77\u0022\u003ETodd Muller\u003C/span\u003E: What impact does the annual general adjustment have on beneficiaries?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000121\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002296cff643a8974a388697d8d3f0fb381d\u0022\u003EHon ANNE TOLLEY\u003C/span\u003E: In 2011 this Government passed legislation to increase benefits annually in line with inflation. As a result, benefit payments to around 440,000 New Zealanders will also increase today by 0.51 percent. The thresholds for the community services card have also increased. This increase benefits thousands of New Zealanders receiving a range of assistance through Work and Income and StudyLink, and it ensures that benefits keep pace with increased living costs.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000122\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00224e394a425ddb4af5994c22741d18e4c2\u0022\u003ERegional Economies\u2014Northland\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022 data-id=\u00224445d01f198f43fe8889bec9ca177808\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000123\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E7. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224445d01f198f43fe8889bec9ca177808\u0022\u003EDr DAVID CLARK (Labour\u2014Dunedin North)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Economic Development: Does he agree with the Prime Minister when he says of the people of Northland: \u201CThey want more. They want to go faster\u201D; if so, does he believe that this view on the economy is unique to the people of Northland?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022 data-id=\u002257d1b7348987470dab2334a86d630766\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000124\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002257d1b7348987470dab2334a86d630766\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development):\u003C/span\u003E This question is nearly identical to the member\u2019s question No. 8 in the House yesterday. I have checked my Hansard and I am very happy with the answer yesterday, which applies today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000125\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022212e162231b04cc2a5cc8cdfa620907c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: It would help if you would re-answer the question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000126\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268e739f967f24008a9bdd0ed74711eab\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: Repeat the answer? Well, what I said yesterday was that I do agree with the Prime Minister. In fact I told Q\u002BA on the weekend that there is an impatience in Northland to do more and, frankly, I share that impatience. Although we have had some positive economic growth and employment growth in the Northland region in recent times, we recognise there is more to be done. That is why we are fast tracking critical infrastructure like regional roading projects, the roads of national significance, ultra-fast broadband, and Rural Broadband. That is why we are working with other parties to reform the Resource Management Act in order to cut red tape and encourage investment in the region.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000127\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227a4132a6867a4e52b74af019510b02c5\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: Is the issue of lack of work unique to Northland, given that the household labour force survey shows that the number of people looking for work in every single region of New Zealand is higher than when the Government took office in 2008?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aacc1ebd9180494092e4629bfdd6b188\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: There are a couple of points here. One is that, again\u2014as the member earlier this afternoon tried to ignore\u2014there has been a thing called the global financial crisis, and in fact all over the\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000129\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a58db55231084101ae2696bb66fdb2fc\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: It finished quite a few years ago, Steven.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002260203785b91a46339dfaf5839268fa13\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: Well, actually, it has not finished. It has not in Spain, it has not in Greece, it has not in Europe, it has not in Australia, it has not in the UK, it has not in the US, and it has not in Canada. I appreciate that the member wants to ignore it in the context of New Zealand, but New Zealand has one of the lower unemployment rates in the OECD, New Zealand employment is recovering well, and the New Zealand economy is now one of the fastest growing in the developed world.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000131\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222f4a47c9fab9476db42bb60424888144\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: Is the issue of squeezed income unique to Northland, given that the New Zealand Income Survey shows that real median household incomes have decreased in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke\u2019s Bay, Manawat\u016B, Wanganui, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, and the West Coast since his Government came to office?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000132\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e021494a38fe4f2d99a8aa30cfda59d2\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: I would have to go back and check the member\u2019s numbers, but actually, again, the global financial crisis happened in this country. The good news is that when we arrived in office, unfortunately the previous Government had inflation growing faster than incomes. Now we have incomes growing faster than inflation, and I know which New Zealanders prefer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000133\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226db85943fa944e53a3f3b20d5647bda3\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: Is the issue of poorly maintained roads unique to Northland, given New Zealand Transport Agency funding has decreased over the past 6 years, not only in Northland but also in Gisborne, Hawke\u2019s Bay, Taranaki, Manawat\u016B, Wanganui, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, and on the West Coast?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000134\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221281d5c227d54c8eb860f86ac0dfc764\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: This is why the House has some difficulty, I am sure, believing the member because in that question he is completely wrong, as he is in others.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000135\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f63c4c5266a4c159df9cff71e2f5dd7\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the data that supports the assertions in my question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000136\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022321c949268754316b27baa90434612f0\u0022\u003EHon Steven Joyce\u003C/span\u003E: What is it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dd685bacf884434faf9835c444019e6c\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: It is off the New Zealand Transport Agency website, provided by the Parliamentary Library.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000138\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c7c2790afe3245349073d33852802d9c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! If it is off the website it is available to all members. Does the Minister wish to complete an answer? Supplementary question, Dr David Clark.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000139\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022af0782d8097b4ed8b96247ecfe3c5c0f\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: Does he intend to do as much to confront the issues of lack of work, squeezed incomes, underfunding of local roads, and falling home affordability in other regions of New Zealand as he has done in Northland in the past 6 years, and does he expect similar results?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000140\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002273a32ad9552c4d4388455fb8e5f64e35\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: Again, I am sorry but the member is incorrect. He talks about falling home affordability, and that is obviously a challenge in Auckland, but, actually, in regional New Zealand that is not so much of a challenge. I know that the member takes a very broad-brush approach. There are unique problems in different regions, and Northland has some more intractable problems that have been difficult for politicians on both sides of the House for decades. We will continue to work on them, and will continue to apply the appropriate policy mixes to each region of the country. New Zealand as a whole will continue to grow strongly over the next few years, and that is predicted by the Reserve Bank and Treasury. We will continue to work on that growth.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ce0bbc9a9d9742429d1647c8106d5889\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table census data showing that homeownership has\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000142\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b819f258d7b948afb2d999960cba15c6\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The member will resume his seat. Again, census data is freely available\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000143\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225bbd9f26-fdb0-4b85-a836-0fc46e1bba3c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002252572d5991254d6e95aa32af3cbd6783\u0022\u003EDr David Clark\u003C/span\u003E: It has been compiled by the Parliamentary Library for the purpose of illustrating the point over that time period for the Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000144\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228ba2fbe618054808b645d34643b6b528\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! On the basis that it is now information from the Parliamentary Library I will put the leave. Leave is sought to table that particular table prepared by the Parliamentary Library.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000145\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022745cb8d25d4a4c998fb98e6fe9d64960\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave of the House\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000146\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ee1fe8c7706d4a62b7c687b74e6a90b2\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! I just need to put this leave first. Leave is sought to table the information asked for by Dr David Clark. Is there any objection to that being tabled? There is not. It can be tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000147\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000148\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f25d48fe4e214830b79647cda2b71ea9\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave of the House to table the AMP housing affordability survey issued yesterday, showing that housing affordability has improved in every single region\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000149\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a4bd58d6426f4c6b922a9ad7983359c6\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The document has been described. Is it a document that has been distributed to all MPs?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000150\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cade6f4e4ae64c2b902b01547e044ba9\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: No.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000151\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b1ec013b183d454481fee37e8de45253\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is it publicly available on the website?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000152\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226ff0c12bb50c49e4a5128ad54f4430a0\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000153\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a5cb8840f79e4e6f952b121511470631\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: It is; then I will not put the leave.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000154\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022cf3bf99c65f34de487cebda3465d9717\u0022\u003EIncome Gap, Parity with Australia\u2014Minimum Wage\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022 data-id=\u002254cfe3574f6c4a7b8df9ff0f06c8290b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000155\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003E8. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002254cfe3574f6c4a7b8df9ff0f06c8290b\u0022\u003EDENISE ROCHE (Green)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What is the size of the gap between the New Zealand minimum wage hourly rate and the Australian national minimum wage hourly rate?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022 data-id=\u002270dfa09c7bfc4952b7aba25831ec8e7e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000156\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002270dfa09c7bfc4952b7aba25831ec8e7e\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety):\u003C/span\u003E I am pleased to advise that today the gap between the two countries has closed, thanks to the increase in the minimum wage, which will put $1,000 a year in the pockets of minimum-wage earners. An absolute measure of the gap between Australia and New Zealand is a little difficult, due to changes in the exchange rate and the fact that Australia has minimum rates for youth and the disabled. But if we take the adult minimum wage of both countries today, the gap is about $2.50. That compares with $4.16 in April 2008, after the last Labour-Green Government\u2019s minimum-wage increase.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000157\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dc4fe5b9e073483a83a4a55e78502565\u0022\u003EDenise Roche\u003C/span\u003E: Has his Government dropped its 2008 goal to achieve pay parity with Australia; if not, why has the average weekly earnings gap increased by $45.38 under National?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000158\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226a2cdb15ee394e519b9872a461a49dad\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE\u003C/span\u003E: I would need to check the member\u2019s data, because they are not the same as mine. The gap in both the adult minimum wage and the average and median wages is closing, as we committed to. The member does not need to take my word for it. She can take the word of the tens of thousands of New Zealanders who realise the grass is actually greener on this side of the Ditch and they are coming home.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000159\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229c2bbb841cbf473e825eda684266eb14\u0022\u003EDenise Roche\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table this document showing that the average weekly earnings gap between New Zealand and Australia, adjusted for\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000160\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c5e6d4a8c496494c84445e6dc2a02a52\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The source of the document is now all I require.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000161\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022beb4133943764baab466020c50646132\u0022\u003EDenise Roche\u003C/span\u003E: It was put together for me by the Parliamentary Library.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000162\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228851df4445e64ef3b69c5ee48be02174\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: We have started a pattern here that I might well regret. I will put the leave, and it will be over to the House. Leave is sought to table that Parliamentary Library document. Is there any objection? No.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000163\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000164\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002284e3a8bb012c4a22bdd209de6e7f8157\u0022\u003EDenise Roche\u003C/span\u003E: How much would the average earnings gap between Australia and New Zealand reduce if his Government simply paid the same minimum wage as Australia?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000165\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224c105de2c45f4c898e5f99ee9d999e26\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE\u003C/span\u003E: I do not have that data to hand, because the primary question was actually about the minimum wage, but what I can tell the member is that if the minimum wage moved to the adult Australian minimum wage, the cost would be 15,000 jobs\u201415,000 jobs. This Government is not prepared to throw people on the scrap heap just for a whim.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000166\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c85eeba0a21540ca975f669040cff665\u0022\u003EDenise Roche\u003C/span\u003E: Would he agree that if New Zealand\u2019s economy relies on paying 300,000 people wages so low that they are trapped below the poverty line, it is not really an economy that is working for all of us?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000167\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cb8319f2cd6d44c3878ee5b41cb87ccd\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE\u003C/span\u003E: I would agree with the member that the goal is to create an economy that means that all employees are paid appropriately for their skills and experience, and I also note that under this Government the adult minimum wage has gone up by more than $110 a week. That is $5,700 a year. But you cannot get higher wages with the stroke of a pen. Otherwise you would be putting the minimum wage up to $30, $40, $50 an hour.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000168\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002207c0dcfe9cb740b7861e72b11fb8b47d\u0022\u003EPaid Parental Leave\u2014Increases\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022 data-id=\u00226ebf32ee778d4f3bb131456906a8baca\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003E9. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226ebf32ee778d4f3bb131456906a8baca\u0022\u003EDr PARMJEET PARMAR (National)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: How is the Government helping to support new parents?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022 data-id=\u00221e0e7f831bb14086920da197bb73d02c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000170\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221e0e7f831bb14086920da197bb73d02c\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety):\u003C/span\u003E As part of Budget 2014\u2019s $500 million investment in the well-being of New Zealand\u2019s children and families, we announced that the Government would improve paid parental leave to help young families get ahead. This is happening in two steps, and the first came into effect today, with paid parental leave increasing from 14 to 16 weeks. From 1 April next year, this will be increased by a further 2 weeks, to a total of 18 weeks\u2019 paid leave. This Government wants to support families in making the choices that are best for them, so we have increased the parental tax credit, which has not been raised since 1999. The tax credit is paid when low and middle-income working families who are not on a benefit and who do not receive paid parental leave have a new child. From today that parental tax credit increases from $150 a week to $220, and the payment period has been extended from 8 weeks to 10 weeks.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000171\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221d480689697f443fac384fb447859127\u0022\u003EDr Parmjeet Parmar\u003C/span\u003E: What other changes are in the pipeline with paid parental leave?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000172\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227b54d0ae86de449ab2e4f10dff95c92c\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE\u003C/span\u003E: I will be introducing legislation to the House this year that will extend paid parental leave eligibility to more workers and increase the flexibility of the scheme. These changes will include extending parental leave payments to non-standard workers such as casual staff and those who have recently changed jobs; extending entitlements to primary carers other than biological parents, such as permanent guardians, Home for Life carers, wh\u0101ngai, and grandparents; and enabling employees to take their leave more flexibly by mutual agreement with the employer. Each year more than 26,000 people take paid parental leave. Our changes will make it easier for thousands of New Zealand parents to take more time off work to spend with their newborn child if they wish, and will provide extra support for young families at an important and challenging time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000173\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221534bc2de5bb4fd580822d3c91a27662\u0022\u003ESue Moroney\u003C/span\u003E: Why did National vote against funding 26 weeks\u2019 paid parental leave for babies born with a disability, those born prematurely, or to the parents of multiple births, at a cost of just $6 million, when only 3 weeks later the Government found $70 million to fund the Northland bridges election bribe?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000174\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002229ddd9961ac94b008daa0ecff5b23c1b\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE\u003C/span\u003E: There is already a great deal of assistance for parents of multiple-birth children. The Government currently provides payments for home help to assist with multiple births, Working for Families tax credits provide four types of payments for families with dependent children, and there is a whole range of extra financial support for families in special circumstances, such as accommodation, childcare, and other grants. For families with a new baby with a disability there is a child disability allowance to help parents meet the additional costs, and a whole range of initiatives from disability support services that provide wraparound services for these families.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000175\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022bad1e3ba0718415ca15999fabc720a97\u0022\u003ECorrections Facilities\u2014Safety\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4c55324-cd76-4323-a6a2-1408a110a862\u0022 data-id=\u0022f304d87b569344d3a1be4803a13eb2f3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000176\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4c55324-cd76-4323-a6a2-1408a110a862\u0022\u003E10. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f304d87b569344d3a1be4803a13eb2f3\u0022\u003EMAHESH BINDRA (NZ First)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Corrections: Is he satisfied that staff-to-prisoner ratios are adequate for staff safety in all of New Zealand\u2019s corrections facilities?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022 data-id=\u0022bbc45efcd5a1475696949497463c681d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000177\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022bbc45efcd5a1475696949497463c681d\u0022\u003EHon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (Minister of Corrections):\u003C/span\u003E Yes, I am.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000178\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4c55324-cd76-4323-a6a2-1408a110a862\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ea36be83043f4a9b94e4c9e15fe2747f\u0022\u003EMahesh Bindra\u003C/span\u003E: Given that there is no specific ratio model for staffing at the privately run prisons, and given the recent death of a prisoner in custody\u2014with condolences to the family\u2014what mechanisms are in place in all of New Zealand\u2019s corrections facilities, both public and privately run, to keep staff and prisoners safe from prison assaults?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000179\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228430d8e26c074f05bd5de7d6328ab04c\u0022\u003EHon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA\u003C/span\u003E: As the member knows, staffing levels for residential units and operational support functions at each publicly managed prison were set in 2001. Those ratios looked at the staff-to-prisoner ratios for remand prisons, which were set at 1:15; for high to medium prisons at 1:15; and as well for youth prisons at 1:9. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000180\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022530ce0c4-c977-40cb-90fb-754f54931ff1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022866702ba475843e5a19fc5c741b612a9\u0022\u003ETracey Martin\u003C/span\u003E: What about Serco?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000181\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bee74eb1cd624606ac9eb8a0a4db440b\u0022\u003EHon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA\u003C/span\u003E: For Serco\u2014I am getting to that, ma\u2019am\u2014it is based on the output and the outcomes that Serco is able to do. In the last prison performance table, might I just add, Serco\u2019s Mt Eden Corrections Facility was the most exceptional prison based on core security, internal procedures, and its rehabilitation score. So it is clear that despite the fact that we have that private prison, it is one of the highest-performing prisons in New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000182\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022802874a3-deca-48b7-9d33-9087058892f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022601e67063a6b4c1492df8e8cb2f8573d\u0022\u003EKelvin Davis\u003C/span\u003E: So what is being done to reduce the numbers of assaults on both inmates and staff in correctional facilities?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000183\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228f5a68f423aa4f08b261c51906113984\u0022\u003EHon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA\u003C/span\u003E: As that member knows, prisons are extremely difficult and demanding work environments for our staff. Over the last few years the Government has introduced stab-resistant body armour, spit hoods, batons, and pepper spray progressively from 2010. We have also rolled out extensive training on de-escalation techniques to all front-line officers. We have trialled on-body cameras, and a tender is now out for their roll-out. And we are implementing a pilot site emergency response team at Spring Hill prison, which was implemented today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000184\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022802874a3-deca-48b7-9d33-9087058892f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aaaa9e9cd90449dbaf8bd35f4b12ac02\u0022\u003EKelvin Davis\u003C/span\u003E: What internal reviews have been or will be done in regards to the near fatal assault on an inmate in a Hawke\u2019s Bay correctional facility on the weekend; the assault on prison guards at Rimutaka Prison on Monday; and the bashing of an inmate in Christchurch Prison, which yesterday proved fatal?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000185\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a7f0428413e343b28d90aa77d4edfb56\u0022\u003EHon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA\u003C/span\u003E: With regards to the last incident, it is sad that Mr Parata died in custody. There is an ongoing police investigation. The chief inspector will be following that up with his own investigation. Far be it from me to comment further on that matter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000186\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022d206de50b7ab4ca9b522db8c1dc40574\u0022\u003ETax System\u2014Reforms for Businesses\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022a6c42c44-3622-4c9c-98b8-793fb5ec15cc\u0022 data-id=\u0022e45b61f14a7f4adda5898f94dfde6132\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000187\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a6c42c44-3622-4c9c-98b8-793fb5ec15cc\u0022\u003E11. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e45b61f14a7f4adda5898f94dfde6132\u0022\u003EIAN McKELVIE (National\u2014Rangit\u012Bkei)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Small Business: How will small and medium businesses benefit from the Government\u2019s proposals to simplify the tax system?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022 data-id=\u002205ab1359c3094964a298cfcb36035b46\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000188\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002205ab1359c3094964a298cfcb36035b46\u0022\u003EHon CRAIG FOSS (Minister for Small Business):\u003C/span\u003E Small and medium sized businesses will benefit from a simpler and modernised tax system. The Government is considering possible improvements to simplify the tax system for businesses by streamlining the collection and calculation of PAYE, GST, and related information, by integrating these obligations into various business processes\u2014things such as leveraging new technology and simplifying calculation for provisional tax based, perhaps, on real-time information. I encourage small and medium enterprises to make a submission on these very good proposals. These initiatives will make for a more modern, efficient, and flexible tax system, once again demonstrating why this Government is better for business. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000189\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a6c42c44-3622-4c9c-98b8-793fb5ec15cc\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bbf9adc8d897418c9e250531c149dc4e\u0022\u003EIan McKelvie\u003C/span\u003E: How are small and medium businesses benefiting from the changes the Government has made to the tax system?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000190\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022554dde0827ee4d5c972b4cf68ddb9982\u0022\u003EHon CRAIG FOSS\u003C/span\u003E: Small and medium businesses, whether in rural areas, in the city, on the farm, or in the factory, have already benefited from changes that this Government has made to the tax system, including lower company tax rates, lower personal income tax rates, and making tax compliance easier for businesses through initiatives such as myIR online accounts. Small and medium businesses are also benefiting from other changes by removing unnecessary reporting requirements, cutting red tape, and improving infrastructure.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000191\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002262dbd8d34a4b4c6a95dec55ea313749b\u0022\u003EChris Hipkins\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Over several days there have been questions from Government members to this Minister, which he has answered with a prepared short speech. Although there are no rules that prevent Ministers from reading answers, it does seem to be a waste of the House\u2019s time to get short speeches to patsy questions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022825348de4b0e45918b958aa23afa9359\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Small business is the heart of the New Zealand economy, and I am disgusted that the Labour Party members should say it is a waste of the House\u2019s time to consider their interests. [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223852f56cc993456484256d06c39ee887\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order, Mr Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000194\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022396c43f1435c46c5bca14ece97b63c36\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! I hope it is a fresh point of order from Ron Mark.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000195\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bc0c726a25574f1d80a4f4ab49503525\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: Firstly, that was not a point of order, and I have been sat down on numerous occasions by you for making points of order that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000196\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220ef8f062193441e5876b6a18245d6d27\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Can the member make his point of order quickly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000197\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dcbab9cb1a674a08bf211518da83ba26\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: OK. The point of order draws you specifically to Standing Order 383, in particular Standing Order 383(1) and (2), and questions are meant to be short. The point raised by the whip for Labour is very well made. You yourself and other Speakers in the Chair have said that we should not be giving speeches. If a person cannot give their answer orally, then they should be sat down.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000198\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fdc8029aff084b08bac4e97b1bce06c9\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Is there a further point of order being raised by Chris Hipkins, or has he caused enough trouble?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000199\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228e5d675ea6804bc1a46e53ffdd9aed96\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order, Mr Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000200\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223eb708293dea450a97bf9811dee9040d\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, I do not need any more assistance from the member. Members should know that questions are allocated and the Government gets a share of those questions. Government members have every right to ask a question about how small and medium sized businesses will benefit by proposed tax changes. I did not think the list that was read out was unduly long. I am certainly aware that the Minister on many occasions is long with some of his answers. On this occasion, I did not think he was at all.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000201\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a6c42c44-3622-4c9c-98b8-793fb5ec15cc\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229ae1e765fe384ca1943c421e76b129cf\u0022\u003EIan McKelvie\u003C/span\u003E: This will be very good. [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000202\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002250e4159391f74412820587a8b5077daa\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Equally, all members have a right to ask a supplementary question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000203\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a6c42c44-3622-4c9c-98b8-793fb5ec15cc\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022118ce102ac114e78a4e52e41f033daac\u0022\u003EIan McKelvie\u003C/span\u003E: What reports has the Minister seen on proposed changes that will not simplify the tax system for small and medium businesses? [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000204\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227ba5847fff2d4dd9bd9c9afe26e6d8e6\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! On the basis that the answer does not comment on another political party\u2019s policy, the Minister can answer the supplementary question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000205\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229bb5e923ab934b6a983adb4d3faa1db8\u0022\u003EHon CRAIG FOSS\u003C/span\u003E: I have seen a report: \u201COverly burdensome tax compliance must be addressed. It is an avoidable drag on the productivity of our small businesses.\u201D I absolutely agree with that statement, but I have also seen a report from the same author that proposes complex new taxes and burdens on small businesses. The author of those two reports cannot have it both ways. The author of those reports is the Labour Party. [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000206\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002294a1334450404e1097f6a4549ec2d655\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! I am on my feet. I am going to take this opportunity to ask that Minister to look carefully at Speaker\u2019s ruling 154/2A. It is not reasonable to use a question from the governing party to simply attack other members of this House or other political parties. It is to cease from that Minister. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000207\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f39167dbd25b44d5bee368b58a1dde34\u0022\u003EIraq, Military Deployment\u2014Safety of Personnel\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022 data-id=\u00226263d393ae0143419ddf71dd7304459c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000208\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E12. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226263d393ae0143419ddf71dd7304459c\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF (Labour\u2014Mt Roskill)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Defence: Does he stand by his response yesterday \u201Cwell, why would you?\u201D when asked if he would publicly release details regarding the level of protection afforded to New Zealand personnel in the upcoming deployment to Iraq?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022c66f0ff15b02407399e18bb34bfdbc18\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000209\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c66f0ff15b02407399e18bb34bfdbc18\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Defence):\u003C/span\u003E In the context that the question was asked, yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000210\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d5051d65b9be42f8bcb0b86e1d7958ca\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: When details about legal protection have not been suppressed in the past, is the lack of transparency in this case because, in fact, he has achieved less protection for our New Zealand soldiers in Iraq; if not, what is the reason?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000211\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002250db1ca7471f4dba8fbd4eed563607ed\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: It is an unreasonable suggestion from the person asking the question that there has been less legal protection achieved for our people who will be deployed to Iraq, but I would go on to suggest to him that he look back at recent history\u20142001, 2003, 2006, and 2009\u2014and note that such agreements were not released on those occasions. On at least one of those occasions, I believe, he was the Minister of Defence.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000212\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225f6a4e6b9a7c4fd0a36f4b7c6c8f98b9\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave from the House to table the status of forces agreement in regard to the Solomon Islands in 2003, and in fact the\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000213\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224be3e6f6608742da81f5a532614e646c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The document has been described; it does not need further description. I will put the leave. Leave is sought to table that particular document. Is there any objection? There is none.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000214\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000215\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022565940bdbb5b4d38b7d12073cf83ba17\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: With regard to transparency, why did his office yesterday mislead journalists by telling them that New Zealand soldiers were not in Australia training for deployment, only to correct that later in the day after it was exposed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000216\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e6be8b31099d4b198c8cc25ac74ffd16\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: The member is using his own interpretation of circumstances to create a picture that is simply untrue. I was asked about the issue at about a quarter to 10 yesterday morning, and I confirmed to them that there were troops training in Australia. The really ironic thing here is that the Labour Party thinks it is odd that our troops should train for a mission before they go. I seek leave to table a document showing that it was the Solomon Islands Government that passed special legislation in 2003 that enabled the arrangement to be put in place that Mr Goff speaks of. It was not\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000217\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c3fd59dff5a04e2a8accfa9c61532dd1\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] Order! The document has been described. I will put the leave. Leave is\u2014[Interruption] Order! Would both Mr Mark and Mr Brownlee continue their conversation after question time? [Interruption] Order! Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is none.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000218\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000219\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002265fc9f58bb3a4bccbf0b33dd38dc9f46\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Why has Mr Brownlee refused to be transparent when asked and tell this House what the level of risk is in the area that we are deploying New Zealand troops to, when the Australian Government, by comparison, has been open about the fact that it is high risk, and when the New Zealand Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Keating, told the select committee that the place we are going to is an \u201Cextremely dangerous place\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000220\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002234a1d2d9007247508119e0f55a859c7e\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Once again, the member asking the question puts together an assertion and suggests that it is fact. It is not. I have always maintained that we need to exercise a high degree of caution in the way in which we engage around this particular deployment, because it is risky. And anyone who watches their television on an evening will know that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000221\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022318653ab624743e395a567e31343572b\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Why has the Minister repeatedly failed to be open, honest, and transparent around the questions of legal protection for our deployed troops, around risk levels for the Iraq deployment, and even about our soldiers training for deployment in Australia, when answering honestly any of those questions does not involve any security risk for our people?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000222\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022686aa09d7c33451cb5ba557890ae832c\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Well, Mr Speaker, I am actually quite surprised that you allowed that question, given the fact that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000223\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a066a4c339aa49f19fbba6ba13cdd97c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am giving plenty of licence to the answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000224\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b6efeb1818ab4ea79eb097aa163efd3f\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014it was full of all sorts of accusations manufactured in the mind of Phil Goff. I have always been open about the nature of this particular involvement, but I have said that there are particular concerns around this deployment that will mean that we do not say some things publicly. If the member cannot work it out, I would suggest he spends a little bit of time with some of the families who have got members who will be part of this deployment. Of course, for his own political reasons he does not care about that. He has got no interest in protecting those people. He has got an interest only in trying to get a little bit of public position that might put him back into contention against his old mate Andrew Little\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000225\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002245d2f297751140c19cbb3d2d3d2496b2\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] Order! The general debate will start shortly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000226\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fa441a7f2082407c9f75d657175e42cf\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave of the House to table the United States status of forces agreement with Iraq, which is available on the internet. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cf5f01161df3493e8eaa304206bfefbd\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: If it is available on the internet, I will not be putting the leave. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000228\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022fb2add9854134c9294a8022c8d616e62\u0022\u003EGeneral Debate\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022db8152c1e7d54aa88fb35b3c8b742218\u0022\u003EGeneral Debate\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022 data-id=\u0022cca0b8245e4645c3b74bbb68ac5c932e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000229\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022cca0b8245e4645c3b74bbb68ac5c932e\u0022\u003EHon MAGGIE BARRY (Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the House take note of miscellaneous business. I intend, in my call today, to reflect on New Zealand\u2019s WW100 programme. The centenary of the First World War officially commenced in August last year and is going to be continuing through until 2019. It will commemorate a range of events that are international and national, and that are also community based. There are some 850 community events that have been organised so far, and the details are on the website for WW100, which comes out of my ministry. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000231\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022\u003EOne hundred years on, the centenary of the First World War is an immensely significant event. It was really the beginning of the Anzacs\u2014the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps\u2014and the ties that bind New Zealand and Australia were formed at that time. It has been said of both countries that our nationhood is built on the war effort and on the sacrifice of our forebears 100 years ago. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000232\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022\u003EThe effect that the First World War had on this country is apparent in very many ways, from our individual family histories to how we see ourselves as a nation and how we are seen by others. The so-called Great War is the cornerstone of our friendship with Australia. Strengthened at Gallipoli, in the Middle East, and on the Western Front, the Anzac bond is a fundamental part of the identity of both of our nations. In the official history of Australia in the Great War, the Australian historian Charles Bean wrote of the diggers\u2014and it equally applies, I feel, to the New Zealand soldiers\u2014that their creed was the miners\u2019 and the bushmen\u2019s: \u201CStand by your mate\u201D. Cricket games notwithstanding, we have done that ever since. Our partnership, which was forged in adversity, is as strong as it ever was. A hundred years on, the centenary of the First World War is an immensely significant event to all of us. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000233\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022034e99dfb6854499bded515c65e202c3\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: Why are you reading this?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000234\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c0041640a93f47dd881b0334192dcc15\u0022\u003EHon MAGGIE BARRY\u003C/span\u003E: It is something that we need to take note of, and with some respect, which is not shown currently by the members opposite. When we reflect on the legacy of service and sacrifice and on how that war made an impact on the society we know today, we need to reflect very carefully on the number of New Zealanders that went across to Europe: 100,000 New Zealand men went across to Europe. At the time, that was around 10 percent of our population. We went the farthest and our casualties were high. Our rates were something like 60 percent of those who went. They were wounded, they were killed, they came back, and some of them died as a result of their injuries. More than 18,500 men lost their lives. That is a truly chilling and staggering figure, and I think that as we commemorate the next 4 years, it is a figure that we need to keep in our minds. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000235\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022\u003EThe soldiers, though, who returned from the wars did not necessarily tell their stories to their families or to the people whom they knew and loved. They found their experiences far too hard to talk about, and for those people\u2014some of them who could never share their stories\u2014that challenge has been taken up now by some of the commemorative events that are being featured in New Zealand over the next 4 years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000236\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022\u003EI give you one example: Sir Peter Jackson\u2019s The Great War Exhibition, which is going to be at Wellington\u2019s old Dominion Museum. I have seen a preview of it. It is a truly sensational exhibition and there is much in that to be proud of. It tells the story of the individual men and women\u2014the men who went away to the war, and the women who stayed behind and kept the home fires burning. When you look at these unspoken stories through the theatricality of the Hollywood creative genius of Sir Peter Jackson, we see, essentially, that our nation reveals itself as the men and women who were the way we were, and who are the way we have become. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000237\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022\u003ESo we look at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington. That is officially opening on 18 April 2015. I was at the dawn ceremony last week. It is a very special place, and in it there will be a context of what we call the war memorial gardens. The Australian one\u2014it is fitting\u2014is the first of those. We will have the Prime Minister of Australia, along with our Prime Minister, present at the official opening. That will be followed by gardens and memorial tributes from the United Kingdom, from the United States, from Canada, from France, and also from other countries that we are in discussion with. Expect over the next 4 years, and then beyond, that many of the conflicts that our New Zealanders have been involved with over a very long period of time will be commemorated there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022736a5c0b-8df3-4047-ba26-632ba2798b4c\u0022\u003EThe ceremonies that will take place on 20 April really set the tone for what will happen through an action-packed Anzac week, when people will come from all over the world to stand with us to commemorate our role and our experiences in the war. As the Minister responsible for the World War I commemorations, I have been deeply impressed by the work that has been done at Pukeahu. It is our major commitment to the legacy projects of World War I, but it not our only project. More than $10 million has been spent on the programme\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u0022d8bcb2767a084d6cb9036cd118139bb8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000239\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d8bcb2767a084d6cb9036cd118139bb8\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member\u2019s time has expired.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022 data-id=\u002249b7df5b6a6449eaaa47eb8db09fc620\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000240\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002249b7df5b6a6449eaaa47eb8db09fc620\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E It is a privilege to be back, as the member of Parliament for Northland. Five weeks ago the PM said that we would not stand. Then, when we did, he said that we had zero chance of winning. And then some of my media friends said that it was a joke and a stunt\u2014some have had the good grace, of course, to recant since then. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000241\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ESo let us start with an olive branch to Mr Key and the Government. If their Resource Management Act reforms are in the interests of New Zealand\u2019s growth and environment and the hard-working people who make up our brilliant primary industries and the forgotten regions, then we in New Zealand First will give them serious consideration. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000242\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EThe problem is that they have never\u2014not once\u2014had the decency to call us, despite their Michelle Boag\u2019s deplorable attempt on Q\u002BA to say otherwise. So we warn them that if these reforms stoke the Auckland property bubble that is keeping interest rates high, and with it the New Zealand dollar\u2014a dollar that is crucifying our productive sector, being close to parity with the Aussie, at record highs against the euro, at 8-year highs against the yen, and stuck in the high 70c range against the greenback\u2014then, Messrs Key, Smith, et al. We will not, and we cannot, help you. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000243\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ELast Saturday Northlanders went up to this Government\u2019s flagstaff and chopped it down. In doing so, they sent a message on behalf of Southland, the West Coast, Marlborough, Whanganui, Manawat\u016B, Wairarapa, Hawke\u2019s Bay, Gisborne, the Bay of Plenty, the Waikato, and elsewhere. That message is this: \u201CIt\u2019s the economy, stupid.\u201D It is not a two-tiered economy. It is not all about Auckland. New Zealand excels when our regions excel, but if they are treated like second-class citizens despite generating this country\u2019s wealth, they are going to rebel. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000244\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ELook at Northland\u2019s neglect: the lowest median income in New Zealand; over 778 one-lane bridges; 1,100 kilometres of unsealed roads in Kaipara, with 70 percent of the roads in the far north unsealed, and with the people who complain being threatened by bully-boy National MPs; a rail line that is so bad that it takes almost 5 hours to shift goods south to Auckland; and a place where you can forget 4G because a simple cellphone call is itself a trial. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000245\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EWhile billions of dollars are being poured into the commuter rail in Auckland and Wellington, this Government cannot spare $6 million to fix the Napier to Gisborne line, or to join the north line with Marsden Point. What that says about the regions in this Government\u2019s priorities is not lost on them. Although we know about Northland\u2019s bridges, the West Coast has over 49 of them on State highways, and, yes, we will ask the district councils how many are classed as local roads\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002212ea61132e944223aa5a8d2681ccfd6d\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Don\u2019t be silly, Winston.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000247\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022410d22bb1c33411fbf1c1955daa5aa1a\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Do not shout here like Maggie Barry did at our meeting in Dargaville, in the Methodist church. She came up. She was shouting. She had to be stopped by the chairman and all the crowds. There she was, like all of the National Party, and I said to her: \u201CLook, Maggie, we can paste you any day in the House. Don\u2019t come up here, where we are loved, and expect to be getting a decent audience.\u201D She got told off by everybody, including the chairperson, and she was driving there in a ministerial car\u2014all a waste of taxpayers\u2019 money. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000248\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EAll these other Ministers and backbenchers were making phone calls and putting up hoardings, and when I saw them putting up hoardings I thought to myself: \u201CYou guys are finished.\u201D\u2014you guys are finished. When I see hard-working men like Alfred Ngaro and I see Mr Mark Mitchell from next door putting up hoardings, I know that the National Party has collapsed up north. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000249\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ELook, we asked the good people there to send a message and, boy, they did. And now we have got the National Party in so many days\u2014just 4 days\u2014later, it cannot remember it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000250\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022199f93a35d094bb2adb083184d258720\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: What\u2019s the message, Clem?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000251\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223ef85056de10443192cbb0dea0f12891\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: The message, Gerry, is that it is over time for you. The message, Mr Brownlee, is that they have had enough of your neglect. They have had enough of your arrogance. They have had enough of being forgotten. They have had enough of being marginalised, Cinderella-ised, and forgotten, and those hundreds of thousands of people who have created our wealth, not just in Northland but around this country, are going to make sure they get a fair go in New Zealand\u2019s political and economic future. They cannot wait for the next election, and\u2014you know something\u2014nor can I. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000252\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EMr Key was asked all those questions yesterday and today, and it may as well have been\u2014as they say in the information technology industry\u2014vapourware. Our message to rural and provincial New Zealand is this: help is on its way. Help is on its way. I know that the National Party has tens of thousands of members, maybe hundreds of thousands of members, who are now also very pleased to see that we are back.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022 data-id=\u0022bc30fcb5a6284133b403752b965b266d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000253\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022bc30fcb5a6284133b403752b965b266d\u0022\u003ERON MARK (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I deliberately waited to raise this point of order so as not to interrupt the member\u2019s speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000254\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022af9ca1b831c24ea1915471fba9fbeacf\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Can I have the point of order?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000255\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b5e12903ced64d6a99554b88dbd42da3\u0022\u003ERON MARK\u003C/span\u003E: The point of order is\u2014and I am looking to you to protect the House and the Opposition\u2014that there is a Standing Order that states that members cannot move from their own seat to another seat to better interject and break up another member\u2019s speech. You sat there and you did not deal with Mr Brownlee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u00228a48f69cc1cd4893953d76f8d0445dbe\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000256\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228a48f69cc1cd4893953d76f8d0445dbe\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member is right. If a member had moved, I had not noticed it, so it may have actually been helpful if the member on this occasion had raised the point of order when it happened. [Interruption] Order! I am still on my feet. I do not think that it in any way disrupted the performance by the Rt Hon Winston Peters. He was enjoying the interjections as much as most of the rest of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022df247a96378b4ea78d7db9adaa3cef4c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000257\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022df247a96378b4ea78d7db9adaa3cef4c\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery):\u003C/span\u003E I just want to apologise to the Rt Hon Winston Peters for interrupting his speech. I was merely trying to defend myself from the vicious attack I was subjected to!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000258\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bf774bd365334f18bb54a1db4ea2c289\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: We will now return to the debate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022 data-id=\u00223f63faf3b25a4ad5a1cb966a6d9076f6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000259\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223f63faf3b25a4ad5a1cb966a6d9076f6\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (Minister of Immigration):\u003C/span\u003E Today is a very, very good day for New Zealand families. There is an increase in the minimum wage, the sixth in a row under this Government, even in straitened times, and this now means that those who are on the minimum wage have $5,700 a year more in their income. Paid parental leave now goes up, and I will be introducing measures to broaden and deepen the well of people who will benefit from paid parental leave from next year. There have been increases in superannuation and veterans\u2019 support payments, as announced by the Minister for Social Development, one of many, many more benefits still to come. The increase in the payment for GP visits for those under 13 will be coming in this year, along with free breakfasts in schools, and warmer, drier homes. This Government cares for New Zealand families. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000260\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EBut I want to touch briefly on the crime statistics that came out this morning. For the fifth year in a row data released today shows that recorded crime has dropped again. If we had continued on the trajectory we were on in 2009, there would have been 100,000 more crimes. That is a reduction of 100,000 victims and their families compared with where we were heading. There has been a 7.8 percent drop in Canterbury and a 9.4 percent drop in Waikato. There are concerning trends around sexual and family violence and it is very hard to discern between an increase in the incidence of reporting and an increase in the incidence of crime. And this is a very poignant backdrop to acknowledging that there are challenges in many ways in respect of that, but I want to acknowledge the New Zealand Police for further reductions in reported crime. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000261\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EI want to touch today on the spirit of Anzac. The Cricket World Cup has come and gone. The din has died down. The Northland by-election is over, and to the victor the spoils. We are going to go into an adjournment. During that adjournment we are going to have one of this country\u2019s most poignant commemorations\u2014the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings on 25 April 1915. It was my great honour as the then Minister of Veterans\u2019 Affairs in 2014 to attend the 99th anniversary of Anzac Day at Gallipoli. It was a remarkable experience. The Dawn Service, which commenced at around 5 a.m., was against the backdrop of what was exactly the weather on that day 99 years earlier. It was calm. It was sombre. It was completely incongruous to the sort of mayhem that must have faced New Zealand and Australian soldiers as they approached what is now known as Anzac Cove. The incongruous nature is due to the fact that we have been brought up with an image of Anzac Day and the Gallipoli campaign that is from grainy, black and white and sepia photographs of a barren land and emaciated and injured and unwell soldiers dug into the side of mountains. But those who have been to \u04AAanakkale in the Gallipoli Peninsula will know it is a beautiful place, a peaceful place, a place where thousands of Australians and New Zealanders lie buried and are looked after and looked over by the Turks, who are now our friends\u2014once our enemy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000262\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EWe are going to go into a commemoration that does not glorify war, and indeed we should not, but it does acknowledge the tremendous sacrifice that thousands of young men and women, who went and never came home, made for this country. I think we need to stop and reflect on that, and on the theatres of war that are resplendent around this Chamber, and just remember the heavy burden that we have to bear when we make decisions to send our young into harm\u2019s way. Those challenges remain\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000263\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022afb31a95eedb43658cad22a0812bd1a0\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: And sometimes you shouldn\u2019t. Sometimes you should say no.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000264\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f521e4999552462680b5e147eb20fe62\u0022\u003EHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. Let us just remind ourselves that the same number of soldiers who will be deployed in Iraq, to support freedom and to control a heinous threat to New Zealanders here and abroad, died every 3 days on the Gallipoli Peninsula. I think we need to reflect on that and pay an appropriate tribute. I really look forward to the centenary commemorations. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000265\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000266\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00229f132dfe56d94e5b8d1fdfca32281bd3\u0022\u003ESittings of the House\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000268\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002258fd6210130741cd9ffd1ac966c4d0f8\u0022\u003ESittings of the House\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022531fd9ddaf8d4d21a73e590e9fff728f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000267\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022531fd9ddaf8d4d21a73e590e9fff728f\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House):\u003C/span\u003E I am sorry to interrupt this debate. Subject to discussions among party whips I seek leave for the House to rise tomorrow at the conclusion of the remaining stages of the legislation arising from the Objectionable Publications and Indecency Legislation Bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u0022c372af5ed3f04b16b9c92fa6122a96eb\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000269\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c372af5ed3f04b16b9c92fa6122a96eb\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for the House to rise after that particular legislation nominated by the Minister. Is there any objection? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000270\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022559118bbc9aa4399999dfa47dc4df46d\u0022\u003EGeneral Debate\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000272\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022d45a1918f336477bb48c13b0aebee412\u0022\u003EGeneral Debate\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000271\u0022\u003EDebate resumed.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022 data-id=\u00227ca1c1e035484ff49bf85c133757395d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000273\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227ca1c1e035484ff49bf85c133757395d\u0022\u003EANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition):\u003C/span\u003E I have to say that what was once characterised as a dirty, filthy, grubby little Government, engaging in dirty, grubby, filthy little tactics\u2014as it tried in Northland\u2014what we now have is a sad shadow of its former self. And the resident Elvis Presley impersonator sits there giggling because he is about to break out in a rendition of \u201CSuspicious Minds\u201D because that is what is governing the Cabinet and the National Party caucus now, as the finger of blame rotates around the caucus room and the National Party wonders who is responsible. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000274\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EWe observe today the stunning achievement of the National Party, which turned what was a 9,300 majority just 6 months ago into a 4,000 deficit. That is unheard of in the history of New Zealand politics\u2014unheard of in the history of New Zealand politics. The Northland by-election will go down in history as one of the worst defeats of a political party in this country. The Prime Minister was right to express so many months ago his concern about the impact on ACC levies of falling off your high horse in Northland. He might not have thought that it would come, but last week it did. Oh, how the mighty have fallen\u2014as they say\u2014oh, how the mighty have fallen. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000275\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EWhen we cast the finger of blame around let us remember that it was not a single-handed job; there were many involved. It started with Chris Bishop. Chris Bishop did not so much fall off his high horse as off his rocking horse. They had a man\u2019s job to do; they gave it to a boy to do it. So he did not last that long\u2014actually, he stayed up there for most of the time; we were waiting for him to turn up to Parliament\u2014presumably he has had his $240 a day deducted from his parliamentary allowance, but we will wait and see. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThen they put the maestro\u2014the strategic master, Steven Joyce\u2014in charge, and he knew exactly what to do. This was the man, of course, who gave us great political achievements such as giving $48 million credit to RadioWorks. Then he was given the job of fixing Novopay, and 2 years on, how are we doing? We are down to 11,000 faults each pay period now, but that is better than the 300,000 faults we had 2 years ago. And then he negotiated the state-of-the-art convention centre\u2014the free convention centre that was then going to cost us $140 million, and then when the public reacted against that we now have the less than state-of-the-art convention centre. Who knows what is going to be put up, but it will be something worthy of the talents of Mr Joyce. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000277\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003ESo now we have his big strategy, his big offering: the 10 bridges. You know, I reckon what happened is that they sat around a campfire in Northland at one of the great beaches up there, Ninety Mile Beach. They got out the guitars and started singing the great cultural classic \u201CTen Guitars\u201D and that was the inspiration. That was the inspiration. Ten bridges was going to be the scheme. They thought that having one in Cabinet was not enough, but having 10 for Northland was going to be the answer. Ten bridges, and, of course, all it did was serve to remind the Northlanders just how short-changed they were. That was the great strategic maestro, Steven Joyce\u2014that was his offering. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000278\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EOf course, what they reminded the rest of New Zealand of was just how poorly served the regions have been under this Government. National still does not get it\u2014it still does not get it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000279\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b603ab049108471a9c8eb4f66bda4dfd\u0022\u003EBrett Hudson\u003C/span\u003E: They get it in New Plymouth. They get it in New Plymouth, Mr Little.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000280\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ba0924cf2dc0446c9e25b0974e7c7a2e\u0022\u003EANDREW LITTLE\u003C/span\u003E: When it promised the 10 bridges there was no mention of a global financial crisis\u2014no mention of a global financial crisis then. But to everything that Labour comes up with, National says: \u201COh, it\u2019s the global financial crisis. That didn\u2019t happen on Planet National.\u201D Well, it did happen, and 7 years on regional New Zealand has nothing to show for 7 years of a National Government\u2014absolutely nothing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000281\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThe colleague across the way there reminds me about New Plymouth. Well, he might want to front up today to the rest home workers at Port View Retirement in New Plymouth, who have been thrown out of their jobs, and the rest home residents thrown out of their homes, because the Filipino owners see no future in Taranaki\u2014no future in Taranaki under this Government. They have thrown the elderly of Taranaki out on the streets. They have thrown the good care workers of New Plymouth out on the streets because they see no future under this Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000282\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThat is what this Government has shown in the regions. Unemployment has risen in every region in this country since this Government took office\u2014every region\u2014because this Government does not care. When it has the smallest opportunity to do something\u2014like lower the ACC levies to a realistic level\u2014what does it do? It does not care. It does not care\u2014that is what characterises this Government. It does not care about the regions. It has been a wake-up call. National has lost Northland and it will surely lose others as time goes on. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022 data-id=\u002257a7e2440dc1493f9766f0e9a28d7555\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000283\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002257a7e2440dc1493f9766f0e9a28d7555\u0022\u003EHon JO GOODHEW (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector):\u003C/span\u003E It gives me great pleasure to rise to my feet after that diatribe to actually point out to the House that what happened up in Northland at the weekend was that National got a message\u2014quite true. National got a message from the people of Northland. It is one that we are receptive to. It is one that we understand. I might want to also remind the member Andrew Little, who was previously on his feet, that the people of Northland got a message from Labour as well. They got the message that Labour does not care enough to campaign hard for the seat. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000284\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003ELabour had nothing to offer in the way of policies, so much so that it threw Willow-Jean Prime under the bus. I feel really sorry for that candidate. She worked hard. She worked hard, but nowhere near as hard as Mark Osborne did, as it turns out. How can you be completely committed to the task when you are told: \u201CPull back, pull back. Don\u2019t say: \u2018Vote for me.\u2019 Don\u2019t say: \u2018Vote for our policies.\u2019 Say: \u2018Vote for the everlasting promises that come out of New Zealand First.\u2019\u00A0\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000285\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022094b0ff4-e404-451b-b4a9-ad12bd4dee56\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fe290f2018f346f99979be29c4e7fb6e\u0022\u003EStuart Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Can they deliver?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000286\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002229b610de95bd47c1861da9fcee7a6a60\u0022\u003EHon JO GOODHEW\u003C/span\u003E: Probably not. The question being put to me is whether New Zealand First can deliver. Time will tell. Time will tell, but a number of people said to me: \u201CLook, we might take this opportunity to give a message, but we understand that it might be a very short-lived message.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000287\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003EThe measures that this Government has taken\u2014and certainly last year\u2019s Budget was a very strong signal to the families of New Zealand as to how important they are in our priorities. Our careful economic management during very difficult times has meant, amongst other things, that we have got 80,000 new jobs on the books. The average wage grew by 2.5 percent, compared with inflation at 0.8 percent. These are the sorts of facts you cannot actually argue with, which is why, in fact, the other side of the House has gone deadly quiet right now. In fact\u2014[Interruption] Oh look, they are alive\u2014in fact, they are alive. The average wage is expected to increase by $6,500, to $62,000, by the second half of 2018. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000288\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003EThe circumstances in the by-election gave us a good opportunity to gather our thoughts around what is happening in the regions. Let me tell you that my region, the Rangitata electorate, certainly understands what low unemployment is. Our biggest problem is that we do not have enough people to fill the skill gaps. I forgot to say right at the beginning of my opportunity to speak that the previous member should remember whom to point the finger of blame at when it comes to losses in New Plymouth, given that member has had plenty of opportunity to experience that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000289\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003EI do want to comment on the 1 April changes to both benefit and superannuation payments. There are more than 1 million New Zealanders who are going to feel the benefit of that. The annual general adjustment is going to see a 0.51 percent increase for those who require benefits and those who are on student allowances, student loan living costs, and foster care allowances, and also an increase in the rate of supplementary assistance. I am sure they will appreciate that, but I am also sure that the work the Government is doing to free those people from reliance on Government assistance is also being felt throughout New Zealand, and I think that is worthy of mention here. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000290\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003EI also want to comment on the difference that today\u2019s rates will make for superannuitants and for those on the veterans pension, as well. It is 2.07 percent. This is our commitment to maintain the married couple rate at 66 percent of the average wage. Remember, prior to this Government coming into office, there was no certainty that it would be at 66 percent. We put that into legislation. Before that it hovered. It could be at 66 percent, but it could go back to 65 percent. We have underlined that in legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000291\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003EWe have seen paid parental leave go up on 1 April, from 14 weeks to 16 weeks, but the note I want to finish on is just the changes that we are making to the reporting standards for charities to give New Zealanders trust and confidence in charities, the 27,000 registered charities\u2014$16.8 billion is coming into the total annual income of those charities. They have tax-free status. They are now reporting on their financials. There is much more scrutiny on that. They are disclosing more information to the public, and those changes are coming in as well. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022 data-id=\u002248aeb2dc7a5242c5bccd144ea2d4fb67\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000292\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002248aeb2dc7a5242c5bccd144ea2d4fb67\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF (Labour\u2014Mt Roskill):\u003C/span\u003E National did not just lose the Northland electorate; it was trounced. That was an electorate it had held for 50 years, and it turned a 9,000 majority into a deficit of 4,000\u2014a turn-round of 13,000 votes. To Jo Goodhew, if that is her name, who says that that was because of the Labour Party giving it away, I want to say that Northland was no Epsom. Epsom was a National seat that National gifted to the ACT Party to keep it alive when it had no support anywhere in the country. It gifted a National seat. Labour was never going to win Northland, and, certainly, some Labour voters voted tactically. But a lot of the support that National lost was from people who had voted National last time and who became disillusioned with a Government they regarded as tired, arrogant, and ineffectual. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI want to make this point too. This was not, as the National Party would now have us believe, just a local contest. Northland was covered with electoral hoardings from the National Party with whose face on them? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000294\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225ecd57d618fb4873873e625d2df60f62\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: John Key.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000295\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022143a768a14ad4f048adece8be4cf2318\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF\u003C/span\u003E: John Key\u2019s. John Key went up there time and again. The only time he did not go up there was on election night, when, just as in the case of the Mt Albert by-election, he left his candidate floundering and did not stand behind the poor, unfortunate Mark Osborne, who caught the flack of an electorate that was disillusioned with National. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000296\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003ESitting opposite me is Simon \u201C10\u201D Bridges\u2014Simon \u201C10\u201D Bridges\u2014who reflects the fact that this Government, in a way I cannot remember in 30 years, went out to pork barrel Northland to try to buy votes. Ten bridges, $70 million, no cost-benefit analysis, no prioritisation\u2014an absolute bribe. National thought that the Northland people would be stupid enough to buy that bribe. Well, Simon \u201C10\u201D Bridges should not have the cheek to be speaking up and interjecting now. He was part of the failure of this National Government, as was John Key, and as was the maestro Steven Joyce, who masterminded National to its worst ever defeat in a by-election. The killer blow was not delivered by anybody but National members. They shot themselves in the foot. They reminded Northlanders how long they and the other regions had been neglected, and they thought that Northlanders were stupid enough to fall for the bait. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000297\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EWell, I say that New Zealanders have had enough of the game-playing, they have had enough of the lack of transparency, they have had enough of the sense of entitlement, and they have certainly had a gutsful of the arrogance. This is the beginning of the crumbling of the foundations of this National Government. You can tell by the agitated state of those backbenchers in the National Party that they know they will not be here after the next election. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000298\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EWe have seen cynicism after cynicism. New Zealanders support having a Security Intelligence Service to deal with terrorism and to deal with economic crime. They do not support a Prime Minister who rorts the Security Intelligence Service for party political purposes and who colludes with Cameron Slater. They do not support a party that lies to the country about what it was doing. They do not support the Security Intelligence Service being misused to get a person elected to the World Trade Organization. The Government is losing friends all across the world because it was using the Security Intelligence Service for the wrong purposes. Finally, they do not support a National Government that starves the country of money for education, for health, and for policing\u2014for all of the good things\u2014but that has money to bribe, that has money to subsidise a casino making a profit, and that has money to splash out on a local charter school at Whangaruru that is failing, while it is denying kids from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to have a full stomach and learn in the classroom like everybody else. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022 data-id=\u00227cf3a771a7b04bac9946066a75466f53\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000299\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227cf3a771a7b04bac9946066a75466f53\u0022\u003EJOANNE HAYES (National):\u003C/span\u003E Kia ora, Mr Speaker. I am pleased to stand in this debate. What a load of rubbish that was from the previous speaker. Let us talk about bribes, shall we? Let us talk about free student loans, eh? That was one of the biggest bribes of Labour, was it not? [Interruption] Oh yeah! Let us talk again about New Zealand First\u2019s bribes in the Northland by-election. Let us talk about that port. How on earth is the Rt Hon Winston Peters going to deliver on a port? He is not going to be able to. Ten bridges\u2014we are going to be able to deliver on 10 bridges. That is what we have put into our plan, and that is what we are going to do, because we are a Government that delivers on its promises. We are a Government that when it says it is committed to doing stuff, it does it. That is what I need to put across.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000300\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI have just arrived back from a wonderful conference overseas, in Ethiopia. It was the Women in Parliaments global summit. I can tell you right now, it opened up my eyes to many things. I looked around the places that we were fortunate to visit, and one of the things that I saw was the treatment of old people there. I looked back at New Zealand, and I thought how lucky we are to have such a great welfare system looking after our elderly. It has been said many times and it has been heard across the world that New Zealand, when it comes to its welfare system, has one of the best in the world, especially with regard to looking after its elderly. Over 1 million New Zealanders are on superannuation and will receive an increase in their payments\u2014that is a 2.07 percent increase in their payments. That is 66 percent of the average wage for married couples, as opposed to the average wage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000301\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EWhen I say I was shocked about the elderly, I noticed there were old women in Ethiopia who were carrying bundles of eucalyptus sticks down the hill. That was what their job was. When I say I was shocked, I was shocked because once they retired from that, they retired into town and there was nothing for them\u2014there was absolutely nothing for them. Every time I looked around the places that I went\u2014I went to some of the poorer areas in Addis Ababa\u2014I was reminded of that great philosopher Fred Dagg, who said: \u201CWe don\u2019t know how lucky we are.\u201D We do not know how lucky we are. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000302\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228c755c3b48c042818d0c85163d8b36cb\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: He was a great philosopher.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000303\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228009b3637d534097ae2759c855b0c2a8\u0022\u003EJOANNE HAYES\u003C/span\u003E: He was a great philosopher. Then I turn and I look at something that is close to my heart, the veterans pension.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000304\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022328c2cb5a04f49cd9db28fd8dc909738\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: He taught Labour that we can borrow a few million more.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000305\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022341341\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fa7acfb5905b48a58aef65178bbf4894\u0022\u003EJOANNE HAYES\u003C/span\u003E: Ha ha! Then I look to the veterans pension, and I see that it is a $60 million package for veterans\u2014to support the new Veterans\u2019 Support Act, which the Hon Michael Woodhouse is responsible for and which came into force on 7 December 2014. That is great, because I have two grandfathers who fought in the M\u0101ori Battalion, in the pioneer battalion in World War I, and I am sure that as they lay there listening to their mokopuna standing in this House talking about supporting the veterans package and all the other things that we do within the veterans sector, they would be very proud of me as they sit on my shoulders and look across the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000306\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022341341\u0022\u003EThe Government is also providing $300,000 in grants to the RSA, and all of this has come through on 1 April. We have also increased the veterans travel mileage rate by 20 percent. That is really important because a lot of veterans like to catch up with each other and travel from one place to the other\u2014and some of them have long distances to travel. I am based out of Christchurch East and they have a very strong group, especially the M\u0101ori veterans, which means they do not need to travel that far. But when I first arrived in Christchurch East there was a tangi on, and the tangi was in the North Island. So they all gathered together at Ng\u0101 Hau e Wh\u0101 marae and worked out how they were going to travel north. So this increase in travel payments will help other veterans throughout New Zealand too, to travel to either tangi or to hui with each other.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000307\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022341341\u0022\u003EFrom superannuation in the Veterans\u2019 Support Act, I move to employment. With regard to employment, in terms of the places I went to in Addis Ababa, there were groups of women who had been funded by their Government to set up their own businesses within the markets. Those businesses would start on the smell of an oily rag, and they would grow into big business in Addis Ababa. Some of these were actually wood-carrying women who carried wood from the top of Mount Entoto all the way down into Addis township. That wood was used for housing, it was used for fences, and it was also used for burning.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000308\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022341341\u0022\u003EOne of the things I was also quite amazed at was the innovation in that country. Steel was at a little bit of a premium for them, especially when it came to building the big concrete buildings that they are putting together. It is a city that is developing as it goes. I see the Speaker\u2019s finger circling, but one of the things I just want to say is that I am really pleased to speak about this. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022 data-id=\u0022b51b958c739b43c685722c817abfed76\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000309\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b51b958c739b43c685722c817abfed76\u0022\u003ECARMEL SEPULONI (Labour\u2014Kelston):\u003C/span\u003E I just want to say that today is a clear indication that the Government has lost its way. It has been so on message the whole time that it has been in Government, but now Government members are all over the place. You can see they are in disarray. We can see they are disarray, and they are in disarray because Northland was the beginning of the end for the National Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000310\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI want to start by actually congratulating the awesome candidate we had in Northland and that was Willow-Jean Prime. She did a fabulous job. Despite whatever that side of the House might say, we are very proud of our candidate Willow-Jean Prime and we are looking forward to seeing her in here in 2017. I do not know whether the National Government can say the same about the candidate that it put up in Northland. I am not sure whether National is looking forward to seeing him run again or even being in the House in 2017, 2020, or any other time moving forward. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000311\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003ENorthland was the beginning of the end for the National Government. Northland showed very clearly that the regions have had enough of being taken advantage of. They knew when National went in there, promising them 10 bridges and all of these other things, that actually they had been neglected for a very long time. Here was the pork-barrel politics being rolled out by the National Government. They did not appreciate it, and National lost because of it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000312\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EWhat we are seeing here today from that side of the House are really the five stages of grief. Because we like to support our parliamentary colleagues, I thought that in order to be able to assist with the counselling of that side of the House I would look up the five stages of grief. What we are seeing is that all of them are at different stages of that kind of grief model. We have got the first stage being denial and isolation. And we hear the denial and isolation\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000313\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022864113b7f78c4c94a83f317ba5c02afc\u0022\u003EHon Nicky Wagner\u003C/span\u003E: Tony Ryall did this speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000314\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002229c8ddce77da46b495b993c3aa460790\u0022\u003ECARMEL SEPULONI\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014screaming out from Nicky Wagner over there, denying the fact that National has done anything wrong, denying the fact that the regions have given up on the National Party. Nicky Wagner is clearly still in the denial phase. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000315\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EThe second phase of the stages of grief is anger, and we saw that very clearly today with Simon Bridges screaming at Phil Goff\u2014screaming because he is struggling with the realisation that he has been tainted by the 10 bridges. He is struggling with the realisation that he has been made to look like a fool by his leader and his National Government. So Simon Bridges is clearly going through the stage of anger. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000316\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EThe third stage of grief is the stage of bargaining. I have heard many of the National Party MPs talking so nicely, off the record, about Winston Peters and his win. It is very interesting. We are starting to wonder whether the bargaining is actually beginning between National and New Zealand First\u2014well, an attempt at bargaining by National as it tries to woo Winston Peters and New Zealand First, knowing full well that National no longer has the numbers to push through things like its Resource Management Act reforms. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000317\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EThe fourth stage of grief, and we have seen a lot of this today\u2014I think it is really the stage where a lot of the National MPs are at\u2014is that stage of depression. We have been watching from this side of the House as they bow their heads in depression, looking very sad, sitting there quietly, unsure of what to say, no longer able to even laugh at the Prime Minister\u2019s failed attempts at jokes. Many on that side of the House are clearly going through the stage of depression. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000318\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EThe last stage of grief that we hope we can assist the National Government with getting to is the stage of acceptance\u2014the fifth stage of grief. That side of the House needs to accept that Northland was the beginning of the end, that the regions have lost faith in the National Government, and that in 2017 New Zealand will be voting them out. Thank you very much.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022 data-id=\u00222a77e045f89d483f832d50253ea668b0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000319\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222a77e045f89d483f832d50253ea668b0\u0022\u003ENUK KORAKO (National):\u003C/span\u003E Kia ora e te Mana Whakaw\u0101. Huri noa i te Whare e mihi atu ana ki a koutou katoa. I want to bring a bit of decorum back into the House, particularly because I think we have had enough of Northland. What I would like to do is just bring it back to two things around Anzac Day and then also the effects of the announcements made today that National has announced.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000320\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003ESo first of all is Anzac Day. Anzac Day is a day of remembrance, it is a day of thanksgiving, and also this year it is acknowledgement of the 100 years since the battle of Gallipoli. I have been over there a number of times. I have been to the Gallipoli peninsula and to \u00C7anakkale on the Dardanelles, which links the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea. I have travelled through with many people to Chunuk Bair and to a number of those battle sites all the way through. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000321\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EI would like to bring it back now, though, particularly to R\u0101paki, the small ancestral settlement on Lyttelton Harbour. Every year in that ancestral community we celebrate Anzac Day first with a dawn ceremony, and that has gone on for quite some time. The reason for that is that when the call-up came for World War I, there were five who left from that small village of R\u0101paki and only three came home. So in 1916 the Gallipoli wharf at R\u0101paki was constructed as a memorial to those soldiers who never came home but also to those who did, not just in R\u0101paki but right across the spectrum of those tragic events of World War I. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000322\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EEvery Anzac Day the old, the middle-aged, and the young from R\u0101paki come down to the Gallipoli wharf and then at dawn we do our memorial celebrations. We go to the marae for breakfast and then after that we do a h\u012Bkoi of 6 kilometres from R\u0101paki to Lyttelton. On the way we pick up a number of people who live in the various towns and villages en route to Lyttelton. To us that signifies that when our men went overseas there were no political affiliations; there was no race. What they did when they were there, they did as New Zealanders. That is very significant for us as well, the fact that that continues today. We are proud of the fact that in proportion to population there are more who went away and there are more who passed away and were killed over there compared to almost any other village, town, or city in New Zealand. We are very, very proud of that. That is the first thing\u2014the acknowledgment. I do acknowledge all of those on both sides of the House who today have spoken about the remembrance, the thanksgiving, and the commemorations that are to come. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000323\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EThe next thing is I want to stay with R\u0101paki because R\u0101paki to me is a great example of how the National changes that have taken effect today are helping wh\u0101nau and, in particular, M\u0101ori wh\u0101nau to get ahead. When we look at HomeStart, when we look at paid parental leave, and when we look at ACC levies, family tax credits, and superannuation, a cross-section of the people of that small village are affected. That to us is actually about having a hand up as opposed to a handout. That was the village of Ben Couch, and so it is great that National can forge forward and be a party that does help all New Zealanders, but in particular M\u0101ori. Kia ora.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022 data-id=\u00229d4c7a1c235f415b97090291f9673360\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000324\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229d4c7a1c235f415b97090291f9673360\u0022\u003EDr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green):\u003C/span\u003E It is time the Government levelled with the public on the question of spying. It is time the Government gave an honest account of how much, in what circumstances, and with what moral and legal justification it undertakes electronic interception. All the public has been getting lately is a stylistically shallow assurance from the Prime Minister that he has been advised by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) that everything it is doing is within the law. That is demonstrably lame, to a point of self-contradiction. It is like releasing a murder suspect on the grounds that he told the police not to worry as he is innocent. On something as important as the nexus between civil liberties and State power, we deserve something better than this. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003EThe Green Party recently laid a complaint with the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security regarding revelations that the GCSB has been undertaking mass surveillance through electronic intercepts of people in the Pacific region. There are two target categories. The first is foreign Governments, and the second is New Zealand citizens. Spying on Pacific neighbours is offensive. Spying on New Zealanders is, essentially, illegal. The Prime Minister characteristically parsed the issue, acknowledging mass collection of data but denying mass surveillance. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000326\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003ESetting aside semantics and confining ourselves to logic, we would not do mass collection unless there was a contingent intent to do mass surveillance. So the distinction is meaningless. Certainly, the distinction is lost on the National Security Agency and also on New Zealanders. It is only the Prime Minister who is impressed by his own reasoning. Avoiding his resignation required a public soliloquy in the fashion of Hamlet. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000327\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003EIn addition to spying on Pacific friends, the GCSB has extended its services on behalf of individual Ministers\u2014spying on the Hon Tim Groser\u2019s rivals for the World Trade Organization job. This included candidates from South Korea, Indonesia, and Brazil. That too is on the edge of the law or beyond it, as well as being offensive to those Governments. Were they doing the same to New Zealand? In some cases, perhaps; in others, perhaps not. Either way, it is irrelevant. We are talking about our own domestic law and political integrity, which has nothing to do with reciprocity. The Prime Minister has tossed off these actions, in that vapid, blokey way we have come to know and disown. He beamed, somewhat inaccurately, into the cameras recently, after two sessions with the Korean President, claiming the matter had not been raised, thereby displaying an ignorance of normal diplomatic protocol. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000328\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003EI say to the Prime Minister: \u201CAre you not concerned by the fact that, despite your dignified assurance to the world that nations do not give a monkey\u2019s, the Government of Brazil called in your ambassador for a \u2018please explain\u2019 meeting; the Solomon Islands is undertaking an investigation into who is spying on them; and Tonga has expressed its disappointment at New Zealand\u2019s actions? You should be.\u201D Moving from the purely offensive to the potentially illegal, does the Prime Minister stand by his statement earlier this month that \u201CThe law forbids us, other than in very minor circumstances, from gathering information on New Zealanders.\u201D? Can he assure the public that the GCSB is not using a broad definition of the words \u201Cprivate communication\u201D in the Act to spy on New Zealanders without a warrant? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000329\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003EIf the statutory responsibility is on the parties themselves to display a reasonable expectation that their communication will not be open to an interception, will it be sufficient if, in every phone call and email from Kiwi holidaymakers in Rarotonga, they preface their communication with the words: \u201CI do not expect that our communication is or should be intercepted.\u201D? Will that be sufficient for the GCSB to click off the intercept? If 71.6 percent of New Zealanders now believe their private communications are being intercepted, is that opinion poll in itself an instrumental factor in the way the GCSB would infer what a reasonable expectation must be? Is that not an indictment on poor legislative drafting? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000330\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003EIf I am within the 28.4 percent of Kiwis who like to believe they are not being intercepted, how do I convey that reasonable expectation to the GCSB? The utterances by this Prime Minister on the issue are, in truth, not Shakespearean; they are Orwellian.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022 data-id=\u002219d30cadcde24519945bc292dda29fa9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000331\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002219d30cadcde24519945bc292dda29fa9\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER (National\u2014Bay of Plenty):\u003C/span\u003E Mr Speaker, it is great to be able to stand up and speak for a few moments. Firstly, as you know, I have been away for a couple of weeks, up in Northland. It is important to acknowledge our Northland candidate Mark Osborne. He is a man of tremendous character and integrity. We have seen an incredible effort from that man to get from 30 percent to 40 percent. Mark, you are an awesome legend. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000332\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI also acknowledge Rose May and Neil Clements, and those local volunteers who have worked tirelessly for the National Party. We are a party of volunteers and supporters, and I want to acknowledge them here today. They did a fantastic job for us. I want to say to those who voted for us, and to those who did not, that this National Government will continue to deliver for Northland. We govern for all, regardless of whether they voted for us or not, and we will continue to deliver. But, ultimately, we lost, so I do have to acknowledge Winston Peters. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000333\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI have known Winston Peters for 26 years. He came to Waikato University when I was a young fella, to set up the Young Nationals branch. We had 600 people there. I have to admit that over the years I have admired his charm and his humour, but I have never admired his vituperative attacks on people as opposed to policy. A great test now will be whether he has it in him to be collaborative and constructive, or is the destructive, rock-throwing, negative Opposition MP Winston Peters going to be the man who represents them for the next 18 months? Well, if it is the latter, it will be a short 18 months and we will welcome back Mark Osborne in 2017. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000334\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EWith regard to messages, I have one for the rabble, the insufferable shriekers on the other side, who, I have to admit, are currently revelling in our moment of discomfort. This National Party has the capacity to check and adjust. It has the capacity to listen and respond. Underestimate our ability to do that at your peril. Provincial New Zealand needs to see the benefits of our programme in a more tangible way. That was the clear message that we got. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000335\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EBut I will tell you what is real for New Zealand: paid parental leave increasing from 14 weeks to 16 weeks\u2014that is real; increasing the parental tax credit for lower income families from $150 a week to $220 a week\u2014that is real; increasing the adult minimum wage by 50c, to $14.75\u2014that is real; and reducing ACC levies\u2014that is real. The $218 million HomeStart package; lifting minimum family tax credits, benefit payments, and superannuation payments\u2014the latter at twice the rate of inflation over the last 6 years\u2014is real, and we can make that investment because we have a strong economy. We are focusing on the issues that matter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000336\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EWhat I have noticed over the last 6 months is that with every single thing that this country has done over the last 6 years, and with single advance we have made, there are shrieks and sneers from the Opposition. We improve the lives of New Zealanders\u2014we get a shriek and a sneer. There are 80,000 more jobs\u2014sneer, sneer, sneer. We reduce unemployment and we get the same thing. We have the greatest result in crime statistics for basically 10 years\u2014same thing; sneer, sneer, sneer. Well, it is the people of New Zealand who are creating this momentum, so sneer on if you want to, but on this side of the House we will succeed on for New Zealand. That is happening particularly in Tauranga. It is an incredible momentum that we have got over there and it is phenomenal to be able to represent that area along with my colleague the Hon Simon Bridges.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000337\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI just want to give you some examples of what we have achieved collectively\u2014the people of Tauranga, the Bay of Plenty, and this Government\u2014over the last 6 years. GDP has lifted 25 percent, and consumer confidence has increased to a 10-year high in the Bay of Plenty, topping the regional rankings for the first time in 2 years. A lift in sentiment has propelled household spending up. The number of electronic transactions is up by 10 percent. The value of building consents issued last year in Tauranga was the highest for 7 years, and that has driven 200 young people in the Western Bay of Plenty, in particular, into construction apprenticeships in the Bay of Plenty. Sales volumes are up 26.7 percent. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000338\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EThe kiwifruit industry\u2014the backbone of the Bay of Plenty\u2014has recovered, and we are expecting a 70 percent increase in exports, with 4,000 jobs required over the next 6 years. The latest TradeMe statistics show jobs have risen by 26 percent compared with the previous quarter. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has said that skilled vacancies in the bay grew 20 percent, month on month. These are real benefits, real outcomes, for the people of the Bay of Plenty, and it is an absolute privilege to be representing them and to be part of this Government. Thank you very much. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022490ccdbf-7c22-4e12-98f2-f3aa08f8e676\u0022 data-id=\u00225da4b79e59724e2ba88b215c3cb673b8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022490ccdbf-7c22-4e12-98f2-f3aa08f8e676\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225da4b79e59724e2ba88b215c3cb673b8\u0022\u003EIAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour\u2014Palmerston North):\u003C/span\u003E I would like to start my contribution today by congratulating the workers at the Cotton On distribution centre who today concluded bargaining with their employer, the Australian retail giant Cotton On, which tried to take away their tea breaks. What those workers did was stand up against it. The public stood up against it and said: \u201CNo way\u2014we don\u2019t like the idea that those workers should lose their tea breaks.\u201D So not only were the rest and meal breaks reinstated in the collective agreement but they also got a significant pay rise, and they got a redundancy clause included in their collective agreement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000340\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022490ccdbf-7c22-4e12-98f2-f3aa08f8e676\u0022\u003EThis tells us a few things. First, it is good to be a member of a union. It is good to join a union, because joining a union makes sure you get far better terms and conditions in your collective agreement than the Government would wish you to have. Second, in the age of social media, I say to employers who actually want to make use of the changes to the employment laws that this Government brought in: be very careful, because the people do not like them. The people of New Zealand do not like the laws that were brought in; they do not like the idea of workers having their rights taken away from them. If you are an employer whose business is vulnerable to public opinion, then you will very quickly feel the wrath of the people of New Zealand. Third, it is important to know that union membership makes a big difference in public opinion. The Government was completely out of touch with the people of New Zealand when it took away their right in legislation to a tea break.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000341\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022490ccdbf-7c22-4e12-98f2-f3aa08f8e676\u0022\u003EWe know that this Government is completely out of touch, because of the by-election result up in Northland. It went from a 9,000-vote majority to a 4,000-vote loss in the space of 6 months. It is the most phenomenal turn-round. And it is because that Government over there does not pay enough attention to the regions. If you look around the country, regions like Gisborne and Hawke\u2019s Bay, and, sadly enough, Manawat\u016B-Wanganui, Wellington, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, and West Coast all have fewer jobs today than when this Government came into office. Today, after 7 years of National Government, there are fewer jobs in my region, and in regions like it around the country, than when National came into office. My region\u2014Manawat\u016B-Wanganui\u2014and also Taranaki, Wellington, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast, and Otago all have over 50 percent more people unemployed than when this Government came to office 7 years ago. Those regions, including, sadly, my own, have unemployment rates of over 6 percent after 7 years of this National Government. Today regions like mine, the Chatham Islands, Gisborne, Taranaki, and the West Coast are all receiving less Government funding for roading than when this National Government first took office 7 years ago.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000342\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022490ccdbf-7c22-4e12-98f2-f3aa08f8e676\u0022\u003EThis Government takes the regions for granted. It expects regional New Zealand to vote for it but it does not actually do anything to improve the economies in those regions. The sad thing is that there is massive potential and there is massive opportunity in every single one of those regions. I appreciate that this Government has embarked on a project to identify what those opportunities are\u2014although if it just came and asked, we would be able to tell it\u2014but what is it actually doing to help us harness those opportunities, to make the most of them, to get people working, to get people off the benefit, and to make our regions productive again? Nothing. The most useful thing that the National MPs in my part of the country\u2014Ian McKelvie and Nathan Guy\u2014could do would be to resign. Resign today and let us have a by-election.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000343\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223413edf3eda54b00b4540217d727e8b5\u0022\u003EHon Simon Bridges\u003C/span\u003E: You\u2019ll lose those ones, too.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000344\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022490ccdbf-7c22-4e12-98f2-f3aa08f8e676\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225450145373f44e68a933a698d3b7a6ef\u0022\u003EIAIN LEES-GALLOWAY\u003C/span\u003E: I will tell you what: Simon Bridges would find the money for the Capital Connection in a heartbeat\u2014in a heartbeat.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000345\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c02391845bea4e279f4ec9dfaf6c16ba\u0022\u003EJono Naylor\u003C/span\u003E: It would be better to find some passengers for it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000346\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022490ccdbf-7c22-4e12-98f2-f3aa08f8e676\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223a08aed75074456ebf16d72b74c709f5\u0022\u003EIAIN LEES-GALLOWAY\u003C/span\u003E: Jono Naylor would have somewhere to stand. Jono Naylor could go and stand in the Rangit\u012Bkei. He might have a chance in the Rangit\u012Bkei, and the Government might just fund the Capital Connection if it had a by-election in the Rangit\u012Bkei or in \u014Ctaki. That is how we could get the National Government to pay attention to our region and to regions like ours, because it is a sad story of under-investment and missed opportunities by this Government, which knows that there is potential in the regions. But it takes the regions for granted, and hopefully the message that it takes from Northland is that the two-speed economy has got to come to an end. Pay attention to the regions, National.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000347\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022490ccdbf-7c22-4e12-98f2-f3aa08f8e676\u0022\u003EThe debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000348\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022ad43c9c4c9944b9c82cf73fa19962599\u0022\u003EArts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000349\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f49ca6a3457c43eb9df72e070703f36a\u0022\u003ESecond Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022 data-id=\u00223e858fa2c1b148e7836dfaea1122fe4d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000350\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223e858fa2c1b148e7836dfaea1122fe4d\u0022\u003EHon NICKY WAGNER (National\u2014Christchurch Central):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill be now read a second time. As the member in charge of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill, I welcome its second reading. The Arts Centre holds a really special place in the lives of Christchurch people. Everyone has a memory of spending time there, whether it was long ago when they were a student, whether it was more recently at the Court Theatre or the Southern Ballet Theatre, or whether they have been a residential or a commercial tenant, or perhaps a regular shopper, a cafe consumer, a movie-goer, or a bar-hopper. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000351\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EPre-earthquake, the Arts Centre of Christchurch was vibrant and welcoming. It was the place to meet, the place to work, and the place to play. It was the creative and cultural heartbeat of our city. The Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill is an important element in the ongoing protection and preservation of the Arts Centre for the future. Its purpose is to modernise the governance arrangements of the trust and to set out the charitable objects of the trust in legislation. It will provide greater certainty around the original intention of the trust deed and formally recognise the heritage and cultural significance of the Arts Centre. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000352\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EThe Arts Centre is a magnificent complex. It consists of 24 heritage buildings. The first date back to 1876 and go right through to 1923. During the earthquakes all but one of them were very badly damaged. That has resulted in a fantastic but huge restoration project, which will probably take about 7 years and cost near on $300 million. It is a programme that has been recognised as the biggest and the most high-tech in the world. It is going really well. I would like to pay tribute to Andr\u00E9 Lovatt, the chief executive officer of the Arts Centre, and everyone who is working on the site for the fact that they are hoping to be able to deliver it on budget and years earlier. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000353\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EIt was really good that the Local Government and Environment Committee could visit the site and see the work so that it could understand the importance of this bill. But the bill is only part of the change that is happening at the Arts Centre. At the same time, significant planning is under way to let the Arts Centre achieve a vision for the future of the whole complex. That vision, of course, is informed by the objects of the trust and recognises the need for the Arts Centre to be financially sustainable in the future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000354\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EThe new governance structure proposed by the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board follows a comprehensive review and consultation process. Before it drafted the bill, it carried on conversations with local stakeholders and it also worked with Crown Law and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage over a few years. The modernisation of the governance arrangements will bring the trust in line with currently accepted best practice. It is vitally important that the trust board has the skills and maintains a strong set of skills during the restoration phase over the next few years, and also that an enduring governance structure is in place for the repopulation phase and in the future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000355\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003ESome helpful amendments were recommended by the select committee to improve the workability of the provisions. It recommended removing the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage from the list of parties to be notified in the event of a vacancy on the trust board, in order to eliminate any feeling of misperception of the Minister\u2019s influence on the trust board\u2019s governance. The trust board also considered it important to give certainty to the community that the objects of the trust would no longer be subject to ad hoc amendments, and that is recognised in the bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000356\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EThe reference to stone buildings is entirely appropriate, as it reflects the wording of the original trust deed and respects the intentions of the original trust. It was noted by the select committee, by majority, that it supports the view of the trust board and does not recommend deleting the reference to stone in the preamble to the bill or in the body of the bill. An amendment to the definition of \u201CThe Arts Centre\u201D is instead proposed to clarify the meaning of that term. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000357\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EThe select committee also proposed an amendment to require the trust board to make the conservation plan of the Arts Centre available at annual meetings. This is absolutely supported by the trust board and is consistent with its intended future strategic direction of open and transparent governance of the Arts Centre. I am advised that the existing site conservation plan was produced back in 1992, so it has been around for a while and it is due for updating. The trust has committed to updating that plan for the site following the completion of the restoration project. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000358\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EThe bill as originally proposed provided for the site to be vested in the Crown on an interim basis should the trust ever be wound up. But it is recommended that this be amended for consistency with other charitable trusts, so now the provisions of the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 will apply. This is an improvement, I think, to the current trust deed arrangements and is fully supported by the trust board. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000359\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EThe bill will enable the trust board to continue to be able to recover from the impact of the earthquakes. It is an appropriate governance structure for the future. It will lay the foundations for an inspiring public place for the people of Christchurch, for Canterbury, and for visitors to our city now and for future generations. From the damaged buildings and the rubble there is a unique opportunity to create a new exciting and vibrant centre that will be a source of great pride for Christchurch and, I think, for New Zealand as a whole. In the past, the Arts Centre was one of the city\u2019s most enjoyed tourist attractions. It was the place that all of us took our visiting friends and relatives to, and I look forward to being able to do that again very soon. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000360\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EI would like to thank the Local Government and Environment Committee for its careful scrutiny of this bill. It is a better piece of legislation because of its work. I would also like to thank the House for its unanimous, cross-party support. I am extremely pleased that this bill is back in the House, and I look forward to it being enacted by the end of the year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022 data-id=\u00226a8fe48d3dd64c6bbd555b76ed210eb4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000361\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226a8fe48d3dd64c6bbd555b76ed210eb4\u0022\u003EDr MEGAN WOODS (Labour\u2014Wigram):\u003C/span\u003E It is my pleasure to rise to give a speech on this piece of legislation. It is important legislation, and Labour is happy to support this bill. I would like to acknowledge the work of the member who has just taken her seat, the Hon Nicky Wagner, in sponsoring this bill as a local bill. I would also like to acknowledge the work of the chair of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board, the Hon Margaret Austin, and the work she has done to save this set of buildings. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000362\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EI think that for most Cantabrians, after both the September and the February quakes, and after questioning whether their family and their friends were safe, their thoughts turned to what had happened to the Arts Centre buildings and whether or not they were a set of buildings that had survived the quakes. For Cantabrians and Christchurch people, as the previous speaker has just said, there is a deeply personal connection to this site. This was a site that was gifted to the city in 1973. The announcement was made in 1973\u2014the year I was born. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000363\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EI feel a personal connection with this site. Growing up in Christchurch in the 1980s, everything happened on this site. It was the place of the Dux de Lux, the place where everyone gathered to have a drink; it was the place where there was a market at the weekend, when there were no other markets in Christchurch; it was the place where as a young teenager in Christchurch, I received my first pamphlet about New Zealand becoming nuclear-free; it was the place of the Court Theatre; it was the place of the Southern Ballet Theatre; and it was the place of Le Caf\u00E9. This was a place where memories were made in Christchurch. It means so much to the people of Christchurch that we can save it and that we can have this legislation that enters on to the statute book the original trust deed, which will ensure that this set of buildings does endure. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000364\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EThe Arts Centre buildings and the trust deed being entered into legislation has personal significance for me. It was one of the predecessors in my seat\u2014a predecessor I share with the Hon Ruth Dyson\u2014the Rt Hon Norman Kirk, who announced the decision that the university centennial convocation was going to gift, it is said, the buildings on the Arts Centre site to the city of Christchurch to be used as a cultural centre. But according to Kirk family folklore\u2014I spoke to members of the Kirk family today\u2014actually, it was a deal done for a dollar because the university could not simply gift that land to the city; it needed to be sold to the city. I am informed by the son of the Rt Hon Norman Kirk\u2014Bob Kirk, who went on to become a deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Canterbury\u2014that the university administration, when talk of the university moving back into the city was raised, would often talk about just collecting the interest on that payment as payment for moving back on to the site. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000365\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EFor Norm Kirk there was a huge significance in this set of buildings being gifted to the city of Christchurch and becoming a cultural and educational centre for the city. When he announced it, he said that it was a great gift to the city, the province, and the nation. He expressed his hope that the bodies would use the buildings to draw the threads of all the cultures of New Zealand and attempt to produce something uniquely New Zealand in character. I would like to acknowledge the former member for Sydenham and the work he did in making sure that we have this unique set of buildings standing in the centre of our city, a set of buildings we can rebuild our city around.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000366\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003ENorman Kirk saw culture as vitally important to New Zealanders and the world in which they were living. Defending the appropriateness of a politician addressing a cultural conference in that same year\u20141973\u2014Norman Kirk said: \u201CPolitics is the conscious projection of a country\u2019s identity. The culture is that identity and not something removed or remote from everyday life.\u201D I would like us to reflect on those words, which are as true today, in 2015, as they were when Norman Kirk said them in 1973. He said he saw the arts as having a very important part to play in our desire to foster regional cooperation. Again, I would like to endorse those words and say they have as much to offer us today as they did when Norman Kirk said them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000367\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EAt the centennial convocation where Norman Kirk made the announcement that the Arts Centre was being gifted to the city of Christchurch, the gifting was the brainchild of Professor Neville Phillips from the University of Canterbury. As a PhD graduate from the history department at the University of Canterbury, I would like to acknowledge one of the greatest professors of history from that department, the contribution he and the others have made to the cultural life of Christchurch, and the foresight that people like Neville Phillips and Norman Kirk had about the value of these buildings to the city of Christchurch. Neville Phillips certainly saw that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000368\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EThe gifting of a set of buildings this unique and this special spawned the need for special rules to be made. Those interested in issues of planning and zoning, and perhaps even resource management in today\u2019s context, might like to reflect that the first cultural zone that New Zealand had was this set of buildings. A special part of town planning was needed to ensure that the heritage fabric of these buildings stayed intact and did not come under any threat. We in Labour hope that by enshrining the trust deed in legislation, as we are with this local bill, we are protecting the heritage value and the very rich heritage, both social and physical, that these buildings offer to the city of Christchurch. We want to be sure that these buildings stay. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000369\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EThe Minister in her speech addressed whether or not stone buildings would cover the whole site. Well, I think I speak for generations of not just Christchurch people but people around the country who have fond memories of times at the Dux de Lux or the student union, if they were students at the university when it was on the town site, and who would like to think that this building will survive the wrecking ball of Christchurch\u2019s rebuild as well. This is a special building reflecting our character, and is something that needs to be preserved. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000370\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EThe departmental report that the Local Government and Environment Committee brought back made it clear that the purpose of the legislation was to enshrine the original purposes of the trust deed, which referred only to stone buildings. But I would like to place on the record, and I would like to implore everybody involved in that decision, that it needs to be more than that because the precinct of the Arts Centre encompasses more than that to us as Christchurch people. We are told that it would need special consent as a group 3 building in the Christchurch district plan to be demolished. But Christchurch people and Cantabrians are only too aware of section 38 of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act, which bypasses many of the protections we have had for our heritage buildings. We have had 1,240 demolitions within the four avenues in Christchurch, an area that falls under central government control. Compare that with the 292 rebuild consents that have been granted in the same space. Of those 1,240 demolitions, 20 percent of those buildings were heritage buildings.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000371\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EOn this side of the House we would like to make it strongly known that we have a desire to see the heritage fabric of our city retained because our rebuilt and recovered city needs to value its past. It needs to value the words that Norman Kirk spoke in 1973 when he talked about drawing the threads of all the cultures of our city together to show something truly unique about our city and our nation. I would like to honour the people who have fought for the retention of this site in the past and to thank those of today who have ensured it will last for many more years to come.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022 data-id=\u0022561cbea12bde4cea81a1c4857c399cdb\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000372\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022561cbea12bde4cea81a1c4857c399cdb\u0022\u003ESCOTT SIMPSON (National\u2014Coromandel):\u003C/span\u003E It is a delight to stand in support of the second reading of this Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill. As chairman of the Local Government and Environment Committee, which considered the bill, I got a sense, as listeners and people observing in the gallery will have had from the two previous Christchurch-based members who have spoken on the bill, about the sense of passion, the sense of commitment, the sense of history, and the sense of ownership of these buildings that make up this remarkable Christchurch Arts Centre. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000373\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EI am not a Cantabrian, I am not a person who has spent an awful lot of time in my life in Christchurch, but every time I visited Christchurch I have been much aware of the Arts Centre being there. In fact, I can remember 20 or more years ago visiting the Arts Centre for the first time and being completely overwhelmed by the design, the history, and the sense of presence of the buildings. So when the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 hit the Canterbury region in such a devastating way, it was a shock to all New Zealanders that the site of the Arts Centre should be so badly damaged in the way that it was. I think Megan Woods mentioned that there are 24 individual buildings that make up the Christchurch Arts Centre and that 23 of those 24 buildings were significantly and seriously damaged. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000374\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EIn the course of the select committee\u2019s work on this bill the committee was privileged to actually visit Christchurch and to hear the four submitters in Christchurch who wanted to have their views made known to the committee. As a result of that, once we had finished hearing from submitters we took an opportunity to conduct a site visit. The site visit was extremely useful and worthwhile. I think members would be truly impressed if they have the opportunity to go and visit what is regarded as the largest heritage restoration project in the world currently under way, taking place in Christchurch right now. It is a 7-year project. It is well under way. There are craftsmen and stonemasons from around the world using traditional stonemasonry methods for the repair and rejuvenation and rebuild of those heritage buildings, using techniques that have probably not been used in New Zealand for maybe 40, 50, or 60 years, or even longer than that. These are truly unique buildings. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000375\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EI was delighted to hear Megan Woods give the very full history of the site. I was interested also to note that not one of the submitters mentioned Norman Kirk once. However, it is clear from her recitation that he was the primary driver in the creation of the Arts Centre\u2014not wanting to take anything away from other members of the Canterbury community who over the years have contributed to its success and its ongoing, enduring place in the hearts of all Canterbury people, and, indeed, probably all New Zealanders who have had an association with it. It is no doubt that the buildings hold a very special place in the hearts of Cantabrians, Christchurch people, and, indeed, many New Zealanders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000376\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003ESo it is important\u2014as the trust chair, Jen Crawford, and the chief executive, Andr\u00E9 Lovatt, made clear when they made their submission to the committee\u2014that the governance for the Arts Centre structure going forward should be a governance structure that reflects adequately the circumstances that the trust finds itself in today, 40 or more years after the trust was first constituted, and 40 or more years since the University of Canterbury exited the site. Now the trust finds itself with a massive restoration project under way\u2014a project that is going to take a number of years to complete\u2014and it needs an appropriate, modern, up-to-date, and relevant skills-based governance structure in order to see that project through to fruition and to completion. Secondly, once that project is complete in about another 6 years\u2019 time, the trust is going to need a governance structure that will ensure the ongoing conservation and usefulness of the site for Cantabrians and for other visitors. To do that, the governance structure that was set in place originally needed modernising and that is really the purpose of this legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000377\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThis is a bill that has been sponsored by my colleague the Hon Nicky Wagner as the member of Parliament for Christchurch Central, but it is being promoted by the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board itself. For the trust to actually have the foresight and wisdom and confidence to bring, promote, and encourage a bill like this gives the House an indication of the calibre of the current trustees and their recognition that they do have to be forward-looking and that they do have to look to the future and not just to the past, because, as with any heritage site, it is the future that is just as relevant as the past in terms of its care and preservation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000378\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EI am delighted that one of the recommendations that the select committee made was that conservation plans should become part of the annual meeting structure and agenda. Each year members of the trust and other associated people who have an interest in the Arts Centre will be able to get a sense of what the trust is doing in terms of preservation and conservation, and they will be able to have\u2014as they should do as stakeholders of that city and that site\u2014an opportunity to participate and be very much part of that. I want to just quote, if I may, from the submission from the Arts Centre itself, because I think it neatly sums up the objectives of this bill. The objectives of the trust had previously been separated from the powers of the trust, and so this bill changes that. It makes it such that the provisions will truly reflect the trust\u2019s charitable intent, and in a way that was not previously the case. So those two provisions\u2014which are actually quite technical and, on the face of them, quite minor\u2014have a fundamental impact on the ongoing governance, management, and benefit of the whole Arts Centre complex. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000379\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThere were a number of other changes that the select committee made, and I think it is worth noting that the select committee process for this bill was a classic example of a select committee working collaboratively, collegially, and in a cross-partisan way to ensure that the legislation that was presented to us at the first reading actually came out through the select committee process as a better piece of legislation. I am very pleased to acknowledge that the Hon Nicky Wagner has identified that, and I think all members of the committee would agree that the process was very good, the intentions were well-meaning and well-made, and the submitters\u2014all four of them\u2014were generally in support of the proposed legislative changes. We have made a number of changes. I am not going to go through them all, but they will, essentially, mean that the Arts Centre is able to be far more modern in its outlook than it has been in the past. The legal foundations of the new governance structure will provide a platform and stability for future trust members and governance officers of the trust to ensure that the very significant parts of the history of this site are maintained and protected. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000380\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThe centre is one of the largest clusters of heritage buildings in the country. We are a young nation, with not much in the way of longstanding historic buildings. The nature of our architecture is largely wooden and timber-based, and so a lot of that stone-based work that was so prevalent and common in the English tradition was not seen in New Zealand. The Arts Centre in Christchurch actually provides a classic and wonderful example of what at the time was considered to be a mock little Britain and provides a university environment similar to that experienced at Cambridge and Oxford. Members who take the time to travel to the Arts Centre and have a look at it would immediately see that the areas where Lord Ernest Rutherford did his significant work were instrumental in the creation of the site. One of the interesting things that we discovered in our visit was that a whole lot of history had been uncovered as a result of the restoration work, and so I was delighted to see some of that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000381\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThis is a bill that is a good bill; it is a bill that the House will, hopefully, endorse unanimously across the Chamber. It is deserving of that kind of support because it is a significant piece of governance structure that will mean the Arts Centre will be able to be governed in a way that is meaningful, proper, and solid going forward. I commend the bill to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022 data-id=\u0022c208bc93e8444583a170517122c77e4c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000382\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c208bc93e8444583a170517122c77e4c\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON (Labour\u2014Port Hills):\u003C/span\u003E It is a real pleasure for me to join the debate on the second reading of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill. I want to begin by acknowledging the Hon Nicky Wagner, in whose name this bill is. It is a private bill, and I know that the Hon Nicky Wagner, who is MP for Christchurch Central, has had a lot of involvement with the Arts Centre and with the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board, and she has done a good job of shepherding this bill through the House. I hope it gets unanimous support from Parliament. That would be a really nice message to send to Canterbury. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000383\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EI want to acknowledge Scott Simpson, who I am pretty sure replaced the Hon Nicky Wagner as chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee. I think there was somebody in between the two\u2014that is right, there was. I remember now. The Hon Nicky Wagner used to chair the committee and now Scott Simpson does, and he does a very good job. I have sat on that committee a number of times. He chairs it with common sense and rational behaviour, and with a great deal of respect, which I think is acknowledged by all members of the House. He gets a better outcome, actually, as a result of doing that. That is not why he does it; he does it because it is his personality, but it is a good attribute for a chair of a committee to have.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000384\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c69ddfb515714b8d89811c06b6f44312\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: What a lot of brown nosing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000385\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002283ef5ebf0e50400c820c67ded60546d1\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: I am going to say some nice things about the Assistant Speaker any minute now. That will really bring the house down. Mr Assistant Speaker Mallard, I want to commend you on the extraordinarily competent way you chair the House. I also want to acknowledge Jen Crawford and Andr\u00E9 Lovatt\u2014Jen is chair of the trust board\u2014and the other members of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board, including a former colleague of ours, the Hon Margaret Austin, who has indeed put a lot of effort into this bill, as well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000386\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EShe actually made an early arrangement to invite members of the select committee that I sit on\u2014the Government Administration Committee\u2014to have an early briefing on the bill. At that stage she had been told that the bill was going to be referred by Parliament to the Government Administration Committee. So we all took up the offer. We got an early briefing, we felt very confident in our preparation to receive the bill at our committee, and then when it came to the House it was referred to the Local Government and Environment Committee. We felt cheated, actually. We would have really enjoyed the opportunity to have had that bill, and I think the members of the trust board were a bit disappointed that they had to give a briefing to another committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000387\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EMore of us knew about the background of the bill. Members have spoken about that as well as about the history of the Arts Centre. It is quite an interesting position to have the administration of a centre such as the Arts Centre, and, indeed, the governance structures, determined by an act of Parliament. It is not all that common, and thank goodness it is not, because we would spend a lot of our time debating those issues, I am sure. But in this case I do believe that it is warranted. I do believe that the structures that we have put in place mean that we can have confidence in the governance arrangements and, indeed, in the future of the Arts Centre. It is one of the most valuable assets that we have ever had in our city, actually, but particularly now that we have lost so much. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000388\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EDr Megan Woods acknowledged her participation as a university student and the involvement of the Rt Hon Norman Kirk\u2014as MP for Lyttelton, then Sydenham, and indeed as Prime Minister\u2014in the transfer arrangement from the university to the city of Christchurch. Indeed, that was a pretty extraordinary gift and transfer. We also have Sir Ernest Rutherford, a former student on that very site\u2014a great name for all of us to be proud of. I also want to acknowledge the early student engagement of the Rt Hon Sir Dr Michael Cullen\u2014I am never quite sure in what order to put all those titles. Michael, a former colleague of ours in the House, was also a student when the Arts Centre of Christchurch was indeed the university. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000389\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EMembers have mentioned that there were only four submissions on this bill, and nobody in the House should imagine that that is because of lack of interest. It is actually because by the time the bill got here, there had been widespread discussion amongst all of the relevant parties, and people were confident in the content of the bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000390\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EI do want to make mention of a concern that was raised, because the House needs to ensure that it is very clear about the response to the submission that the select committee gave\u2014particularly as we go into the next stage, the Committee stage, because there may well be some calls from Canterbury for us to make sure that the legislation leaves no doubt of this one point of concern that was raised. That concern is that throughout the bill there are references to historic stone buildings. Of course, that is blindingly obvious to anyone who has been to the Arts Centre because that is what the overwhelming majority of the Arts Centre is. It is historic stone buildings, but it is not all historic stone buildings. There are some buildings that are brick and wood. I just want to put on record that we want those buildings saved, restored, repaired, and used for our city\u2019s benefit in the future, as well. The legislation, although it refers in that way to historic stone buildings, does not exclude\u2014as is the desire indicated to us from the trust board\u2014the other buildings. Of course, that includes the former student union building as well, which many people will have very fond recollections of. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000391\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EAs I mentioned earlier, one of the reasons why we are very keen to ensure that the Arts Centre is part of our life in the future is that we have lost so much. Some people, particularly people from outside our city, say: \u201CWell, of course you have lost so much. You had huge earthquakes and seismic events.\u201D, and that is undoubtedly the case. We lost a lot as a result of the quakes, but, actually, in Christchurch we have lost a lot because of section 38 of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act. You might think that this is a bit of an anomaly\u2014how could a part of the legislation designed to support recovery of a city post - a traumatic event be part of the destruction of it\u2014but that is exactly what has happened. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000392\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EWe have had perfectly good buildings\u2014you know, damaged but perfectly good and reparable buildings\u2014destroyed by bulldozers and wrecking balls at the whim of the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, the Hon Gerry Brownlee. In one instance, a magnificent theatre, the Majestic Theatre, which was loved by Cantabrians as much as the Arts Centre\u2014and I know that the local MP, the Hon Nicky Wagner, would agree that the Majestic Theatre was an extraordinary and beautiful building\u2014was bowled over, put in the back of a truck, and dumped. The reason for that was that the Minister has decided as part of his blueprint for the future that the street that it was on would be wider. So we lost this magnificent heritage building in order to make the street wider. I think that is just tragic, I think it is a shame, and I think it was the wrong decision. So that reinforces our desire to make sure, as far as we can, that similar things do not happen to as many of our buildings. We have lost too much. We do not need to lose anything else. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000393\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EI just want to conclude by saying that I also want to acknowledge and thank the members of the Local Government and Environment Committee. Not only did they hear the small but important number of submissions with a great deal of interest\u2014in fact, Scott Simpson, we could have you as a Cantabrian; you sounded really passionate about the Arts Centre\u2014but they did take the time and trouble. They did not just fly into the city, have a meeting, and then leave. They took the time and trouble to go to the Arts Centre and to become part of the atmosphere, which you cannot help but feel. Mr Simpson, I am sure you went to the cheesemongers on the way out and got some of their magnificent cheese. I want to acknowledge all the members who made the effort to actually go through the Arts Centre and learn a little bit more about the history, about the damage that was incurred, and then, of course, about the amazing restoration work that is going on. The use of crafts that are not really part of our everyday life now\u2014and this was acknowledged by Scott Simpson\u2014is extraordinary. The work that those people are doing is truly wonderful. I would invite any member of this House to go to see it. It is absolutely inspirational.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000394\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EI hope that through the next couple of stages of this bill\u2014the Committee stage and the third reading\u2014we can give a lot of confidence to the current trust board, the management, and, indeed, the people of Canterbury that this Parliament understands not only the importance of the history but also the importance of the future of the Arts Centre. This legislation will give us all the confidence that the Arts Centre has the backing of Parliament and that its future will be strong. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022 data-id=\u00229a5ec25509fb4a2cb0ce5822a08256ad\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000395\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229a5ec25509fb4a2cb0ce5822a08256ad\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER (National\u2014Bay of Plenty):\u003C/span\u003E It is with great pleasure that I stand and speak this afternoon on the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill. Can I perhaps start where the honourable member Ruth Dyson also began, by acknowledging you, Mr Assistant Speaker Mallard, and your guidance of this House. You might not recall it, but I have followed your political career with interest and, indeed, was involved in one of your earlier political meetings in Hamilton, when I was a student. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000396\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228c21dc9202d04a0bb49bf535802e445e\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: Primary school student?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000397\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228662aa6c2abc44f89e8f8795d21f80b3\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER\u003C/span\u003E: No, not a primary school student. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000398\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa2b2fda00554f85900b2e21f0a17bbe\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: You don\u2019t look old enough.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000399\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002276b5f89d249748809737cbe1981fc0c4\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER\u003C/span\u003E: Exactly. It was at Waikato University. We went to a march against your then Government, and turned our backs whilst you were talking and chanted rude things. If I ever knew that one day you would be the Assistant Speaker and I would have to defer to your judgment, I am sure I would have possibly yelled louder. It was very good to\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022988117edcf3941b4b00b274d0b5850db\u0022\u003EChris Hipkins\u003C/span\u003E: There are many of us still coming to grips with that idea.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000401\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002224ae67dcab484aecbd6b5db73a528cbd\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER\u003C/span\u003E: I am sure.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000402\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3f9aca7b2ec4361b9a78c87033e60ac\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s a difficult journey.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000403\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c4a3ae90972741fcbbccc74d229a79d7\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER\u003C/span\u003E: It is a difficult journey.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000404\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002220cc4bfa009d420b84721fcf3de9cba0\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: And I think the member will now get on with his speech, rather than bring me into the debate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000405\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022712a3ee1d7e640caa1fa9c528f0529c9\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER\u003C/span\u003E: I take your guidance, Mr Assistant Speaker. I do want to acknowledge the Hon Nicky Wagner. I think she clearly articulated her own passion for this project very well when she spoke earlier and, as people have said and as members have said, she has guided this through the process to date. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000406\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI also do want to add my voice to the chorus of approval that we have heard from the other side for the chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee, Mr Scott Simpson. I can only echo that. He is a tremendous chair and a tremendous local MP, but, in particular, he has shown real flair and \u00E9lan in respect of the way he is approaching his chairmanship of this committee. It allowed us, of course, to spend a good time as a select committee reflecting on the issues that were in front of us in respect of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EThere has already been some commentary in respect of the extraordinary day we had in Christchurch a couple of months ago. The select committee obviously went down to hear the various submitters give their perspectives on this bill and, as has been noted, we then spent some time actually going and having a look at the Arts Centre precinct itself. I was hugely touched by that and moved by that experience. I had been there in a previous life, actually. In fact, I was feeling slightly concerned when I heard Megan Woods talk about all of her entertaining times at the Dux de Lux because I have had a few times there myself, as part of a visiting University of Waikato sports team, and I was wondering whether she might have even been at that bar at the very same time. I cannot recall it, but perhaps that did occur. But it was a fantastic place then, and obviously it is on quite an extraordinary journey of recovery. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000408\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EThe other point that has been made here this afternoon that I do want to acknowledge is the extraordinary passion that the local people of Christchurch express when they talk about the Arts Centre and the opportunity that is in front of the city to rebuild. I guess I reflect, as a local MP from the Bay of Plenty, that obviously we do not have anything like that in Tauranga. We have more natural icons. Mount Maunganui\u2014Mauao\u2014is an example. I recall, when that was devastated by fire a few years ago, the incredible emotional reaction that occurred in our local community. I guess I can put that in only a small way to that same reaction. The people of Christchurch are hugely passionate about what it represents, which is the heart of the city, and they are ensuring that that heritage value is protected and rebuilt. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000409\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EAs we have heard earlier from Scott Simpson, our chair, this is quite an investment that is being undertaken here. It is 7 years\u2019 effort and $300 million of expenditure, and I do want to acknowledge Jen Crawford, the chair, and Andr\u00E9 Lovatt, the chief executive officer, for their tireless commitment to work for the vision of rebuilding what is clearly an extraordinary cultural heart. Their passion for and commitment to this is quite extraordinary. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000410\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EAs you walk around that site\u2014speaking as somebody who is not from the area\u2014you see the acute attention to detail. Every single one of those crumbled stone pieces is documented, it is put on a particular pallet, it is protected with wrap, and it is waiting for its opportunity to be either rebuilt or used as an example so that a copy of it can be rebuilt by the incredibly talented people who are there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000411\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EIt was interesting to have just four submitters attending. I had thought that perhaps something with this degree of community interest in it might well have had more, but it was clear that the submitters spoke in large alignment with each other, and they certainly had a fair amount of support from the wider community.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000412\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI think it is a great bill to support. It is very good to see bills like this come to this Chamber with cross-party support. It is sensible legislation and there is an opportunity to progress something that is going to work for the community of Canterbury. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000413\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI do want to take a moment to reflect on one of the amendments that is required under this change, and that is a move from a stakeholder-representative board to a skill-based board. I think that is laudable. I think it is absolutely appropriate to be considered. I think it was very appropriate that the community ensured that that change had broad stakeholder support, and I note that the University of Canterbury, the Christchurch City Council, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, the Christchurch Civic Trust, and Papatipu R\u016Bnanga of Canterbury are examples of the stakeholders that have been consulted. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000414\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI think it is very important, though, that that engagement with the stakeholders does not cease here. Clearly, there is now a significant power and influence that will be passed to this new trust governance group. It is appropriate that a different mix of skills is required to be able to take it forward for the next 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. But that trust board must never forget from whence it has come in terms of the broad community stakeholder engagement and the representation on the trust to date and in terms of what is important to have still influencing the perspectives of that new skills-based board. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000415\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI do hope that the nominations that come forward for that board are appropriately global in scope. I have no experience in arts council governance, but I have had some experience in governance and senior management in previous roles before entering here. We always, I think, have a bias to be very local, at times parochial, regional, and, at best, national only in terms of the perspectives we bring to the table. For me it is really important that the skill sets that are sought to represent the community and this trust board are as global as possible because, as we heard from some of the submitters, if you have an objective to be able to promote not only the acknowledgment of good heritage and phenomenal art and culture but also education, you need to make sure that the most modern approaches of engaging with communities and making them feel part of their history are adopted. Sometimes those best practices do not necessarily come from within. You need to have more global representatives sitting around the table. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000416\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI do think it was very positive that the change agreed was that we would have the conservation plan available at annual general meetings. I thought it was slightly surprising, but perhaps reflective of a more representative governance model, that that conservation plan had not been reviewed for a number of years. I think the idea now of having that available at every annual general meeting is going to drive a more frequent refreshment of that plan. I think it is in many ways the soul, if you like, of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust to ensure that that continues to be available to the public, that it is updated as necessary, and that stakeholder engagement is part of it. I think it is very important that this legislation does lock those objectives into legislation. It provides, as the member Scott Simpson said, a security and stability for the community going forward. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000417\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EThis is a really positive bill. It reflects a wide community endeavour. It is a very, very expensive community endeavour, but I am very sure that at the end of this, when we finally get through to the third reading and we have the approval of this House, we will have a platform provided for the community of Canterbury that will see it into the future. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022 data-id=\u00227d572aa22a2c4906b2378f31a271473f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000418\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227d572aa22a2c4906b2378f31a271473f\u0022\u003EEUGENIE SAGE (Green):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. I am very pleased to speak on behalf of the Green Party in support of the bill, and I join the chorus of approval for the bill, promoted by the Hon Nicky Wagner. It certainly is not a controversial bill. As others have noted, there were only four submissions and they were generally supportive of the bill\u2019s intent to provide a legislative basis for the trust\u2019s work, to update and modernise its governance, to consolidate its administration, and to enable the trust to do the work on recovering the Arts Centre from the Canterbury earthquakes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000419\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EI am enormously grateful for the vision of those who successfully advocated in the 1970s to protect the Arts Centre buildings against demolition. That would have been a travesty. I am also very grateful for the trust board because we have seen, as Ruth Dyson noted, wholesale destruction of heritage buildings in Christchurch post the quakes because of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority\u2019s casualness about heritage and its keenness to use the section 38 notices under the emergency legislation to sign off on the demolition of Cranmer Court, the Majestic Theatre, and over 200 other significant heritage buildings in the central city. The work being done by the trust board on strengthening and repairing and restoring the Arts Centre is really significant because of how much we have lost. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000420\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EIt is also significant because of the importance of these buildings. There are 23 buildings on the Arts Centre site. All but one of them are listed as category 1 historic places by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. They are buildings with special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance and value. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000421\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003ELike others, I pay tribute to the current Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board, to the leadership it is providing, to its chair Jen Crawford and the chief executive officer, Andr\u00E9 Lovatt, and to the skill and dedication of all of those who are working on the site, from the international team of stonemasons to the design engineers, the craftsman carpenters, the plasterers, and the builders. All but one of these 23 buildings have sustained significant damage, so we have a restoration project that is costing about $290 million and is going to take 7 years, and it is expected to be completed in 2019. When you go behind the safety fences and have a look at the work that is being done, it is easy to see that the challenges are immense. Buildings are being completely gutted. Floors are being lifted. Timber ceilings are being peeled back to enable concrete cap beams to be put in place. There is proper earthquake strengthening. A lot more attention to modern technology will ensure that these buildings stay warm. Having been a tenant of the Old Chemistry Building, which was freezing in winter, that is a very welcome addition. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000422\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EThis legislation is good legislation. The objects of the trust, in clause 5, are for the Arts Centre to be held in trust as an outstanding cultural centre for use by Christchurch residents and visitors. The vision of the trust board and its staff is for the Arts Centre to be a cultural hub of the city and region, a vibrant place of culture, art, and education. If this bill can help achieve that aim, it will be very worthwhile. The Arts Centre buildings, like the Canterbury Museum, and like Christchurch Cathedral, are neo-Gothic buildings, which were popular in the Victorian era. They revive the details and forms of the original Gothic style of the Middle Ages. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000423\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EThe Arts Centre was designed by using six different architectural practices. It was built over about 50 years, but it has cohesion and unity. The architects have respected the work of those who have gone before them. Two of the major architects for the Arts Centre were Benjamin Mountfort and Samuel Hurst-Seager. They were responsible for the grand design of the precinct and features like the quadrangles. Benjamin Mountfort also had a major role in the design of the Canterbury Museum and the Christchurch Cathedral. And, of course, these buildings are all linked by Worcester Street, now Worcester Boulevard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000424\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EBut there has been a very different approach between what has happened at the Arts Centre and what is happening at the cathedral. The former Arts Centre trust board had the wisdom to ensure that the Arts Centre was very well insured. That meant that the restoration and strengthening work was able to start quickly, and it was assisted by some generous local and international donations. At the Arts Centre we are seeing the extraordinary challenges being responded to with inspiration and passion to develop creative solutions to those engineering challenges. We have a lot of energy, a can-do attitude, a pride in what is being done, and an obvious sign of progress with the rebuild. It is an inspiring project. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000425\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EChristchurch Cathedral is the very opposite. Because of the obduracy of the Church Property Trustees and their failure to even protect the interior of the cathedral from the weather by closing the gaping wound of what was once the rose window and the spires, the whole cathedral has now become a symbol of failure. It is a symbol of having been defeated by the earthquakes, and yet it could be so very different. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000426\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EI strongly encourage the Bishop of Christchurch, Rt Rev. Victoria Matthews, and the Church Property Trustees to do what the Local Government and Environment Committee did and take a visit to the Arts Centre and see what can be achieved if you have got passion, leadership, engineering skill, and commitment to restoring a place that is important to the people of Christchurch. Eighty percent of the cathedral structure still stands, the roof structure is entirely intact, and over 100 structural and seismic engineers have said that there is no need to demolish it. They have said that the cathedral could be restored and, with modern seismic strengthening, could comply with the highest code standards for public buildings. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000427\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EThe Great Christchurch Buildings Trust has estimated that the cost of restoring the cathedral would be around $67 million, substantially less than what it is costing to restore the Arts Centre, and that trust has offered to help the Church Property Trustees meet the $27 million shortfall between the church\u2019s insurance payments and the cost of restoration. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000428\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EThe building of the Christchurch Cathedral was a huge undertaking for a small community; it took 40 years to complete. The Arts Centre restoration is taking 7 years and the cathedral restoration may take a similar time. But given that these buildings have been around for over a century and given that they will outlast us all, that is a very short time. So I would encourage Bishop Matthews and the Church Property Trustees to look at what real leadership, creative energy, and a respect for the craftsmanship and skill of the past is doing at the Arts Centre and to look at what strong vision to return and retain a cultural treasure is achieving, and then apply that to the cathedral. What has been achieved at the Arts Centre has many practical lessons for restoring the cathedral. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000429\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EThe cathedral was designed by the same architect, Benjamin Mountfort. It has got some of the same materials\u2014those big basalt and limestone blocks, the big timber supports and roof trusses, and the slate roof. The Christchurch Cathedral, like the Arts Centre, is one of Christchurch\u2019s landmarks, it is a legacy of our history, and it can be a symbol of the city again, but there needs to be a major change in attitude by the Church Property Trustees and by the bishop. It needs them to be inspired by the same vision and sense of purpose that we are seeing in the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board, which this bill is designed to encourage. Thank you. The Green Party is very pleased to support this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022 data-id=\u002288c484483bf64de8b20888b95806ee2a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000430\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002288c484483bf64de8b20888b95806ee2a\u0022\u003ERON MARK (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to likewise endorse and signal that we will be supporting the passage of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill, not just through this reading but through to the conclusion. I am going to pick up on some of the themes of some of the speeches before me. It is very hard when you get a bill that is quite simple, you come in as speaker No. 7, and pretty much everything that can be said about the Arts Centre has been said. So I am going to pick up on a couple of comments. I am going to pick up on something as a former Mayor of Carterton\u2014the comments about the former Local Government and Environment Committee. I do need to say this: the previous select committee was not viewed on very well by local government in general. I am pleased that I am working\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000431\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227eb1c10cd3de4fd096b3879ebae957a0\u0022\u003EJami-Lee Ross\u003C/span\u003E: Maybe it was that mayor.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000432\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228e723079cc4a4646a8d491ea53966f9e\u0022\u003ERON MARK\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014on a select committee\u2014there is chipping in from some young man over there; I will get his name soon. It will come back to me.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000433\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022122c22df5b074b9aac1c211f27153443\u0022\u003EJami-Lee Ross\u003C/span\u003E: Old age is setting in.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000434\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224c6f1a0050b1443f84c21b3a84619acc\u0022\u003ERON MARK\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, yap, yap, yap. Do I need to talk about Northland to shut that member up? I probably could, but I will move on. This select committee seems to have a very nice culture\u2014and it is interesting that we are talking about arts and culture at this time\u2014within it. I am pleased to be sitting on a committee that has a high degree of cohesion and collegiality about it. I have to say, though, that when I look back over my career in Parliament, some select committees have not had that air, that culture, about them. The previous Local Government and Environment Committee earned itself a reputation in local government for being pretty pigheaded and bloody-minded, particularly from the Government\u2019s side. That was not evident today. It is not evident under the chairmanship of Scott Simpson\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000435\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022406d596a1ce24f0da385b44656426c68\u0022\u003EHon Nicky Wagner\u003C/span\u003E: I would start being very worried about a strike.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000436\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cc54d24b828144deb2ddb737e49d3e4a\u0022\u003ERON MARK\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and I am happy to say that I am looking forward to continuing working in the same vein as we progress through. It is not hard. If you want to hear those messages, go talk to any mayor about the way in which the previous Local Government and Environment Committee heard their submissions on the amalgamation proposals and on the changes to the Local Government Act. They were quite disgusted and appalled by the body language and behaviour of some of the members, Nicky\u2014quite disgusted, actually, but moving forward.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000437\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221e053b3873ec4cd5b9ada10b836702c4\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: Not by all parties, surely. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000438\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c35a979b61fa4833a1626890c50bdf4c\u0022\u003ERON MARK\u003C/span\u003E: No, no, not by all parties. One party thought that that behaviour was quite appropriate and that was the National Party.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000439\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EThere were comments about Margaret Austin\u2014and the Hon Margaret Austin has been the chair of the trust board\u2014and it really does give me great pleasure to hear those comments about Margaret, because in her time both in Parliament and in Christchurch she has done sterling work across the community, and this is just another fine example of it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000440\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003ELooking at the history of the trust, I note that the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board was established in 1978. That was 4 years after I arrived in Christchurch from the North Island as a young soldier. I can say that from then, 1974, until when I left Christchurch in 2007, the transformation in the Arts Centre was absolutely astonishing. It went from being a place that had huge, obvious historic and cultural value to being a place that had all the signs of falling into disrepair and even dereliction. But because of the efforts of a lot of very talented and committed Cantabrians over those years from 1978 to 2007, I saw it transformed as it was renovated, revived, and energised into becoming a vibrant centre of entertainment, art, education, and trade. It became a centre of entertainment not just for Cantabrians but for people who visited Christchurch. I can say that as I grew and eventually became a family man with children, I absolutely adored any opportunity to take my kids into the Arts Centre and to enjoy the entertainment and enjoy the arts and the cultures that were exhibited there so often. I think 1.5 million people\u2014the records state here\u2014were going through, visiting there every year. Even those figures quite astonished me when I read them recently.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000441\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EI have spoken to many people all over the South Island who have had the opportunity to visit the Arts Centre. It would be fair to say that their views and their experiences of the Arts Centre are pretty similar to those that have been expressed in the House here today. Of course, one could not get through this debate without mentioning the Dux de Lux. I see that the honourable member Megan Woods mentioned that, and Todd Muller. Obviously, a number of university students partook in that little place, and I can say that a number of soldiers from Burnham Military Camp who partook in there on the odd occasion have always enjoyed the Dux de Lux and have enjoyed that opportunity to mix with people whom we probably would not meet socially on a normal basis, particularly those of us in the military. Artistically, culturally, historically, the Christchurch Arts Centre epitomised Christchurch and Christchurch people. It epitomised, clearly, their heritage and their culture, but in many, many ways it also epitomised their innovation and their determination not to allow a taonga that was so important to them to fall into a state of disrepair or, even worse, disappear. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EOf course, we all know that in 2010 and 2011 Christchurch was hit by those rather devastating earthquakes. Again, I am someone who considers himself to be a Cantabrian by 30 years\u2019 occupation, even though I am from the Wairarapa, and my family were down there. I was fortunate\u2014and unfortunate\u2014in having family members who were in the Fire Service, family members who were in urban search and rescue, and family members who were in the police. I was fortunate to get a very unique opportunity to visit the red zone and view the devastation in places like the Arts Centre firsthand at a very early stage when most other New Zealanders were locked out of the place. It was a privilege that I still treasure, and I know it was not one that was afforded to other people.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000443\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003ELooking at the level of damage and having an engineering background myself, I could only shake my head and wonder how the heck some of this work was ever going to be completed, and whether there was ever going to be a full restoration. I understand the angst and the heartache from people who lament the decisions made around the cathedral. Anyone who has lived in Christchurch for 30 years on and off understands how important the English heritage and the English culture\u2014and particularly the cathedral\u2014is to Cantabrians. This particular project was always going to be extremely demanding for those who were entrusted with the responsibility of rebuilding, restoring, and conserving the Arts Centre going forward. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000444\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EThis bill, brought in by Nicky Wagner\u2014and I congratulate the honourable member\u2014seeks to address some of the impediments that were inherent in the former governance model. Having returned to Parliament and seen this bill, which came in last year, I can, and New Zealand First can, understand and concur with the honourable member Nicky Wagner that change was necessary if the good people of Christchurch were to do the task that was confronting them. Modernising the governance structure, affirming the responsibility of ownership and duty to it, removing the political influence that comes with ministerial and political party - influenced appointments\u2014and it does not matter whether it is a red-dominated Government or a blue-dominated Government\u2014are never actually going to deliver to you all of the skill sets that one requires in this task ahead.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000445\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002260200136-9d63-4a82-b4f5-c00411adb1fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002265bdba74d6c149a191d5947127280824\u0022\u003EHon Jo Goodhew\u003C/span\u003E: What about yourself?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000446\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002225e96903aac848c9b2ad4788dfb512d0\u0022\u003ERON MARK\u003C/span\u003E: I know. I brought wonderful skill sets and your former Minister Tony Ryall absolutely acknowledged it, and I am grateful for that recognition. But the member herself knows from her time in Opposition that one can look at some ministerial appointments and think that, given the challenges of a $290 million project to be conducted over 7 years, the skill sets in this case need to be very defined. So the amendments here to address that are very good amendments, and we support them wholeheartedly. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000447\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EWe would say, I guess, that culture is something that some of us look at with different eyes. I look at some of the things that were lost in Christchurch, and we lament those losses. Let us just hope that looking back at the Christchurch Arts Centre in 7 or 8 years from now\u2014and at the new board of trustees as they have undertaken their full restoration and rebuild work, working and focusing on conservation\u2014we will be proud that we supported that effort here this afternoon. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022 data-id=\u0022191fa9feeba643cbad6ca2837f54f2bd\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000448\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022191fa9feeba643cbad6ca2837f54f2bd\u0022\u003EPAUL FOSTER-BELL (National):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe e te Mana Whakaw\u0101. I rise to speak on behalf of the Government in the second reading debate on the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill. Far be it from me to correct the honourable member Dr Megan Woods, but I did just want to raise one small issue. In her speech she described this bill as a local bill. Of course, it is important to recognise that this is in fact a private bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000449\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EA private bill is something that, although not abhorrent to this House, is relatively rare because, in general, as a constitutional principle, we prefer to pass general legislation that has equal effect for all. However, I actually agree with previous speakers in this debate that such is the value of the Christchurch Arts Centre, not only to Christchurch but to New Zealand, and even in a global context, that this bill is appropriate. It is appropriate that we put in place specific, enabling legislation to enshrine the objects and powers of the trust and its board, and to protect this asset, which is of enormous value to the people of Canterbury and to the citizens of New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000450\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EI had, I suppose, the pleasure of training as an archaeologist at the University of Otago. I bring this up for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I am not entirely unaware of some of the issues around heritage management and rehabilitating dilapidated old ruins, having spent several years during my university time with a trowel, brush, and shovel in such sites. Secondly, because the University of Otago, like the Arts Centre, is in that wonderful neo-Gothic style\u2014in fact, the Christchurch Arts Centre is described as collegiate, or collegial, Gothic it is, as the very distinguished and discerning member Scott Simpson pointed out, built to emulate the mores of Victorian Britain. But it is actually unique in the world as a consolidated example of that style of architecture in a precinct\u2014not just in individual buildings but consistent across entire city blocks\u2014and it is something that is very precious to us. In fact, prior to the devastating earthquakes, the Arts Centre precinct, along with the Christchurch Cathedral, was being considered for recognition and for World Heritage status to be inscribed to it on the World Heritage List by Unesco because of its unique nature and its value, not only for New Zealand but globally. So this is a timely bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000451\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EIt is important that after 30 or 40 years of operation, we modernise some provisions that govern the original trust. I think we should also note the excellent work that is being done by the existing trust board and the good management of the staff, led by Andr\u00E9 Lovatt as chief executive officer of the Arts Centre. They are in a strong position due to that good management. After the devastating first earthquake in 2010, which did a lot of physical damage\u2014a lot less human damage, death, and destruction was wreaked\u2014the Christchurch Arts Centre very sensibly reinsured. It settled quickly and reinsured. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000452\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003ESo the reason we now have one of the largest\u2014in fact, the largest, as Scott Simpson said\u2014heritage restoration projects currently under way in the world is that the Arts Centre was sensible in its approach to insurance and managed to secure a nearly $300 million payout from insurers to enable it to undertake that 7-year restoration process. The additional funding, of course, being applied by the Government does help, but in a situation where we are inevitably forced to prioritise and juggle between hospitals, schools, arts precincts, and other buildings it is useful to have significant money coming in from insurance providers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000453\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EI do not have the connections to Canterbury that some other members have, but I do have a fondness for the Arts Centre building. I enjoyed David McPhail\u2019s play Muldoon, performed in the Court Theatre. It would have been about 10 years ago, in the early 2000s. Having visited, along with colleagues from the Local Government and Environment Committee, to have a look at the work that is being done there, it was very, very clear not only that is there high quality in terms of the management of the organisation but that it really is a \u201CUnited Nations of restoration\u201D. You hear Irish accents. You see people from the Czech Republic, those from the UK, those from Europe, those from Asia\u2014from all around the world\u2014contributing to maintaining some of these crafts and trades that have been lost over the years, but are now being re-inculcated and retaught. So we have not only plasterers and stonemasons but also people who work in wood and people who are experts in the electrical wiring of heritage buildings, to avoid the unfortunate risk of fire, which you get when you have these buildings where certain fundaments cannot be changed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000454\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThis is a good piece of legislation. The objects of this legislation are not for the Government to step in and determine on behalf of the people of Canterbury how the centre should be managed. In fact, it is quite the opposite. This bill enshrines a role for the trust board that includes holding the trust property for the objects that have been laid out. These objects are to hold and develop the Arts Centre as a unique and outstanding cultural centre for use by the people of Christchurch, and\u2014equally important in my view\u2014to foster, promote, and facilitate an interest and involvement in the arts, culture, creativity, the creative industries, and educational purposes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000455\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EWe saw this in play when we visited the Arts Centre site and it was explained to us that in previous incarnations the buildings were used for such features as cafes and art galleries. Of course, there will be those facilities in the restored Arts Centre. But we were also shown the fact that they will have state-of-the-art laboratories, including 3D printing\u2014this new technology that allows something to be designed on a computer and then realised in plastic or polymer form almost instantaneously. This is very expensive equipment, but it will take the arts that are developed there to a new level. It is very appropriate for this modern age in which we live. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000456\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThe powers of the trust board as enshrined in this bill are fairly far-reaching. In fact, they have the full capacity to carry on or undertake any activity that advances the objects of the Arts Centre. That includes the acquisition of further real or personal property of any nature that may be useful for the maintenance of the Arts Centre, and being able to let, or lease, the lands and buildings so that the buildings can be let out and put to use, because, as we know, when heritage buildings are engaged in a useful purpose, they are more likely to be valued and respected but also maintained. The trust board is allowed to construct, re-erect, improve, maintain, and provide further buildings, and, of course, that is important in a situation where we are in the middle of a major restoration project. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000457\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThe trust board will be empowered to employ staff\u2014an important factor also in terms of managing such a significant site. It will be able to borrow money. It will have the ability to make a business decision as to whether it needs to seek a mortgage or debenture or some sort of injection of capital to enable the board to achieve its aims\u2014although, of course, as I have mentioned, that $300 million insurance payment does help significantly towards the reconstruction\u2014and it is able to generate public subscriptions and donations. So it is able to do a wide range of things. This is not a bill that is about the Government putting more power in its own hands. In fact, this is a bill that modernises the settings for the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board and actually empowers it to deliver. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000458\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EI do want to raise a few other points. I congratulate the Minister, the Hon Nicky Wagner, who has demonstrated, I think, with the excellent majority with which she held the seat of Christchurch Central at the last election that she is an incredibly hard-working MP and that she has been a passionate and tireless advocate for this project in particular. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000459\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EI would like to acknowledge the chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee and all of our colleagues. Given the comments from Mr Mark I would have to agree with his description of the committee as being a group of people who have an interest in working together collegially\u2014which is appropriate when we are dealing with collegial Gothic buildings\u2014and who take a sophisticated and, I think, quite enlightened approach to dealing with this issue and making sure that the right things are done. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000460\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThe committee did suggest a number of amendments to the bill. There probably is not time to go through each and every one of those today. But I think, in a general sense, that it is important that we achieve a position where people are on the trust board due to the skill set they bring rather than because they represent specific interest groups in society. We need people who have accounting knowledge, legal knowledge, Government expertise, and, importantly, heritage management expertise on the governance body for the Arts Centre so that it can be run well into the future. Thank you very much.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022 data-id=\u00226cfcfca8026a487c951a26e12362b88b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000461\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226cfcfca8026a487c951a26e12362b88b\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: The next call is a split call. Jan Logie\u20145 minutes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022 data-id=\u0022cbaf3d08383e4bba9e0690473a9436e2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000462\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022cbaf3d08383e4bba9e0690473a9436e2\u0022\u003EJAN LOGIE (Green):\u003C/span\u003E It is with pleasure that I rise to speak on this, the second reading of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill, a private bill brought to this House by the Hon Nicky Wagner. I would like to commend the Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery on the smooth progress of this bill so far through the House, and also for the demonstration that is within this bill of a connection to community and a valuing of heritage, and the importance that that plays within Christchurch. We do see that evident in this bill. I guess it is just a shame that that connection to community and that valuing of heritage have run up against the immovable force of the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and the wider National caucus. This has meant we have not seen those same values being able to be applied in a wider sense in Christchurch. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000463\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EThe Arts Centre building\u2014it has been interesting listening in the House tonight to how many people from Christchurch have spoken so passionately about this place. I too have a link to Christchurch in that my mother was very proud to have adopted Canterbury for herself. She has the Crusaders theme song on her phone and is very passionate about this city now. I have visited her there many times and spent time at the Arts Centre. We have been to plays there. We have seen movies there. We have been to the art gallery there. We have had coffee there. We have been shopping there. I think it just speaks to what a hub this place is in its essence as well as in carrying so many stories, which we have heard mentioned in other members\u2019 speeches tonight, around the famous people\u2014Rutherford\u2014who were there, the meaning that is held within those buildings, and the traditions as well as just everyday experiences of locals on a daily basis that are held in those buildings. They are very special for the people of Christchurch and for those of us who are not Cantabrians but have links to that place. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000464\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EThe Arts Centre is a massive drawcard for so many foreign visitors. You see the tourists walking up and down those avenues, just being drawn to that place because it is such a special place. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the preservation of that and the protection of those values and that tradition within Christchurch, particularly\u2014and I do have to mention it again\u2014in the face of so much devastation within the central city of Christchurch. Enabled by section 38 of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act, there have been 1,240 demolitions within those four avenues, and 20 percent of those were heritage buildings. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000465\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EThe Majestic Centre\u2014again, there are the things I have been to there and the stories that those walls have held for the generations of people who settled in Christchurch. There is also Cranmer Court. These heritage buildings are not just old dungers, as described by the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery. They are holders of love, tradition, and meaning for the people of Christchurch, and it has been such a loss to see so much of that taken away for wider roads\u2014for some enforced vision created in the head of a Minister sitting most of his time in Wellington. So it is so welcome to have the opportunity to be part of something that protects a section of what was\u2014to enable those traditions and those memories to carry on into the future and into the future well beyond us in this House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022 data-id=\u0022867d0d46085143c89e2b1658bb7e96fe\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000466\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022867d0d46085143c89e2b1658bb7e96fe\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Jacinda Ardern\u20145 minutes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022 data-id=\u002279d914e014da440ebf3d9854f0a76070\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000467\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002279d914e014da440ebf3d9854f0a76070\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I think it has been quite uplifting to hear members across the House talk with such passion about the importance of protecting important historic and heritage buildings in New Zealand and specifically within the Christchurch context. I think that is incredibly important, given the loss that that city and that region have experienced in terms of their heritage buildings. I do want to come back to that in a little bit. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000468\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ESpeaking directly to the Arts Centre though, I too, like many other members across this House, visited the centre both before and post - the quakes. Post - the quakes I was left with absolutely no doubt about the passion that is held by those who are working on this project for doing the very best job they can on behalf of the people of Canterbury to preserve such an important cluster of buildings. There are, however, a few issues that relate to the Arts Centre. Obviously, it was the home of the University of Canterbury for more than a century. It comprises 23 heritage buildings. They are collectively registered as category I historic places under the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act, and, of course, with such a significant number of buildings it is a large project\u2014it is 7 years and it is $290 million. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000469\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EThe definition around the buildings that has been used struck a little bit of controversy, though, at the select committee. To be fair, very few things, I think, did raise any question marks. But two of the submissions did raise concerns about references in the bill to \u201Chistoric stone buildings\u201D, which, of course, is the majority of the buildings, I understand, but that does leave out, as currently drafted, protections for the former student union building, which would be known to many as Dux de Lux, and it has been referred to in a number of speeches in this House. Although I understand that the issue over the protections not relating to that building has been raised with those who are members of the Arts Centre trust, they have said that the plans are not really locked in for that building, as I understand it, as has been reported, and that there is still a longer-term plan around that building that needs to be developed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000470\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EGiven that this particular part of the centre\u2019s grounds has not been included in the definition, I think it would be helpful if the trust were able to give words of comfort, particularly to those from Historic Places Canterbury who have spoken out about this issue and are really seeking assurances that it is part of the wider plan. Even though it is not included in the definition, by virtue of being a brick and wood building as opposed to being a stone building, I think there is room for the trust to work collaboratively with those advocates who are trying to ensure that that building is looked after too. That is just one of the points that I wanted to make. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000471\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI do also want to just touch on the fact that provision has been made in the bill for legacy around the trust. If the trust is wound up, the trust property would be vested in the Crown. I think that is a really important part of the bill. Of course we would hope that we would not have a set of circumstances that would allow that, but I have seen cases in the past where there has not been proper provision for that, and it has led to disastrous results. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000472\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ESpeaking of disastrous results, I want to spend only a quick part of my contribution on the wider issues around heritage buildings in Canterbury. There have been 1,240 demolitions as of February 2015 within the four avenues, compared with 292 rebuild consents, and 20 percent of those demolitions have been of heritage buildings. The centre of Christchurch has lost 50 percent of its heritage buildings, and often that happened with great haste and, in some cases, without it being necessary. The Majestic Theatre is a prime example of that. Labour, almost a year ago to the day, called for section 38 of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act to no longer be applied to heritage buildings, to give proper Resource Management Act process to the removal of heritage buildings. Yes, safety was a very necessary concern in the beginning, but that moment has moved on and we were seeing, time and time again, decisions of expediency at the cost of heritage. I would hope that there is an end to that process now in Christchurch.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022 data-id=\u002296daad29d8944f50858f08cc21e9da2b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000473\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002296daad29d8944f50858f08cc21e9da2b\u0022\u003EJOANNE HAYES (National):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe e te Mana Whakaw\u0101. I am pleased to stand to speak on the second reading of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill, but before I get going I just want to give some clarification. This Government is\u2014is\u2014concerned about the rebuild of Christchurch, and $15 billion - plus is not exactly a little drop in the bucket. We are caring about what is happening with the Christchurch rebuild; it is one of our major priority areas. I just wanted to put that out there in response to what was said by a previous speaker from the Green Party. I also want to say that I moved to Christchurch East just before the by-election\u2014it would have been about June of last year\u2014and found my whakapapa roots there. I am one of the mokopuna of Tahu P\u014Dtiki, whose older brother is Porourangi. Porourangi is my direct ancestor, through my father and Ngati Porou. I just wanted to put that there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000474\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EAs I move into my speech, I want to thank the Hon Nicky Wagner for bringing this bill to the House. It is a very good bill, and I am really pleased that it has cross-party support. The Arts Centre is one of the most significant clusters of heritage buildings in New Zealand. It is a cultural asset, not only just locally but nationally and internationally as well. I know that the people of Christchurch love their Arts Centre. Maybe I was too young to go to the Dux de Lux\u2014I do not know. I did not know much about that place, but anyway, from all accounts, I can see that many people did enjoy what the Dux de Lux offered up. Again, I am carrying on with thanking Nicky for bringing this bill to the House. I am also going to thank Scott Simpson, as the chair of our Local Government and Environment Committee. I was one of the members of the Justice and Electoral Committee last year, and being a new MP it was really good to be under his chairmanship. He chairs the meetings very well and collegially. The Local Government and Environment Committee is not the only one he has chaired; he has also chaired the Justice and Electoral Committee, and I thank you, Scott, for your wise counsel and for your leadership in that select committee. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000475\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EAs I move on to the Arts Centre, as I said, the Arts Centre is a historic building. As Eugenie Sage said, it reflects the distinct architectural designs of Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort, and it also, as I said, reflects the history of local education, with a strong connection, obviously, to arts and science. Its main pupil, or student, was Ernest, Lord Rutherford. He completed his undergraduate degree there, at Canterbury College, as well as most of his breakthrough research. So it has got a special place in the hearts of everybody who has used it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000476\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EThe Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Board, which is the group that governs the Arts Centre, was established in December 1978 and incorporated under the Charitable Trusts Act of 1957. My colleagues have already outlined the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes that hit Christchurch, leaving 22 of the 23 buildings in dire need of repair. That repair is going to be a 7-year and a near-on $300 million restoration programme, which is currently under way. As many have heard, the Local Government and Environment Committee met there a few months ago. We were privileged to go through the Arts Centre. I was unable to go there\u2014I had worn the wrong shoes\u2014so I will enjoy heading back to Christchurch to have a bit of a look through the building and see its progress thus far. As I said before, it is the largest heritage restoration building, not only here, but currently in the world. It is a significant milestone for New Zealand to have that project ongoing. Not only does it provide back to the people of Christchurch their beloved Arts Centre but it also sits within the world records, and because it is there, it is basically a flagstone for international visitors to come and visit this wonderful centre once it is completed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000477\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI just want to talk a little bit about the trust board and some of the impacts that the earthquakes have had on it. With the impact of the earthquakes, there have to be some changes or some adaptations within the trust board. Some of my colleagues have already talked about the skills-based board appointments. They have an appointments committee with which to do that. I want to acknowledge Andr\u00E9 Lovatt, the chief executive officer, and Jen Crawford, the chair of the trust board, for the work that they have been doing\u2014and the work that lies ahead of them, based on some of the clauses within this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000478\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI want to move to some of the new provisions, some of the key changes set out in schedule 2, which looks at the constitution of the trust board with some of the key changes. Some of the areas that I want to talk about are the new provisions in clauses 1 to 4 of schedule 2. These deal with trust board membership and look at the number of board appointments. Seven to nine members can be appointed to the board. As I mentioned earlier, there is an appointments committee that has been set up. Some of my colleagues have also discussed vacancies on the board, which may arise from time to time. Some of the key stakeholders such as the University of Canterbury, the Christchurch City Council, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, the Christchurch Civic Trust, the Papatipu R\u016Bnanga of Canterbury\u2014which I am sure my colleague Nuk will talk a little bit more in depth about\u2014other such local businesses and community organisations, and the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage will have an interest in vacancies and in the Arts Centre as it progresses. This area of clauses 1 to 4 also talks about how vacancies will be made available. That will be done through the chief executive officer publicly advertising the vacancies in the local newspapers and various other areas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000479\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI want to talk a little bit now about the revised provisions relating to the proceedings of the trust board, which is in clause 5 of schedule 2. This looks at a new requirement for the board to hold an annual public meeting where the conservation plan will be placed for input and all viewing, and, as amended, it also talks about what the quorum will be, as well about voting. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000480\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EWe have talked a little about the revised provisions dealing with the accounts of the trust board and other areas. I just want to talk a little bit about clause 10(a) of schedule 2, which deals with the protection of board members from liability. That is really key, because when you ask people to come on to boards and help to govern particular organisations, especially this one\u2014it is a very key one for the community\u2014we want to be able to protect them, and so clause 10(a) puts in the ability for board members to be protected from liability for loss to the trust. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000481\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EFinally, clauses 10(b) and (c) look at indemnity. I am going to read this. New clause 10(b) provides that \u201CEach board member [may] be indemnified by the trust against all actions, proceedings, claims, damages, losses, demands, costs (including legal costs), and expenses suffered by or incurred by that member in connection with the trust.\u201D That is really key, because when you start advertising for new board members, those are some of the things that they will be looking at\u2014especially those from a skills-based background, because they are professionals. They bring in their professional backgrounds or their community links, and they want to know that they are going to be safe within the board where they are representing their community. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000482\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EIn closing, we are going to pay them. Clause 11 of schedule 2 looks at providing for the remuneration of board members, and it is nice to be able to give them something in recognition of the skills that they bring to their role as trust board members of the Christchurch Arts Centre. Again, I am very proud to be standing and speaking on behalf of the Government supporting the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill. Kia ora.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022 data-id=\u0022db2aa7cb71af4306828d1ca93ebb1178\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000483\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022db2aa7cb71af4306828d1ca93ebb1178\u0022\u003EPOTO WILLIAMS (Labour\u2014Christchurch East):\u003C/span\u003E Meitaki maata, Mr Assistant Speaker, and thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill. Firstly, my acknowledgments go to the Hon Nicky Wagner for guiding this bill in its passage through the House. There is widespread support for what this bill aims to do. I also need to acknowledge Jen Crawford and Andr\u00E9 Lovatt from the trust board itself. Further, I want to acknowledge the Hon Margaret Austin, who is a former Labour member and someone whom the Christchurch community owes a great debt of gratitude for her desire to ensure that our city and our province recovers well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000484\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EThe trust board has worked tirelessly, and it is an extraordinary piece of legislation in that the board\u2019s trust deeds and objects, the powers under which it will work, and all the provisions that provide for the trust board are enshrined in legislation. It is not the normal way you would do things, but it is a very significant and important step to ensure that the work that is done to restore the buildings on that site goes ahead. So I acknowledge and support the aims of the trust board. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000485\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EThis legislation has three main aims: to create the legal framework in which the work can be conducted, to amend the governance structure to ensure that the right people with the right skills at the right time are in a position to ensure that this work is carried out, and\u2014the last aim\u2014to enable and to respond to the recovery work that is required post the earthquakes. The legislation is significant. We have heard other members in this House speak this evening about what the centre means to them, and not just the centre but the general precinct and the area that suffered significant damage. We are talking not just about buildings and land; we are talking about areas where people and families congregated and shared time together. Each one of those stones within the Arts Centre building, each piece of wood, each window, and each area of courtyard and pavement has a memory. The memories are of times that were spent there by students\u2014happy times; perhaps stressful times too, if you were a student and trying to get through exams. There is more to this precinct than just the bricks and the stone. It is significant that we acknowledge that that is part of the recovery and restoration process. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000486\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EOther members have talked about the trust being set up in 1978, and my colleague Dr Megan Woods talked about how that came to pass in the early 1970s. I want to talk a little bit about the objects of the trust because this piece of legislation enshrines those. The objects really are ensuring that we hold and develop the Arts Centre\u2014the site, the buildings\u2014in trust as a unique and outstanding cultural centre for use by the people of Christchurch and its visitors. I know that before moving to Christchurch to live, when I was visiting family in Christchurch, it would always be one of the places we went to because it always had the best coffee, and the market at the weekend was a great place to pick up knick-knacks. It was extraordinary to be able to watch the artisans at work there using crafts from a past time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000487\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EOne of the other objects is fostering, promoting, and facilitating interest and involvement in art, culture, creativity, the creative industries, and education. There was no cooler place to go than the Arts Centre if you were going to see a play, to hear music, or to really just generally share in culture. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000488\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EThis bill also enshrines the powers of the trust, which include having the capacity to ensure that any activity that the trust board deems necessary is able to be carried out and that at any time that it needs to acquire property, even to demolish buildings, or make changes or employ staff, all of those activities are within this legislation. The legislation is unable to be changed except so that the work of the trust board can go on as it needs to through the period\u2014through to 2019. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000489\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EFurther, there are two main parts to the bill. The first sets out its purpose and its definitions around the committee and the trust deed. Those provisions describe the schedules, which provide the detail of the land and the buildings within the bill. Part 2 sets out the objects of the trust, and the bill concludes with the schedules, which describe the land and the constitution of the trust board. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000490\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EAny discussion regarding heritage buildings in Christchurch cannot be held without thinking about section 38 of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011 and the loss of heritage to the city. The reason I refer to that in the context of other comments is that I know that over the last few summers, as the fences have started to come down in the central city, as people have been able to go back into the city, and as some of the rebuilding work has been carried out, many people were reluctant to return because they did not want to see the devastation that was there. It has been a re-traumatising of our population, I guess, in a sense, to go back into the city and see just what needs to be done and just what has been lost. I ask the Government to think long and hard about whether we properly used section 38 when we were considering the demolition of many of those heritage buildings. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000491\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EMy colleague Eugenie Sage also referred to the cathedral. When I talk about the cathedral and when I talk about the significant heritage buildings in Christchurch, I liken them to when we discuss our whakapapa and our pepeha. The maunga within it\u2014for those of us who do not have a connection to that part of the world in terms of our cultural heritage\u2014that we can refer to are those buildings, the cathedral and the Arts Centre, and the significant beauty that our heritage buildings brought to the area. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000492\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EMany of my colleagues have talked about the number of buildings that were lost within the four avenues area. Twenty percent were our heritage buildings. That is significant. In order for recovery to occur to the fullest extent, we must acknowledge what we have lost and what has passed and ensure that we do not lose any more. So I commend this bill to the House, and I encourage the Government to consider carefully the recovery of Christchurch. The recovery has not been completed. There are still many areas where people are wanting this Government to step up. I cannot go past the eastern suburbs in that comment, of course, where we are still to have our horizontal infrastructure completed so we can be fully recovered. So thank you to the Hon Nicky Wagner. It is a great bill. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022 data-id=\u0022a0bbb8fddde4473eaea1f5d317f016d0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000493\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a0bbb8fddde4473eaea1f5d317f016d0\u0022\u003ENUK KORAKO (National):\u003C/span\u003E Kia ora e te Mana Whakaw\u0101. I stand to take the final call for the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill in its second reading. I am not going to go over a lot of the history behind this bill and what has happened to date, but I do want to just mention a couple of things, particularly\u2014I see that my friend on the other side, New Zealand First\u2019s Ron Mark, has actually left the House\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000494\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eb8f4cabbdea4e33a9c8298f685dd906\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Order! You cannot refer to members who are not present in the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000495\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002241e2506e795d4b919433e8d1dc3c00e8\u0022\u003ENUK KORAKO\u003C/span\u003E: My friend from New Zealand First has\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000496\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223faa170ffeca4f11834e23ad937d3e85\u0022\u003EScott Simpson\u003C/span\u003E: Spoken.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000497\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224c04e5366a4b43ea98de2c7462cf70bd\u0022\u003ENUK KORAKO\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014spoken, and I just reiterate the fact that he really commended the Local Government and Environment Committee for its collegiality and the way it works very, very closely together. Again, we call that kotahitaka. It is a collective thing. I would like to invite him to come to the M\u0101ori Affairs Committee, actually, because we also work in a very, very close, collegial way. To date in the 51st Parliament we actually have not needed to take a vote. We do everything by consensus.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000498\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220660ee215f76462b9dcdabbc969d07d6\u0022\u003EScott Simpson\u003C/span\u003E: And better kai. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000499\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022462c9e83802a4b92a9b7348c7474a357\u0022\u003ENUK KORAKO\u003C/span\u003E: And better kai. So just to make that first point. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000500\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EThe next one is, indeed, to acknowledge the Hon Nicky Wagner. I do that as a colleague in Parliament but also as a member of the Ng\u0101i Tahu iwi, because we hold Nicky in very, very high regard, particularly because of a lot of the excellent work that Nicky does within Christchurch and particularly in regard to her relationship with tangata whenua and mana whenua. I also want to acknowledge Margaret Austin\u2014her leadership in this, and also when you think of the great things that Margaret has done, particularly working on the World Heritage site in Tekap\u014D. So, again, I acknowledge her and also Andr\u00E9 Lovatt\u2014he has been mentioned before\u2014and Jen Crawford. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000501\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EThe reflection of this bill here, and particularly the way that everyone has worked very, very closely together, epitomises a thing whereby out of the rubble of the r\u016B whenua o \u014Ctautahi a phoenix is rising. This is a very, very important reflection on what is happening, and also on the fact that if we do things like this together, in a collective way, then we get these very, very important solutions and things moving forward. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000502\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EThe important thing too is to acknowledge my other colleagues, our MPs from the Green Party\u2014not just them, actually, but across the House\u2014particularly around heritage buildings. Heritage buildings\u2014absolutely, in Christchurch, there has been a lot of suffering. But what I also want to say is that if you go beyond that, if you go beyond the colonial days, the colonialism, and if you think for just one moment about the effect that this had on tangata whenua\u2014I am not talking about just the earthquake, because we all suffered there. If we go back before that, with the arrival of the Europeans, what is interesting with this building is that when we were young kids coming to Christchurch from Tuahuriri in the northern part of the city, this particular building we saw as an edifice to colonialism, so we never visited it much. We were on our way as schoolkids to the museum to see our wonderful M\u0101ori artefacts that were inside there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EWhat I am saying here is that this particular building, when you look at the history of the city and all of that, it really does actually now strike a chord with us in the fact that it is part of us because of the fact of what went on during the earthquake, the r\u016B whenua, particularly in 2011. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000504\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EWhat I am saying here, with this particular building, with everything that has gone on, again, is that reflection that we are working together, particularly when you look at the trust deed. The idea behind the resurrection of this building is pretty much when we talk about a phoenix rising from the rubble. We have great opportunities during the rebuild to not only rebuild our buildings but also to put in new ideas and to instil new parts of the way we actually manage and govern these buildings. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000505\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EThis, again, is a reflection of the fact that we have re-established a legal foundation for the Arts Centre in Christchurch in statute but also the reforms here that this bill is doing. It reforms the governance arrangements by establishing a higher skills base. The important thing there too is the fact of why we actually now believe\u2014the member of Parliament for Christchurch East referred to these buildings as taonga maunga, or mauka. I would not go that far. I think that when you look at that, when you relate to your mauka, it is Maukatere in North Canterbury, and when you look at your awa, it is the \u014Ct\u0101karo or the \u014Cp\u0101waho. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000506\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EIf you come down from that esoteric look at the spirituality and all of that, it is very much around the natural landscape. But I do concur with the member about the fact of the mana that this building does instil in all of us now, more so because it survived, in some ways, the Christchurch earthquake. And we are all working together now to be able to rebuild it back to a more significant and a more well-managed building. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000507\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EWhen looking at the make-up of the new governance board, I think the important thing is to look at the representation of the iwi, particularly because of the fact that we have got the Ng\u0101i Tahu papatipu r\u016Bnanga actually involved in that, so there is a representative there. And if we look at the way that it is governed, it is a fact that we can actually instil\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000508\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222b530a773f04475ca144bb720e2eb73c\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member. The time has come for me to leave the Chair for the dinner break.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000509\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000510\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225831f6b54ad346c78aa7fb0983a97787\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: T\u0113n\u0101 koe e te Whare. T\u0113n\u0101 koutou te wh\u0101nau o te P\u0101remata. Ng\u0101 mihi nui ki a koutou. T\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa. Members, when we broke for the dinner break, we were\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000511\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227072c8a8db56495480b43030fc7a1ce3\u0022\u003EHon Christopher Finlayson\u003C/span\u003E: Ross Robertson used to use Samoan and Tongan as well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000512\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002227cc2f26b3594079aa94c2d4d04b52f5\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014that will come, cousin\u2014debating the second reading of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill, and matua Nuk Korako had 2 minutes remaining. So, without a bell, he has 2 minutes available to him, should he wish to avail himself of that opportunity.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000513\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228fa36181ca7b4ec4ab048a8292cde076\u0022\u003ENUK KORAKO\u003C/span\u003E: Kia ora e te Mana Whakaw\u0101. A ka pai te k\u014Drero Te Reo. Kia ora. Just to reiterate very quickly the fact that this bill was very much a collective across both sides of the House. This is particularly reflected in the very, very close working relationship that we have with the Local Government and Environment Committee, under the chairmanship of Scott Simpson. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000514\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EJust to finish off, I was just finishing around the tangata whenua and also the relationship that tangata whenua have, particularly now with the new governance board. They always have in some ways, but it is just an acknowledgment again, as within the bill it states that it is Papatipu R\u016Bnanga of Waitaha, or Canterbury. But we know that when you look at papatipu, you are talking about tangata whenua, but then it is understanding the faces of the iwi. Particularly when you talk about mana whenua, it is actually about those people of the land, particularly where the Arts Centre is, which is Ng\u0101i Tuahuriri. That does not have to be specific because iwi will actually take care of that themselves. So just to acknowledge that and also the fact that within this bill it does actually allow the factors where cultural considerations are taken into account. That is really part of the role of that tangata whenua and mana whenua representative. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000515\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EFinally, from the damaged buildings and rubble is this unique opportunity to create a vibrant centre that will be the source of great pride for Christchurch and New Zealand. On that note, I would like to commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000516\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EBill read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000517\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022012e7104e45644469529be1be86b251d\u0022\u003EChristchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000518\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00220499b918decf4ea4805d7d29b0edecc4\u0022\u003ESecond Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022 data-id=\u0022ddb0fdfdc48145d4a351fbfe3f55dbd0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000519\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ddb0fdfdc48145d4a351fbfe3f55dbd0\u0022\u003EHon NICKY WAGNER (National\u2014Christchurch Central):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill be now read a second time. As the member in charge of the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill, I really welcome this second reading. This is a very simple bill. It is all about fixing an error, an error that I believe was made with the best intentions. It is one of those really annoying and frustrating situations where bad things happen when you are trying to do good. It is about validating rates irregularities in the past that were only discovered by the city council last year. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000520\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EBack in 2004 the Christchurch City Council consciously opted to simplify the language of its rating resolution, but it left out important information, which meant that its resolution did not comply with the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002. All the information that was required was presented, but it was presented elsewhere, and not in the new simplified, streamlined resolution. On discovering that, the council undertook a review of all its resolutions since 2004, and found other technical irregularities in relation to seven targeted rates and the uniform annual general charge. Again, all the correct information was provided, but not in the actual resolution. The council was able to fix the mistakes for the 2013 and 2014 financial years, but it needs this validation bill to validate its past setting of rates, payment dates, and penalty regimes. But let me make this very clear: this is not about the rates being calculated wrongly, and all the rates have been lawfully paid. No one is wrongfully affected by this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000521\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EI would like to thank the Local Government and Environment Committee for its work in scrutinising this bill, for its support of the bill, and for the fact that it returned this bill to the House unamended. I would also like to applaud the Christchurch City Council for acting swiftly to deal with this matter once it was discovered. Parliament does not like validation bills. We hate the fact that we are dealing with retrospective legislation. I am sure many members tonight will show their displeasure. But I have a sympathy for the council, because we also want simple legislation, we want simple resolutions, and we want people to be able to understand what is going on in local government. Also, nobody likes to admit that they have made a mistake, particularly if it was well intentioned. There is always a temptation to let sleeping dogs lie, but the city council has fronted up, and I say well done to it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000522\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EActually, I would like to take this time to spend a few moments paying tribute to the Christchurch City Council and updating the House on the huge workload it has had and what it has been doing since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. As you all know, it has been a tough time in Christchurch. It has been extremely difficult for the Christchurch City Council to keep the business-as-usual work under control, as well as managing the challenges of the rebuild. Everyone in Christchurch is aware that we have to fix the past while we live in the present and while we build for the future, and that takes a bit of juggling. We have learnt that out of crisis comes opportunity. We also feel that the only way that we can reconcile the pain and loss of the last few years is by making sure we take every opportunity to build a better place for future generations. The earthquakes have sharpened our focus on what is important to the people in Christchurch. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000523\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EEveryone in the council, and, actually, everyone who works in the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, is absolutely committed to making Christchurch a safe, beautiful, and people-friendly city. We want it to be a future-focused place, a place where exciting, innovative, and enterprising things can happen. We want to retain our sense of community and of supporting each other that served us so well during the disaster, and also our open-mindedness and our action orientation that our shaken-up city required, and our ability to work together for the greater good. Leading a community in times of crisis and enormous change requires really tough decision-making. Decisions have to be made rapidly, often with scant information, in a changing environment, and with a risk of unknown consequences. I pay tribute to the mayor, Lianne Dalziel, and all the councillors and the officials who work at the Christchurch City Council, for stepping up to that challenge and giving it their very best. I know at times it feels a bit like a thankless task, but it is hugely important for the future of our city, and their work is greatly appreciated by those who understand the challenges. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000524\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EIt has been over 140 years since Christchurch was first planned and built. Those were the days of horses and carts, cooking on a fire or a wood stove, washing in the copper, candles, and the dunny in the backyard. School was about slates and the strap, and life was short. Today we are envisaging the building of a modern, flexible, future-focused city: a city of electric or even driverless cars, organic food and nutraceuticals; a city with an integrated alternative energy grid, buildings that are automatically lit and heat-adjusted, and with high-tech water and sewer schemes. School is an amazing modern learning environment with digital devices, and our life expectancy is increasing year by year. It is the responsibility of all of us to build a city that enables our community to adapt and develop as times change, and with the flexibility to be able to manage those unknown innovations of the next 140 years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000525\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292824476-4e66-4052-8435-b049833d8b83\u0022\u003EIn this bill, we validate unintentional errors in the Christchurch City Council rating resolutions from 2004 to 2012, but I would also like to take the opportunity to wish the council well. It is doing a great job in challenging times, and the people of Christchurch appreciate it. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022 data-id=\u00220b2571995d6444368402f78981c01e5d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000526\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220b2571995d6444368402f78981c01e5d\u0022\u003EDr MEGAN WOODS (Labour\u2014Wigram):\u003C/span\u003E I can see, Mr Deputy Speaker, that you are allowing a very broad-ranging debate on this second reading of what is a very narrow piece of legislation\u2014a piece of legislation that is about validating rates in Christchurch. I see that you are wanting us to traverse the terrain in all its many corners, and I will, too, Mr Deputy Speaker\u2014I will oblige. And I am sure my colleagues will, in their contributions to this bill, feel free to frolic around the plains of Canterbury in how they address this. Because as the speaker before me, the sponsor of this bill, said\u2014and I want to acknowledge the Hon Nicky Wagner\u2014this is a very specific bill with a very specific task: it is about rectifying a mistake that happened with the way rates were struck in Christchurch over a period of time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000527\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EThe Minister did say that it was a mistake made \u201Cwith the best of intentions\u201D. Well, I am not sure whether mistakes can be made \u201Cwith the best of intentions\u201D. I do believe it was probably a mistake made \u201Cwithout malevolence\u201D. I do believe that it was probably a mistake \u201Cnot made on purpose\u201D. But I do not really think that we can make mistakes \u201Cwith the best of intentions\u201D. But none the less, Christchurch City Council finds itself in the situation of having had a period of time when rates were not struck the way they should have been. And the way that it has asked for this to be rectified is by a piece of validating legislation. That is what we are here at the second reading to debate and to kick around in a very broad-ranging way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000528\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EWhat we have here, though, is something that this Parliament should not be making a habit of\u2014that is, fixing mistakes via legislation. When we considered this piece of legislation, we on the Local Government and Environment Committee were very much of the united mind\u2014if I could put it that way for our select committee\u2014that actually\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000529\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eadb377a6114463ab3ac429b05141207\u0022\u003EHon Ruth Dyson\u003C/span\u003E: Was Peter Dunne on it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000530\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266cc9969c02543a6a65b27382eb4cbdc\u0022\u003EDr MEGAN WOODS\u003C/span\u003E: No, Peter Dunne was not on that committee and was not part of the united mind. What we had was a crossing of the ways in wanting to ensure that we as a Parliament are doing all that is in our power to ensure that we do not land back here, having to fix up mistakes that have been made because we do not have adequate guidance or adequate oversight on how rates are struck by local body authorities. This is something that I know, from my perspective on the committee, I am very keen to get on the record.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000531\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EDuring the first reading speeches on this bill, my colleague Su\u2019a William Sio said that this legislation is between a rock and a hard place\u2014that we know it has to be done, that we need to fix this genuine error, but that it is never something we like doing. And in the contribution he made on the bill, he said that he wanted to hear what it was that the people of Christchurch had to say on the matter. The select committee, even before this Parliament reconvened, was busy at work\u2014the hard-working committee that we on the Local Government and Environment Committee are. We were in Christchurch hearing the submission\u2014the one submission that we heard on this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000532\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EWe did other work in Christchurch; I would not like to imply that we did not do a full day\u2019s work. We also had the question of the legislation that we debated in the debate prior to this, the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill, to deal with on that day. We heard from Christchurch City Council, and we heard how it was that it discovered this error. The speaker before me, the Hon Nicky Wagner, described this\u2014it really was through the thorough order of their processes that it was discovered; that this transition to a simpler language was found. I think it was very insightful. It was actually a really good experience for the committee members to listen to that\u2014and then to participate in the discussion that followed about what the responsibilities of this House are, to ensure that we do not get into those situations again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000533\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EMr Deputy Speaker, you will notice that I have been speaking very specifically on this very narrow piece of legislation, but now, since we are in the broad-ranging part of the debate, I would like to venture out a little further, as it were, because what we did hear the Minister do, after she dealt with the substance of why it is that we are here today, was to put the legislation in the context of our recovery. Personally, I do not think that this needs to be put in the context of our recovery; I think that, actually, to put it so can be somewhat patronising to the people of Christchurch\u2014that what we have is something that other local authorities have gone through. But to use this debate to talk about what a wonderful job it has been and about how great things are in Christchurch is, actually, something I would rather not have seen. Yes, there are contentions around how the recovery in Christchurch is going. I did not want to have to use this debate to debate those issues, because that is not what this legislation is about\u2014this is legislation about how it is that Christchurch City Council is asking us to fix a genuine mistake. But talking about organic food and nutraceuticals in the context of this legislation, as we heard from the previous speaker, is somewhat of a stretch.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000534\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EI would like to talk about housing in the context of this bill, and, if we are going to talk about the recovery, I want to talk about the lack of housing that we have in Christchurch. I want to talk about the level of rates that people are paying in the city of Christchurch\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000535\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c1bcc058a30647a7bee3b2b68460a64b\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Thank you. I would not like the member to think that because the member promoting the bill made some magnanimous and inclusive comments around Christchurch and its recovery that she should stray from her first thoughts, which were that she should keep the debate relatively tight. She made the comment that she would not like to think that she had to stray broader than the mandate of the bill, and I would remind her that she does not. In actual fact, the comments that were made by the member initiating this legislation were magnanimous in respect of Christchurch, and were obviously well-meaning. I guess that what I am indicating to this speaker and to other speakers who will take calls, is that they should bear in mind the particular strain in which those comments were made, and bear in mind the scope of this bill. If I was recalcitrant in some way by not paying as close attention as I should have, that does not necessarily give subsequent speakers licence to wander off around the paddock and cut their own track in respect of the scope of this bill, which, as the member has already conceded, is very narrow. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000536\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c58b377a03dc4e9eac06d32efe1d1d2f\u0022\u003EDr MEGAN WOODS\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I take your wise words on board. We are here tonight debating a ratings bill. Ratings are levelled on property, as we all know\u2014rates. And what we are validating here are mistakes that were made with how the rates were struck in Christchurch on individual properties. Many of those houses, actually, have now gone; some of the houses that this bill affects were actually some of those that were demolished as a consequence of the red zone. I think we would all acknowledge how sad that is and what Christchurch has been through, in terms of that. But I would also note that perhaps we have not had the rebuilding of as many houses as we would like to see, to replace those properties where rates could have been struck, or otherwise had been struck. This is what we have to think about if we are going to be thinking about this piece of legislation in the context of the rebuild and recovery of Christchurch\u2014what it means for our city; what it means for what we could be. Because this is about the ratings base of Christchurch, this is about where people live, and this is about the homes in which people enjoy their lives, when we are talking about rates, because this is the way that it has been chosen to be done. So I would like to raise that in the context of this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000537\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EI think one of the things that some of the speakers said when this bill was previously before this House did raise a question. I referred earlier to the contribution that my colleague Su\u2019a William Sio made, when he said that he invited members in Christchurch\u2014and I quote from William Sio\u2019s speech: \u201CWe support this bill through its first reading. I would invite all members and citizens of Christchurch to take the opportunity to submit on this bill and make their views known to this Government about the lack of action that they are seeing in the rebuild there. Thank you.\u201D That is from a first reading speech on this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000538\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EI myself think it is a shame that we did not hear from more people and that we did have only one submission on this bill. It would have been interesting to get feedback from the people of Christchurch on this, but I guess one of the things that we know\u2014and I can reach across the House to my colleague Nicky Wagner, who is the sponsor of this bill\u2014is what the people of Christchurch have been through and just how tired many of them are. There is a bit of fatigue, actually, among many people in Christchurch in terms of input into consultative processes\u2014because there have been a number of them. There have many things for the people of Christchurch to have their say on and to input into, and I think this is probably one of the reasons why we did not have as many contributions as perhaps my colleague Su\u2019a William Sio was thinking when he made that comment in his first reading speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000539\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002237a99b65-4919-4800-830d-3dd7c920d5cd\u0022\u003EI think that we do stand here with a very narrow piece of legislation that does a very specific task, which is about correcting a mistake that was made without malevolence. It is a mistake that does need to be corrected, because we need our ratings to be struck in a legal way and in accordance with the Local Government (Ratings) Act. Labour supports this bill in the House. In no way is this any slur on the Government, but we do not want to be here again supporting more validating legislation, as I am sure my colleagues across the House would concur. I think that we as a House need to turn our minds to how it is that we can avoid being in this place again, whether that be through the audit process or whether that be through issuing good guidance to councils as they strike their rates, to ensure that resolutions that confer either the legality or illegality of rates and how they are levied are struck and are something that we can have in place. Labour supports this legislation. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022 data-id=\u0022d539bb82434748978a5c0ce6dfa16f30\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000540\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d539bb82434748978a5c0ce6dfa16f30\u0022\u003ESCOTT SIMPSON (National\u2014Coromandel):\u003C/span\u003E As chairman of the Local Government and Environment Committee, it gives me no pleasure at all this evening to be standing in the Parliament of New Zealand supporting\u2014reluctantly\u2014retrospective validating legislation for an albeit sincere and non-malicious mistake, but a mistake none the less, made some 10 years ago by professional, highly paid, highly skilled, competent-on-the-face-of-it people employed by the Christchurch City Council. This is a bill that is sponsored by my colleague the Christchurch Central MP, the Hon Nicky Wagner. She has set out very clearly in her introductory comments to this second reading the reasons why we are debating in Parliament tonight this piece of retrospective validation legislation. The bill itself is promoted by the Christchurch City Council, which was, of course, the author of the error. The bill validates specified rates set between the 2004-05 and the 2012-13 financial years, and because of the rates irregularities that came to light in the council\u2019s review, the legislation is, frankly, the only method for putting right an error that occurred more than 10 years ago and well before the Canterbury earthquakes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000541\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EChristchurch City Council failed to state in its rates resolution over those years that the rates themselves were payable by instalment. The excuse, if you like, or the rationale for the error was simply that it was to be a simple piece of internal local legislation within the city council, something that councils do every year in terms of providing for their fiscal responsibilities and their rating responsibilities under the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002. But what happened in this case was that no resolution was moved and passed through the council through the elected officials that ensured the rates were to be payable by instalment. Furthermore, there was no date set by which those instalments would be paid, and further, there were no penalties set and no penalty dates set for those instalments. Minister Wagner made the point in her comments\u2014and she is right\u2014that, actually, no ratepayer has been negatively impacted as a result of this error. But the simple matter is that had an alert ratepayer decided to challenge the city council on these matters over any one of those 10 years, then court action would have ensued and almost certainly the council would have come out the loser from that litigation. So that is a completely unsatisfactory situation for the ratepayers of Christchurch, it is a completely unsatisfactory situation for the elected councillors of Christchurch, and it is a completely unsatisfactory situation for the highly paid and professionally skilled employees who are supposed to oversee these relatively simple matters. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000542\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThe failures actually put the Christchurch City Council in breach of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002, and then, as a result of the investigations in 2013, when the irregularities were actually discovered, further irregularities were uncovered. They were in respect of the council\u2019s uniform annual general charge and some of the targeted rates for the same period of time. Information about how the liability for targeted rates and the uniform annual general charge were to be calculated was simply not included in the rates resolutions that were put to the council in the council chambers for its attention. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000543\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EMy colleague the Hon Nicky Wagner\u2014correctly, I think\u2014said that bad things sometimes happen when you are trying to do good, but I would counter that by saying that the road to hell is often paved with good intentions. Just because something is meant to be simple, it does not mean that it needs to be incomplete, it does not mean that it needs to be inaccurate, and it does not mean that it needs to be incompetent. I doubt that many, if any, of the officers responsible at the time\u2014and I hasten to point out that we are going back 10 years\u2014would still be in the employ of the council, although I am not 100 percent sure about that. Certainly, it is several chief executive officers ago. So I am not necessarily going to pour scorn and derision upon current officers, but council officers at the time failed the council, they failed the ratepayers, and they failed themselves in terms of their professional ability and capability. Rates were calculated correctly, rates were collected correctly, but the rates motion\u2014the actual legal bit, the piece that is important\u2014was missed out, and that is a fundamental flaw for council officers, who, actually, are employed to ensure that the i\u2019s are dotted and the t\u2019s are crossed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000544\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EWe had only one submission and, indeed, that was from the council itself. We travelled to Christchurch. As a select committee, we were able to link our visit with some rather better legislative work, and that was to do with the Christchurch Arts Centre and the bill that was discussed earlier this evening in Parliament. So when we came to consider the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill, we received only one submission\u2014one submission\u2014from the council, and this is it. It is a mere two pages. It is a relatively perfunctory submission. It contains a clinical analysis of what happened, how it happened, and what needs to be done to correct it. The simple matter is that what needs to be corrected is that this Parliament is required to pass retrospective validating legislation to dig Christchurch City Council out of a hole. That is not a process that this Parliament likes doing. It is not a process that I think any member of the House thinks we should be spending too much time on. It is something that we certainly do not expect from a council as large, as well-resourced, and as significant as the Christchurch City Council. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000545\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EWhat was immediately apparent to members of the select committee\u2014and I think I speak on behalf of most committee members\u2014was that the submitters on behalf of the council were relaxed almost to the point of being comatose in terms of their submission. They seemed to be just appearing before us in a perfunctory manner, saying: \u201COh well, we made a mistake. All too bad, best endeavours, Parliament will put it right.\u201D Well, I am not sure that that is necessarily very good. In the 2-page submission from the council there was no comment about contrition. There was no concession as to liability. There was no attempt to identify those people who were responsible. There was no indication that any kind of employment disciplinary action had been taken. In fact, there was no sense at all of any sense of personal responsibility for the situation that the council found itself in\u2014which Parliament now finds itself having to remedy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000546\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003ESo it is fair to say that I thought, as chair, that our committee was singularly underwhelmed by the submission of the Christchurch City Council, and I for one did not come away from hearing its oral submission or indeed reading its written submission with any sense of renewed confidence in the future prospects for getting things right. That may be a little bit harsh, but I think that as a Parliament we could reasonably and sensibly expect a higher level of professionalism from one of the country\u2019s largest councils. To expect anything less is an abrogation of its role and responsibility as a significant and large council but also in terms of the roles of professionals and employees of the council. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000547\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EWe all live and work in an environment of constant change. We are all only human and we all make mistakes, but this was a mistake of quite significant proportions. The fact that it did not negatively impact on ratepayers is a matter more of good luck than good management. I very reluctantly commend the bill to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022 data-id=\u0022c4f7a10435394619817b321ffc2710c2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000548\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c4f7a10435394619817b321ffc2710c2\u0022\u003EPOTO WILLIAMS (Labour\u2014Christchurch East):\u003C/span\u003E Firstly, I just want to make some general comments about the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill and look to some of the substance of it. Then I want to make some comments with regard to what the member on the other side of the House, Scott Simpson, has just said. I think that by the end of this particular session we will be intimately aware of each individual part of this bill. It is a small bill; it is a fix-up bill. There is no denying that. It has been well traversed that the council needs this bill to pass in order to correct an issue that developed out of some work about 10 years ago. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000549\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EWhen you look at the bill you see that the preamble to the bill is longer than the rest of the bill. It is interesting; there are a couple of sections, two parts, to fix up the issue around the fact that we need to ensure we can validate the payment dates for the rates and validate the penalties on those unpaid rates. We can look at the setting of the rates, that the revenue can actually lawfully be received by the council, and that it can recover the penalties on any outstanding rates. That is in Part 1 of this bill. Clause 4 looks specifically at the rates for the Church Bay sewer loan, the Church Bay water loan, the Governors Bay sewer loan, and the Governors Bay water loan. There are definitions around rates, rates invoices, the specific components within the rates\u2014for example, the water fire service connection rate\u2014and waste minimisation. But they are for the specific periods mentioned previously\u2014the 2004-05 years and latterly the 2012-13 years. If we do not fix this, if we do not pass this legislation, it means that the Christchurch City Council will continue to be in breach of section 24 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000550\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EThank you to the Local Government and Environment Committee for going to Christchurch to hear the submissions on this bill and on the previous bill concerning the Arts Centre. There was one submitter on this bill. Obviously, it was the council, and the bill came back to the House largely unchanged. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000551\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EThe previous speaker talked about how relaxed the officials were in their submission. He talked about the lack of contrition the council officials demonstrated and the disregard they had for their roles and their jobs by allowing this error to occur in the first place. I have to defend the officials of Christchurch City Council. It is a difficult job, but it is also rather ironic that that member chose to place upon the officials that responsibility when in this House every year we are presented with legislation that fixes up mistakes we have made in the past. Everyone makes mistakes. This is a bill that fixes up an error, and I do think it is ironic that in the privilege of this House we can condemn the officials from the Christchurch City Council but we do not take responsibility for errors we make in the drafting of legislation we pass. I want Mr Simpson to just recognise that these are hard-working people, and we are currently experiencing in our council in Christchurch City an extraordinary amount of work. They are currently engaged in the long-term plan process. There is a lot of stuff going on in Christchurch, and I, for one, am supporting the fact that our officials work very hard. They cannot be here to defend themselves today. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000552\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EThis bill is about the relationship between the council and central government. I have to say I am not entirely sure that the relationship that this Government has with the Christchurch City Council has been all that helpful or robust in recent times. Again, I say I do defend the officials of Christchurch City Council. They are doing their job. They have admitted they have found a mistake and it is our job now to correct that mistake, and we should do so with good heart and good intent. I do not think there is much more I can say on the bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000553\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bc22dfabd6ae400aa20f002999d22695\u0022\u003ECarmel Sepuloni\u003C/span\u003E: There is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000554\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022487e8cee807a455cbd521ec65f8ece13\u0022\u003EPOTO WILLIAMS\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, is there? OK; I shall say a little bit more. [Interruption] I have been given the instructions. I want to just comment on that relationship between central government and the Christchurch City Council, because it is very important that we do what we can to ensure that relationship is strong. There have been issues\u2014and I speak from my own electorate\u2014between what the expectations of ratepayers and taxpayers are, and where the relationship between the council and central government has not entirely been that consistent or coherent.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000555\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EI want to talk about the infrastructure that we are still waiting for in Christchurch East.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000556\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cc675336834b40bbb637578098b184f8\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: Pity the councillors.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000557\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a4c8edefd2e74b9583cc98b84ccf66ed\u0022\u003EPOTO WILLIAMS\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. Thank you, Mr Nash. We should all be defending councillors. It is a tough job.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000558\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EWe are currently looking at ensuring that the infrastructure, particularly the horizontal infrastructure, in Christchurch East, is remediated to a point where we can actually have smooth roads, like other parts of our city. But I have to say that in that regard I do not know that the Government has actually come to the party for our ratepayers in Christchurch East. There is a partnership that needs to be forged and needs to continue to be robust. However, I am concerned that that is not the case and that we are still subject to some very damaged roads, some very dusty, dusty outlooks. We are still replacing the sewer and the rest of the lines in Christchurch East when much of the rest of the city is 100 percent back to normal. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000559\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003EI want to conclude now. I think I have pretty much said what I need to say on the matter. We do support this bill and commend it to the House. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022 data-id=\u0022bf243cdb4d0e42b2b9e3d85ae86a7d1c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000560\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022bf243cdb4d0e42b2b9e3d85ae86a7d1c\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I call the member for Bay of Plenty, Todd Muller.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022 data-id=\u0022f13997e925ab460892545b8bd6e2def3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f13997e925ab460892545b8bd6e2def3\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER (National\u2014Bay of Plenty):\u003C/span\u003E It is \u201CMuller\u201D, Mr Deputy Speaker, if it is possible to just anglicise it. It would have been \u201CMueller\u201D back in 1860 when our family arrived, but it is now \u201CMuller\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000562\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bdc667bc8c06402f9f74de5631901fb4\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Surname validation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000563\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002283d807c1964848dba66cf4b7e60c7a11\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, thank you for that contribution. I am rising to speak similarly reluctantly, really, to the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill. I acknowledge your ongoing interest in this topic, Mr Deputy Speaker, and also that of the many thousands of people in Christchurch who will be sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for this piece of legislation to finally get through here this evening. I do want to acknowledge the Hon Nicky Wagner.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000564\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c9eae14591544d70940915e9d0ef677f\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: They\u2019ll be asleep if they listen to this speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000565\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002264315e672d4c40e6bb6a59e29a8f2bdd\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER\u003C/span\u003E: I will amp it up shortly; we just want to start slow. So, well done for your contribution, Nicky Wagner. It is obviously something that needs to be done and I thought you articulated the rationale for that very well. I also acknowledge, again, Scott Simpson for his leadership of the Local Government and Environment Committee and the way we have managed this issue through as a group. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000566\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EAs I am sure we all know, the bill that is in front of us this evening is the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill. Its purpose is to correct an administrative anomaly. Unfortunately, there is clear precedent for this. We have been here before. Maybe this is a South Island thing, I do not know, but we were here a year or so ago for the Tasman District Council (Validation and Recovery of Certain Rates) Bill. That obviously was passed to fix some retrospective administrative errors. I guess\u2014if we are to be very generous in our outlook\u2014we could say that local government is particularly complex. We have 67 territorial authorities, 12 city councils, 53 district councils; six territorial authorities\u2014Auckland Council, the Chatham Islands Council, Nelson, Gisborne, Tasman, and Marlborough\u2014are unitary authorities, and I guess with all of this complexity there is going to be the occasional error. I guess one argument\u2014and we have heard it particularly from the other side so far this evening\u2014is that, you know, this happens infrequently, human errors can occur, and when they do it is appropriate for us to get together and fix them, which is what we are doing this evening. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000567\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EEssentially, the assistance that we are collectively offering tonight is because the council failed in its rates resolution to state that the rates were payable by instalments, what the payment dates were for those instalments, and what penalties would be added for late payment in these and previous years. The administrative breach, to be technical for a moment with respect to the bill, is a breach to the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002, mostly around section 44, \u201CNotice of rates assessment\u201D, and section 45, \u201CContents of rates assessment\u201D. The relevant part here, for those in the House who are particularly interested in this detail, is section 44, \u201CNotice of rates assessment\u2014(1) A local authority must deliver a rates assessment to a ratepayer to give notice of the ratepayer\u2019s liability for rates on a rating unit. (2) A ratepayer is liable for rates on a rating unit when the local authority delivers the rates assessment for that unit to the ratepayer.\u201D So that is section 44\u2014[Interruption]\u2014for a moment there I thought I was going to get a point of order that might have stopped me.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000568\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b4aa7b5fb9374c5a88b2edba2620eeef\u0022\u003EHon Ruth Dyson\u003C/span\u003E: That would have required me to have been listening.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000569\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b4791d0994374604930ac0d04b2ae294\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER\u003C/span\u003E: You are following this and enjoying it, no doubt. In section 45, \u201CContents of rates assessment\u201D, the particular part here that caught Christchurch city was \u201C(m) the methods by which rates may be paid and the date or, if the rates are payable by instalments, the dates by which specified amounts must be paid: (n) if applicable,\u2014(i) the penalty regime of the local authority; and (ii) a warning that, if rates are not paid on time, a penalty may be added under that regime:\u201D. So, as you can see, this is a complex process. The city council in many respects, as we have heard this evening, was trying to simplify that, but in its enthusiasm to make the rates setting process more easy for its constituents to understand it missed a pretty critical part in that process. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI did a rough count on the amount of ratepayers in New Zealand. There are roughly 2 million. If each ratepayer receives a quarterly rates assessment, that is about 8 million rates transactions that occur. So I guess, again, to be charitable, if you look at this particular error in the context of New Zealand as a whole, it is not extraordinary that we have to be here tonight. I do have a lot of sympathy with the sentiment that our chairman, Scott Simpson, has articulated this evening on two points. Firstly, we do expect that officers of councils are familiar with a ratings Act that came in in 2002 and would have the appropriate internal controls to ensure that they are following the correct process accordingly. Secondly, when an error has been found and you are asking Parliament to make a change to validate you and to essentially get you off a hook, you would expect some degree of contriteness, and I think Scott, the member for Coromandel, summarised that very well. I was, like him, very disappointed that there was not a sense of acknowledgment that Christchurch City Council had to put the Parliament through a process when, quite frankly, our collective wisdom could be well focused on things other than this. I was disappointed that when we flew down to meet with the council there was a degree of offhandedness in respect of the way it was approaching this particular issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000571\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EWhat you would also expect in this debate\u2014and I am sure we are going to hear it shortly with my good friend and colleague Mr Mark\u2014is a reference to the role of auditors. I just thought I might get in first here because I have heard him speak very eloquently on this before\u2014perhaps because of his passion for local government\u2014saying that somehow if the governors and officers of a particular local council slip up, then really it should be the auditors who pick it up, and really it is the auditors who should be hung out to dry. Of course, they are a key part of it, but I do hope that the governors of a particular council and the officers of a particular council do not take the approach that actually they can do the best they can but it is really the job of an external auditor to pick up the things they miss. That is not what best practice is. It is nowhere near best practice. There should be a strong internal audit function. There should be a good mix of governors and officers participating in that internal audit process and they should have the capacity, capability, and focus to ensure that they pick up these errors, and not have an approach that says that if they miss something, an auditor should cover it for them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000572\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EIn that regard it was very positive to see that the Society of Local Government Managers has identified that there is room for improvement. We saw that in the report back from the department and the various work that is under way to improve councils\u2019 practices with respect to setting rates resolutions. I was very pleased\u2014and I am sure the various members of the select committee were very pleased\u2014to see that work under way, not before time. We have an expectation that the officers of councils are at the very best level of best practice and process. We really should not be in this position again of having to cover up for administrative anomalies. With that, I would like to add my somewhat reluctant voice on this side of the House to this particular bill, the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill, and will remain very interested in the ongoing debate as it occurs over the next hour. Thank you. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022 data-id=\u00226e4d54c6795f4fd484d38d0131b21eed\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000573\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226e4d54c6795f4fd484d38d0131b21eed\u0022\u003EEUGENIE SAGE (Green):\u003C/span\u003E Like others in this House, I rise reluctantly to speak on the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill. The average daily cost of running this Parliament is over half a million dollars and the average bill costs $1.43 million, according to the Parliamentary Library. So this local bill, promoted by the Christchurch City Council, is a very expensive way of fixing errors that the city council could have avoided. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000574\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EAs others have noted, the council breached the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002. It made mistakes in the way it worded its rates resolutions in relation to the payment dates for rates, the authority to impose penalties on unpaid rates, and the targeted rates for Church Bay and Governors Bay. The council was certainly trying to simplify the resolutions, but these mistakes continued for 10 years. Although the bill attracted only one submission, even though it is retrospective legislation, it is probably uncontroversial because ratepayers do not engage with the minutiae of rates resolutions and because the actual rating demands that the council sent out were correctly worded. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000575\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003ESo the council has made mistakes, and I share with other members the concerns about the offhand way in which its officers presented to the select committee, but the city council in its long-term plan for 2015-25 is proposing to make an even bigger mistake than the ones that this bill aims to correct. In that long-term plan, the council is proposing to sell off or sell down shares in strategic assets like Orion New Zealand, the Lyttelton Port Co., Christchurch International Airport, City Care, EcoCare, and Red Bus. The dividends from these council-owned companies through Christchurch City Holdings have provided a key source of revenue to Christchurch. They have helped fund the council\u2019s services and its activities, and they have helped to offset rates. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000576\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003ERates in Christchurch have been lower than in Selwyn and Waimakariri, which are neighbouring councils. They have been lower than in other city centres like Hamilton, Wellington, and Tauranga. The cash dividend that the city council will get from these companies in the forthcoming financial year is estimated to be around $46 million. That has the effect of lowering council rates by 13 percent. Those cash dividends have averaged 3 percent in the last 3 years and 4 percent in the last 10 years, and there has been a 26 percent return to shareholders since 1996 because of asset growth and appreciation in capital value. That has been a very good return to the people of Christchurch. If the council proceeds to sell off those assets, the dividends stream will halve. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000577\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003ESo it is a very short-sighted decision, which the council is being panicked into making because of the National Government\u2019s reluctance to renegotiate the cost-sharing agreement with the council. It is reluctant to take costly projects like the stadium out of the cost-sharing agreement\u2014off the council\u2019s books\u2014and it is reluctant to re-engage and contribute a fairer share to the costs of repairing the council\u2019s horizontal infrastructure.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000578\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EThe council has come to Parliament to ask us to fix these problems with its rates resolutions\u2014to, effectively, validate the payment dates for the rates and the issues around penalties. It has come to Parliament to ensure that all the money that it has received from the rates that it has levied is lawful, so that it can lawfully go after people who have not paid rates and not face a legal challenge there, but it will not be able to come back to Parliament and ask the House to solve the problems that the sell-off of these strategic assets like Orion, like the port company, and like the airport company will cause. They are problems where ratepayers in the future will be complaining about the rise in their rates because the revenue base for the council has narrowed. It will have to rely much more on rates rather than dividend income, and we will not be able to fix those problems. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000579\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EThe council should be looking at alternatives to asset sales to meet the financial shortfall. It should take a much more rigorous look at its own spending and it should scale back some of the roading projects. It should renegotiate the cost-sharing agreement. We need a much wider revenue base, not a narrower one. I could go on and talk at some length about the problems with mixed-ownership models, but I do not think, Mr Deputy Speaker, you would be comfortable with that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000580\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003ESo coming back to the bill, I was puzzled that the Society of Local Government Managers, the Department of Internal Affairs, and Local Government New Zealand have not done more to improve council practice around rates resolutions, because, as Todd Muller mentioned, this is the third piece of legislation we have had to deal with in recent years where we have had to validate council rates-setting procedures. Belatedly, work has been done to improve practice. There have been seminars conducted. The Society of Local Government Managers is updating and expanding its guide on rates setting. There has been a guide for elective members, which is being set out and developed. But this problem is nothing compared with the problems that will arise if the city council is bullied by Government into selling Christchurch assets. We will be supporting this bill, but we do so reluctantly. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022 data-id=\u002213315fa0c77349bcb51a409407320a8c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000581\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002213315fa0c77349bcb51a409407320a8c\u0022\u003ERON MARK (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E It is with a degree of mixed feelings that I rise to speak to this bill on behalf of New Zealand First, and to indicate that New Zealand First will reluctantly\u2014very reluctantly\u2014support this piece of legislation. I said earlier on today that the difficulty of speaking at about the No. 7 slot is that pretty much that all the things you really need to talk about have already been said, and I do not want to bore the House by going through all of the detail and minutiae again. However, that said, there are some things that do need to be said. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000582\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EWe have already heard in the blow-by-blow accounts of respective members of the Local Government and Environment Committee as to the circumstances that brought about this piece of legislation and that brought it to the House. The fact that we are passing retrospective legislation in this House does not sit well with New Zealand First at all\u2014at all. That is a bad precedent. It is something that should not be visited in this House, and the fact that we are doing it for a third time, as has been mentioned, is an indictment on those people who are responsible. I am not going to be so forgiving, in my speech, of some of the things that have led us to this point. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000583\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EThe submission from the Christchurch City Council makes interesting reading, as does the Department of Internal Affairs report to the select committee. There were some questions that were asked by the select committee before I was back in the House in November. It is interesting going through and reading the answers, specifically when the select committee back on 27 November 2014 asked this of the department: \u201CThe committee requested copies of Christchurch City Council\u2019s audit reports for each of the financial years involved. The committee also asked for information [as to] who undertook the audits each year; the cost of the audits; whether the audit reports raised any issues with the rates resolutions; and the name of the Christchurch City Council\u2019s Chief Executive at the relevant times.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000584\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EIt is astonishing when you look at some things. Having been a Mayor of Carterton, I am finding it really quite\u2014I am going to try not to be smug, and I will try desperately, because that is not a good characteristic and we have been seeing too much of that in this House, right up until last weekend. Some of the smugness has been knocked off some faces, but I am going to try not to be smug. But I have heard consistently how super-cities are the be-all and end-all\u2014how economies of scale solve all manner of problems. I have heard so much claptrap out of the mouth of Fran Wilde and the Local Government Commission toadies\u2014and I will call them toadies because that is all I see them as\u2014who said things like you will get the high level of expertise in local government that is required for the future only if you amalgamate all the councils into one. So let us look at this super-city in the south. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EThis super-city in the south has managed to do something that Carterton District Council, the third-smallest council in New Zealand, has never done. I know from my experience that if you have a competent chief executive officer and competent staff when you are passing the resolutions for your annual plan\u2014in which you lay out the rates, the uniform annual general charges, the targeted rates, and the rates increases\u2014your run sheet tells you, as the mayor, precisely what resolutions you must be passing. Your chief executive officer and his financial manager will lay down very clearly and specifically the requirements of the Act, and those resolutions will be passed and they will be put on to paper, into words, prior to the rates bills going out and prior to the annual plan being finally endorsed and published. Without that being done, the annual report does not get approved. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000586\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EYet here is a super-city with all of the power that it can muster to be able to hire the best\u2014and who were the best? Well, going into this report from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we now know that the mayors were Mayor Moore, Mayor Parker\u2014unfortunately, the Hon Lianne Dalziel came in right at the tail end and has to clean up the mess. But we also have chief executive officers Dr Lesley McTurk and\u2014get this; this is the high level of competence that a super-city delivers\u2014Tony Marryatt. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000587\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003ESo who is the chief executive officer who oversaw the bulk of these stuff-ups? Well, it was one Mr Tony Marryatt, who became famous down in Christchurch for racking up Hooters bills when on the Christchurch City Council. It was one Mr Tony Marryatt, who got an $800,000 payout\u2014I am pretty sure it was about that. Looking at Wikipedia, it talks about an $800,000 payout. Mr Tony Marryatt was the chief executive officer at Hamilton who got totally offside with the mayor and the council of Hamilton, and was one of the people responsible for the massive loss that the V8 Supercars races made. It was Mr Tony Marryatt, who caused a high level of anxiety amongst people in Christchurch that resulted in demonstrations and protests with about 4,000 people turning up because he got a $70,000 pay rise. Stop press! Tony Marriott got a $70,000 pay rise as the chief executive officer at the very time he was stuffing up. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000588\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EWell, I do not want to hear anybody talk to me and my people, the good people of the Wairarapa\u2014least of all the MP for the Wairarapa, who thinks that super-cities are going to bring economies of scale and sharper people into the management\u2014when this is the sort of thing one gets. Carterton has never had to face this. Carterton has never had to come cap in hand to Parliament asking that it validate its rates bills over how many years now because it made these sorts of mistakes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000589\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d6fe101af29248b9b907acb01a3e894b\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: Nor Napier.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000590\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224da46ca7217b46718b33a65e7c29e6f2\u0022\u003ERON MARK\u003C/span\u003E: Nor Napier, no. Nor Gisborne, no. Nor Masterton, nor South Wairarapa. And yet we have got a whole bunch of people, very learned people, who dare to tell the Wairarapa that it will be better off because it is not capable of managing itself, and tell it that it should be a super-city. Many of those people sit in the Government\u2019s ranks as well. Well, there is a very clear message in this piece of legislation tonight: smaller is often sharper. Smaller is often special\u2014that is why the SAS is only small, because it is very special. Smaller is actually capable of being more focused\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000591\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cf9eb88d7505403d99a24738608e56c5\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Talk about the bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000592\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e23267d013b04fcd98543a4a4fde0a68\u0022\u003ERON MARK\u003C/span\u003E: Ha, ha! Look, you learnt a long time ago that great things come in small packages, and you are looking at one of them, right now! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000593\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EBut smaller is actually sharper because the sensitivity levels on mistakes are so much higher. If Carterton increases it budget and overspends by $80,000, on the scale and nature of its budget that is a 1 percent increase in rates. Carterton is highly sensitive to error, highly sensitive to bad reports from the Auditor-General, highly sensitive to its reputation, thoroughly focused, and, more than anything, very aware that if it makes a mistake of this nature its community is going to call it to task very quickly\u2014very, very quickly. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000594\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003EIt is an indictment that a city council of this size has made such a glaring error. As Todd Muller has said, I will not hold the Auditor-General\u2019s office very strongly to account, but I will point this out. The audit for Christchurch City Council over those errant years when the errors existed or lay undetected cost Christchurch ratepayers this: in 2004 it cost $168,000 for the audit that did not pick up this error, $187,000 the next year, $205,000 the next year\u2014all the way up until 2011, when they were paying $268,000. In 2013 Christchurch ratepayers paid the Audit Office $292,000 to conduct the audit. Just explain to me: how did the Audit Office miss this? And why is this House sitting tonight, dealing with the errors made by the Christchurch City Council\u2014an offline super-city\u2014that were not picked up by the auditors for $292,000? Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022 data-id=\u00225fb48591958f41248addf2b5c418688b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000595\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225fb48591958f41248addf2b5c418688b\u0022\u003EPAUL FOSTER-BELL (National):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe e te Mana Whakaw\u0101. Thank you for the opportunity to take a call in this debate on the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill. For a start, I would like to respond to a couple of points that have been raised by other members during the course of this debate. We heard from Mr Mark the New Zealand First position on retrospective legislation. In fact\u2014I hope I am quoting the member correctly here\u2014he said: \u201CRetrospective legislation does not sit well with New Zealand First.\u201D This is a position that I think most of us in this House would generally agree with, although I would refer to the expert, if I might, the authority on the issue of retrospective law: Professor Albert Venn Dicey, the Vinerian Professor of English Law, Fellow of All Souls College at Oxford. He wrote in 1885 in his seminal work Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution that there is often a very valid case to be made for retrospective measures where they are curative\u2014that is, where they have a restorative or a curative effect. He cites somewhat more archaic legislation than that used by my learned colleague Mr Muller\u2014and I do hope I am saying the surname of the member for Bay of Plenty correctly\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000596\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022416a4582d7fb4bdcab26b84d890f9a72\u0022\u003ETodd Muller\u003C/span\u003E: Muller.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000597\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002270624b7cfe924cdfa41d05509f745857\u0022\u003EPAUL FOSTER-BELL\u003C/span\u003E: Muller\u2014Muller. Mr Muller cited some of the rates validation legislation that has been passed in recent years in this House, including the Tasman District Council (Validation and Recovery of Certain Rates) Bill and other recent examples. Unlike Mr Muller, who is a modernist, I am a traditionalist. I would go back to the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1794 as perhaps a better example of legislation that is of the sort we would want to avoid\u2014that is, retrospective legislation that had, in effect, a monstrous effect on rights and liberties.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000598\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThe other point I would make to Mr Mark is that although we generally opine in this House that retrospective legislation is abhorrent\u2014or at least something that is not preferred\u2014members may be surprised to learn that actually we pass a surprising number of bills that contain retrospective provisions. I do not have the figures for New Zealand here, but I can tell the member that in the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia a recent study indicated that 20 percent of bills passed contained at least one retrospective measure, and there was a similar proportion in the Queensland Parliament, which is one of the Australian state parliaments that has a better legislative analysis committee. So 20 percent seems to be an average that institutions comparable to our own generally adhere to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000599\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThis is a slightly different matter to the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act of the 1700s. In the New Zealand context, section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1999 provides that enactments do not have a retrospective effect. So in our criminal law, section 6(1) of the current Sentencing Act 2002 is very clear that penal enactments are not to have retrospective effect to the disadvantage of an offender. As we all know, this is not a criminal bill; this is a bill that deals with local government rating. It is a local bill, but, arguably, it has been to the disadvantage of the ratepayers of Christchurch in that they have not been well served by the administrative error that was made over a very long period of time by successive officials and councils, during the 10-year period approximately when the procedural matter of correctly moving a rates resolution was taken. I just thought that those matters may be of interest to Mr Mark, given that he is bringing up the issues around retrospective legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000600\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThis bill is addressing a problem that arose over a long period of time. The Christchurch City Council failed to state in its rates resolutions that the rates were payable by instalment, what those instalment dates were, and that the penalties would be added to the rates if they were not paid by the due date. In respect of the rates from the previous years that remain unpaid by certain dates, it also failed to state when the penalties would be added to the unpaid rates and the amount of those penalties, and this resulted in a technical breach by the council of the Local Government Rating Act 2002. These irregularities have little practical effect for ratepayers in that when we heard evidence during the select committee hearing process in Christchurch, we were not told that there would be an impact on anyone in terms of unpaid rates. So Christchurch ratepayers cannot expect to receive an invoice in the mail as a result of this. This is very much remedying a technical deficiency, rather than being something that has a practical effect.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000601\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EI listened very carefully to the contribution by the Green member Eugenie Sage. She attempted to, I think, itemise some of the subcategories of rates that are laid out in the bill. These are targeted or local rating measures, in addition to the general city council rates. She mentioned the Church Bay sewer loan rate and the Church Bay water loan rate, but she did miss out some others that I think are quite significant. We have also the Governors Bay sewer loan rate, the Governors Bay water rate, the restricted water targeted rate, the waste minimisation rate, the water fire service connection rate, and the uniform annual general charge. I think it is important to get those all on the record because these are rates that do affect people in those areas. Although the member Eugenie Sage did manage to give quite an extensive itemised diatribe on the perils of the mixed-ownership model within local bodies, I thought it was a bit of an omission that we did not have the full list of the targeted rates that are included in this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000602\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThis is a position, as other members have canvassed, that we do not like to find ourselves in, but it is important that we remedy this matter. We on this side of the House take the rule of law very importantly. We cannot have a situation where the good, hard-working rate-paying citizens of Christchurch have paid, over a period of 10 years, rates that were not correctly imposed. But I do ask myself the question\u2014and I did certainly when I was on the Local Government and Environment Committee\u2014that other members have posed in this House, and that is around whether we will be back here again, given that in the past we have dealt with these issues in relation to Mangawhai, in relation to Tasman, and in relation to other local bodies.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000603\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThis is something that we were advised by officials there would be some difficulty in providing a cast-iron assurance for because these are matters that are often detected retrospectively through an audit process. But there was some degree of confidence from the officials\u2014and certainly it left the committee with a degree of hope\u2014that such a situation may be avoided in the future by a more careful policing of those particular provisions of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002, which prescribes the correct form for councils annually filing copies of their rates resolutions with the Secretary for Local Government, who is also an official in the Department of Internal Affairs.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThis irregularity, in terms of the scope of the rating resolutions that were not correctly filed, covers the period from 2004 to 2012. I think this is significant when you look at the number of different chief executives who were in charge at the Christchurch City Council during that time. There were several different mayors. Certainly, we were told by the councillors who came to present at the select committee hearing that there are no current sitting Christchurch city councillors who were involved in the initial error back in 2002. I take from this a lesson that perhaps could be applied, which is that you may have individuals who have a high level of expertise and who are very assiduous and dedicated to their job, but we do find ourselves in a problematic situation where you have insufficient institutional knowledge and processes, including such things as desk files or an intranet that lays out the necessary steps\u2014action checklists and those sorts of administrative tools\u2014to ensure that the council is adhering to the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 in its entirety.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000605\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003EThis is important legislation. It corrects a procedural error. It validates the due dates for the payment of rates. It does validate the dates on which penalties may have been added retrospectively. It validates the uniform annual general charge. Although the funding impact statement, including information about how the charge was to be calculated, is included, this information was not originally included in rates resolutions. So this retrospectively validates that particular issue, and it validates those seven other targeted rates that I listed earlier in my contribution. This is important. It is something that we pass reluctantly. But as I have previously canvassed, it is not unique as an example of retrospective legislation, and for that reason I reluctantly commend this bill to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022 data-id=\u00225af5e12784214ad68759e7656375c20e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000606\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225af5e12784214ad68759e7656375c20e\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: This is a 5-minute call for the Green Party\u2014Denise Roche.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022 data-id=\u0022234a441550124e8e9464768208220506\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000607\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022234a441550124e8e9464768208220506\u0022\u003EDENISE ROCHE (Green):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to take just a short call on the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill. We support this bill and its intention to correct an error. I would like to acknowledge the work of Nicky Wagner, as well as the Local Government and Environment Committee, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and, of course, the Department of Internal Affairs for all the work they have done on preparing the information around this bill so that we can vote on it tonight. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000608\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003EOne of the values of the Green Party is to support ideas, regardless of where they originate, and we do need to ensure that Christchurch has a secure and stable revenue base. My colleague Eugenie Sage has already touched on how that revenue base should include the revenue from the assets that the council holds, which should not be sold off. But currently that revenue base is all the more pressing for Christchurch, so that Christchurch can recover. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000609\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003EHowever, the introduction of legislation that is retrospective should really be used as a means of last resort. We feel that it has been used too often. We have seen it used in the last term\u2014quite recently, really\u2014in two similar situations, for the Kaipara and the Tasman regions. It is obvious that there needs to be clearer guidance from central government about the responsibilities around rating for local government. I am pleased to see that, according to the Department of Internal Affairs and its report to the Local Government and Environment Committee, the Society of Local Government Managers updated its guidelines in November 2013. Hopefully, those updated guidelines, along with the recent audit work conducted by the Auditor-General, mean that we do not repeat these mistakes in other cities across the nation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000610\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003EAs my colleague Eugenie Sage said in her first reading speech, and she mentioned it again tonight, the Parliamentary Library research has shown that the average bill considered by Parliament costs us, the taxpayer, around about $1.43 million, and every hour that Parliament sits costs about $20,000\u2014that is, $20,000 an hour to hear these bills. Although we can talk about the cost in money terms, we should also talk about the opportunity costs, and that is another area where this bill has created quite a bit of cost. When we talk about fixing things up from the past through mistakes in the ratings systems and we have to introduce legislation, we are not talking about the other pressing social problems that we have to deal with. And, boy, do we have some to deal with. We have things like increasing poverty, 25 percent of kids living in poverty, median house prices having increased by 60 percent, and New Zealand\u2019s net carbon emissions having risen by 48 percent. Those are the sorts of issues that we could be spending $20,000 an hour on debating. Every minute, every hour that we talk about bills like these is some time that we do not spend addressing the critical issues for New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000611\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222df33ee5-23d6-441c-a9ba-6495aa69f9fd\u0022\u003EWhen our grandchildren ask us what our proudest achievements during our time in Parliament were, I doubt very much that this bill, even though it is well-intentioned, will feature at the top of the list. We can, and we must, get things right so that we do not waste time passing retrospective legislation and so that we can spend more time doing the job that we were elected to do\u2014addressing the real challenges that are facing our people and our country. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002281825190-fd5d-4ed0-bb80-f12f3c93e653\u0022 data-id=\u0022cb2a6d9e71bc4198bc797e02b62f7bb5\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000612\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002281825190-fd5d-4ed0-bb80-f12f3c93e653\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022cb2a6d9e71bc4198bc797e02b62f7bb5\u0022\u003ERINO TIRIKATENE (Labour\u2014Te Tai Tonga):\u003C/span\u003E I am pleased to make a small contribution in the concluding parts of the second reading. When preparing my speech I went back to my speech on the first reading of this bill. It is fair to say that I was quite harsh on the Christchurch City Council just around the circumstances where we are now having to put in place retrospective legislation to correct errors and breaches of the law. I am always amazed at the language that is used. For instance, this bill refers to validating irregularities. When you think of an irregularity you think of something that might be like a singular or rare event or just an aberration. Let us not forget that this bill is validating a succession of breaches by the Christchurch City Council that went on for 10 years, from 2003 all the way to 2012. An irregularity? It was a most regular succession of blunders for over 10 years, and it was only after 10 years that it spotted the mistake. I am just absolutely gobsmacked, really, that a major city council in New Zealand went on for 10 years breaching the Local Government (Rating) Act.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000613\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002281825190-fd5d-4ed0-bb80-f12f3c93e653\u0022\u003EI want to acknowledge the contribution from Mr Simpson as the chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee, and I acknowledge his upright and critical remarks, basically, about the Christchurch City Council. I acknowledge him for that because we tend to like to sort of put rose-tinted lenses on over errors with good intentions and correct what were administrative anomalies, but it is what it is: it was 10 years of breaches of the Local Government (Rating) Act. I do not know how big the rating base of Christchurch is, but I know it is enormous. You multiply that by 10 years, and that is a mighty number of rates that were levied, and the resolutions to set those rates and impose penalties on them were basically in breach of the law. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000614\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002281825190-fd5d-4ed0-bb80-f12f3c93e653\u0022\u003ESo here we are now using the highest court in the land, Parliament, to correct those errors. I think there needs to be a message that should go out to all local government authorities across the motu\u2014across the country\u2014to step up their game. They need to step up their game to make sure that we are not wasting Parliament\u2019s time having to traverse and go over retrospective legislation to fix up what really are basic administrative errors. I certainly hope that local authorities around the country are as good as Mr Mark\u2019s metropolis of Carterton. I understand that he is very confident in the robustness of the resolution processes that were applied in the setting of rates in his time as mayor. I certainly hope that the other local authorities around New Zealand are doing the same, because if it can happen over the space of 10 years without being picked up even by internal and external audits in the second-largest city council in the country, I just wonder what other anomalies may also be out there among the rest of the territorial authorities around New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000615\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002281825190-fd5d-4ed0-bb80-f12f3c93e653\u0022\u003EThat concludes my contribution here at this second reading. We are reluctantly supporting this bill, but we hope that the message is loud and clear to all local authorities around New Zealand to lift their game. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022 data-id=\u00224456c4b78fa94b9caf17e208f79d19c5\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000616\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224456c4b78fa94b9caf17e208f79d19c5\u0022\u003EJOANNE HAYES (National):\u003C/span\u003E I am pleased to stand to reluctantly support this retrospective bill, the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill. I do want to thank the Christchurch City Council for acknowledging its errors and doing something about them, but to have Government coming in to support it\u2014well, if that is how it had to be, then that is how it had to be. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000617\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI want to thank the Hon Nicky Wagner for sponsoring this bill in the House and I also want to thank the members of the Local Government and Environment Committee, ably chaired by Scott Simpson, for the work that they have done around this, and the council for coming to do its presentation to the select committee when we visited about a month ago. This is not just a South Island thing, as one my colleagues said. It has happened with the Kaipara District Council and, again, we intervened there as the Government to just move it along a bit. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000618\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI just want to talk a little bit about some of the things that occurred with the council. Each June the council resolves to set the rates payable beginning 1 July annually. Perhaps it might have done that, but there were a few things that it missed. Since 2004 the wording has been the same or similar to that of the past and there were a few minor things like dates of payments, etc., that were missed out. It was not until 2014, when the Department of Internal Affairs was advised of the issues and intervened, telling the council that the resolutions that it had passed\u2014well, it had not actually passed them. It might have actually told some of its ratepayers through other means, but the rates had not been formally passed by council resolution. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000619\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003ESo there were no due dates for payment of rates or for authorising of the imposition of penalties for unpaid rates. That was the biggest issue facing this council. Section 24 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 requires that local authorities are to include in the resolution in each year setting the rates the date on which rate payments and/or penalties that are due as well on top of the rates are due, and also the dates by which each instalment is due for payment. That is what the council needed to do and it did not do that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000620\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EThe information had been included, as I said, in a rating policy and funding impact statement, but it was not included in resolutions, as I said, passed since 2004. Section 57 of the Local Government (Rating) Act enables resolutions to be passed that authorise the addition of penalties\u2014I have started down that road\u2014to rates not paid on or by the due dates. This resolution must be made no later than the date on which the local authority sets its rates for the financial year. It must also state how penalties are calculated and the dates that the penalties are added to the amount of the unpaid rates. So those were technical things that were missed out of the resolutions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000621\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EIt was also recognised by the council itself, when it presented to us\u2014one of the councillors came to us and talked about these technical errors. Although the information was made available to the ratepayers, it was not included in the resolutions. The council realised the errors and meant to remove them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000622\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI want to read out some of the irregularities. Details of each irregularity around the target rates to be validated by year were pointed out by my colleague Mr Paul Foster-Bell. He talked about the Church Bay sewer loan rate and the Church Bay water loan rate. These are the dates\u2014the years that were impacted on\u2014that were missed out in that particular piece of information. For the Church Bay sewer loan rate the years impacted were 2006-07 to 2008-09, and these are key dates for those people. For the Church Bay water loan rate the years impacted on were 2006-07 to 2008-09. For the Governors Bay sewer loan rate, which was mentioned by my colleague, the years impacted on were 2006-07 to 2012-13, and for the Governors Bay water loan rate the years impacted on were also 2006-07 to 2012-13. For the restricted water targeted rate, the years impacted on were 2009-10 to 2012-13, and for the water minimisation rate\u2014sorry, waste minimisation rate; I need new glasses\u2014the years impacted on were 2008-09 and 2009-10 to 2012-13. The Fire Service water connection rate was impacted on for the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 and 2007-08 to 2012-13. The uniform annual general charge was impacted on from 2003 to 2012-13. These are the dates I needed to place here in this House to finish off that particular area around targeted rates to be validated. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000623\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EThe retrospective valuation is not expected to have an adverse impact, as mentioned by the Hon Nicky Wagner, on the Christchurch ratepayers. It is an anomaly because they already had the information; we just needed to get it into those resolutions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000624\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI just want to talk a little bit more about what we do for local government. The Government, our Government, assists councils with financial management in a number of ways. We do it through our local government reforms. We have better defined the appropriate scope of their activities and have encouraged local government to focus on getting better value for money for their ratepayers, which, as a ratepayer myself, I think is very good. We need to make sure that we get better value for money through our rates. We have also established financial prudence benchmarks, which are required by councils in order to produce their 30-year infrastructure strategies. This is really key for all councils around infrastructure and the strategies on that. I think the Christchurch earthquakes have shown up where the faults have been, and that infrastructure plans and strategies are key to making sure that cities will keep on going through adversity. That is where we had a few issues in Christchurch over infrastructure issues arising from the earthquakes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000625\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003ECouncils also now have to provide information to their ratepayers so that their ratepayers can judge how their council is performing. I just want to say that in the district where our farm is, we have just received a letter from the council inviting us to participate in a panel measuring the performance of our local council. I think that is a really great way of the ratepayers participating in rates within their cities or towns and making sure that they are getting value for the money they pay, as well as seeing what else is happening within their councils in terms of infrastructure and other things. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EThere has been a big improvement in the past 7 years with rates rises. There has been a big improvement. The average rates rise since 2013 has been 1.4 percent. That is good\u2014good news for everybody. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000627\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003EI realise that I am running out of time, so I just want to conclude by saying that the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill is a short bill, a short focused bill. Clause 5 validates the payment dates for the rates. Clause 6 validates the penalties added to the rates. Clause 7 declares that all moneys received by the council in payment of rates and any penalties paid in respect of those rates are to be treated, and to have always been treated, as having been lawfully paid to, and received by, the council. As I said, I reluctantly support this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022 data-id=\u0022a864c57ff5254ceb9a736afb80ff4060\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000628\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a864c57ff5254ceb9a736afb80ff4060\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON (Labour\u2014Port Hills):\u003C/span\u003E Unlike many other speakers, I am actually very pleased to be speaking in this second reading of the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill. Before I make my contribution on the bill, though, I just want to alert members to the fact that we have been warned already once this week about people falling off high horses. That was in reference to the Northland by-election, but I want to just caution other members about being so critical of the Christchurch City Council in making errors, given that it was only in recent days in this House that we passed a Statutes Amendment Bill that corrected 34 separate pieces of legislation that members of this House had deliberated on through the first reading, through the select committee, through the second reading, through the Committee stage, and through the third reading, and then we had to come back and fix what were, basically, errors. So members should recognise that these things happen. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000629\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EThe challenge for us is to do two things, in my view, when we get a council or local authority saying: \u201CThere\u2019s been a terrible mistake. We\u2019ve just been alerted to it. Can you help us fix it?\u201D. The two things that I think we need to do are, first of all, decide whether we should fix it or not. Was the error that has been made made because of genuine reasons? Was it corruption? Was it an error? You know, that sort of call. Clearly, this is an error, and not anything untoward. Then we have to decide, really, that we will fix it, and make sure that it does not happen again\u2014that is the second point. I have heard no contribution from the members from the Local Government and Environment Committee, or indeed from the member in charge of the bill, the Hon Nicky Wagner, about any efforts that were made during the passage of this legislation to make sure that exactly the same thing is not happening somewhere else. Heaven forbid, Mr Muller, it might be in a North Island council.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0e0c86e-e14d-4daa-9bc8-1b5a3d7defeb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224b5d6d374e7a4f73b7c0a9a2db2bea5c\u0022\u003EPoto Williams\u003C/span\u003E: Muller.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000631\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002210f1f0a85fb6490cab90b413350d2a97\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: Muller, sorry. I will just join the people who are mispronouncing your name. Mr Muller insinuated that these errors happen only in the South Island. Kaipara\u2014I am pretty sure that is in the North Island. I am almost positive, actually. That was the most recent one we did. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000632\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EJust going back to this bill, as the member who\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000633\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022066b2f8e827747e8848272c71784b90b\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: Going back to it? Oh, sorry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000634\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221d7ed6ca02ea4d06b2b2ef7760816831\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014just terminated her call, Joanne Hayes, mentioned, it is a pretty small bill. I do not understand why the Minister who introduced it and spoke earlier in the debate said it does not have any impact on any individuals. Clearly it does, because the resolution was illegal. People got their rates bill and they paid it and the rate was set illegally, so it clearly does have an impact on people. We have just decided that that impact is not of such a nature that we would not remedy the fact that the rate was struck outside the law. So that is the reason this legislation is needed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000635\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EThe first of the two offending parts is in section 24 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002. Do you still have to refer to which document it is when you refer to Bound Reprinted Statutes? Is that still the requirement in the Standing Orders, Mr Assistant Speaker? I think it is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000636\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022802a97d0c0744e69a108061a3b701a02\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: You need to take a point of order, Ms Dyson. Would you like to take a point of order?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000637\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002234f8a9b2b7d148098c9323c2394342c7\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: It is in Bound Reprinted Statutes Vol 26, at p 534. Section 24, \u201CDue date or dates for payment\u201D, says: \u201CA local authority must state,\u201D\u2014and these are the three key words\u2014\u201Cin the resolution setting a rate,\u2014\u201D. So you have to state in the resolution: \u201C(a) the financial year to which the rate applies; and (b) the date on which the rate must be paid or, if the rate is payable by instalments, the dates by which the specified amounts must be paid.\u201D That was the first breach, because the local authority\u2014in this case, Christchurch City Council\u2014did state it on the invoice but did not state in the resolution that information as outlined in section 24. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000638\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EThe other breach was in relation to the same Bound Reprinted Statute, obviously, but this time it related to section 57, \u201CPenalties on unpaid rates\u201D. It states: \u201CA local authority may,\u201D\u2014again, those words\u2014\u201Cby resolution, authorise penalties to be added to rates that are not paid by the due date.\u201D Then it goes on to say that a resolution cannot be made later than the date the local authority sets the rates, and the resolution itself has to state how the penalty is calculated and the date the penalty is to be added, and then it talks about the level. So that is the error that this legislation is fixing. It has meant that people in Christchurch, for 10 whole years, were rated illegally. I do not think there is a single person in this House\u2014actually, I do not think there is a single person on the city council, amongst the elected representatives or management\u2014who would be pleased about that. I do not know who made the error, but, as I mentioned earlier, I want to make really sure that efforts have been made by the member who introduced the bill, and also by the members on the select committee, to make sure that the system is in place so that the Christchurch City Council and other councils do not make this same mistake again. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000639\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EThe reason I am particularly keen on that is that I do not imagine, given the intolerance that was demonstrated throughout some members\u2019 speeches tonight\u2014I am not confident that a future plea from another council might not fall on deaf ears. We might not get a positive response from a local member or, indeed, Parliament to retrospectively validate setting of rates or correcting any other errors. What would happen? What would happen to Christchurch if the city council had come along and said: \u201CWe\u2019ve discovered this mistake.\u201D? Actually, the Department of Internal Affairs needs a bit of a pat on the back because it was actually the Department of Internal Affairs that found this mistake. Somebody\u2014I do not know what their job is\u2014had been reading the local government rating legislation of 2002 and comparing the requirements in it with the rating resolution from 2003 to 2013 of the Christchurch City Council. Heaven knows what their job description is, but I am grateful to them that they did detect this error, because that was the only way that we were alerted to it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000640\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EBut if the Parliament had said: \u201CNo, we are not going to pass this legislation.\u201D, what would the options be? Well, at the moment the Christchurch City Council is already looking at enough hard options, actually. One of the options that has recently been put out for public consultation is an option in terms of meeting our city\u2019s shortfall of funds\u2014and it is a shortfall because of the debt requirements of the local government legislation\u2014of selling off some of our assets. A lot of people in Canterbury are very concerned about that, very upset, very angry, and we will be doing everything that we can to look at better alternatives. There is a very good reason for that. It is that the assets that our city council owns earn us a lot of money as ratepayers, and that means we have to pay less in rates. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000641\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EIf Parliament had decided not to support this rates validation bill, we would be even further in trouble in terms of facing our financial future and having a shortfall. So I am very grateful, firstly, that Parliament has decided to proceed with this legislation, understanding that the error that was made was not a calculated misappropriation of any sort, that it was a genuine error, and that probably we do not even know who was personally responsible for it. Secondly, I am very grateful for the fact that we are looking at only our current shortfall and we will be able to find better options for our city in its future than selling our income-earning assets. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000642\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EA number of contributors to this debate tonight have talked about how bad it is to pass retrospective legislation. I cannot imagine any other way of correcting a mistake that has been made than retrospectively. It would be very hard to pass legislation that corrected a mistake that was to be made in the future. That is the point of this. This is correcting an error, and I think Mr Foster-Bell might have some learned contribution to make on this point. But the point I was making, Mr Foster-Bell, is that it is very hard to correct an error that has been made other than by retrospective legislation. It would be very hard to do it looking into the future.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000643\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227318dfbe8a644d5897e56741a2ad461f\u0022\u003EPaul Foster-Bell\u003C/span\u003E: Perfectly fair point.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000644\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e13496a7bfdc4025a4ba9f762306c150\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: That is right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000645\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207d42dbe-f05a-4a7a-8c23-0eecc14b72aa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bf29ec9520484370aa61bdea9853f8c2\u0022\u003EPaul Foster-Bell\u003C/span\u003E: I don\u2019t disagree with the member.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000646\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224d14d357aa8141be8abc12e2171f0993\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: Paul Foster-Bell and I agree. It is time to quit this debate, I think. We have got agreement on this very point. So I want to just thank members of Parliament for their understanding of the situation that the city council has found itself in, and I look forward to the progress and passing of this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022 data-id=\u0022834f868357344a9c86c22bcba2fdb95b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000647\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022834f868357344a9c86c22bcba2fdb95b\u0022\u003ENUK KORAKO (National):\u003C/span\u003E Kia ora e te Mana Whakaw\u0101, huri noa e te Whare e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. \u201CReluctance\u201D is a word that we have heard all evening in this debate. What my whakaaro, or my thing about this, is is that I am not reluctant, actually. I just think\u2014and without regurgitating a lot of the k\u014Drero or the discussion tonight\u2014the fact is that it is what it is. We have really confirmed the fact that there was no malice intended and that there was a genuine mistake that was made. The important part of it is that it was a technical issue. And the second part of it is that there were no moneys that were actually overcharged, or whatever.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000648\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EIn the Chamber tonight there were, at one time, three mayors here: one a former mayor\u2014well, all former mayors, actually. One of the things that we have concerned ourselves with all evening in this debate is: given that we have found this mistake, are there any others out there that we do not know about? When this happened, there was a huge flurry across New Zealand, particularly in the local councils, because everyone was then checking their systems just to ensure that this particular anomaly\u2014this particular issue that they found with the Christchurch City Council\u2014was not happening on their patch. So I think that is an important consideration or concern that, actually, we should possibly put away after this debate or be comfortable with it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000649\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EAs a member of the Local Government and Environment Committee, it was an interesting situation when the councillors came to submit\u2014and it was the only submission on this particular bill. When the councillors from the Christchurch City Council did come before the committee, there was a real interest from all of us because it seemed that they showed very, very little empathy. In some ways, it was in a fairly perfunctory manner that they actually submitted to our process around this bill. But when you take into account that it took place over a 10-year period and quite a number of years before the present council\u2014particularly given what has gone on in Christchurch, as we know, since the September earthquakes and then the February earthquake, and the immense workload that has actually been on the Christchurch City councillors.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000650\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EAs someone who comes from Christchurch, as someone who is a ratepayer, as someone who has experienced the incredible challenges through those earthquake periods, I see the city council working in unison with the Crown. But then in a lot of parts of it you are damned if you do and you are damned if you do not. So this added situation, which happened long before their time, is something that I think was reflected in the way that they actually presented that day. I have a lot of empathy for them because they realised that and they accepted the fact that the mistake had been made. I actually concur with the right honourable Ruth Dyson this evening on the fact that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000651\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002242588587313e4307b6c06bec3634dd5e\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Not quite \u201Cright\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000652\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d5fe1a42743f44aa9d87e734edc95e8e\u0022\u003ENUK KORAKO\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, well, the honourable, sorry\u2014the Hon Ruth Dyson. I concur with what she was saying: that if we look at all of this, if we accept it\u2014which I believe we should, and move on\u2014and if we then acknowledge the work that we have done on this bill, and if we acknowledge the fact that the Hon Nicky Wagner presented this as a local bill, and if we acknowledge the work that has been done by the Local Government and Environment Committee, we will actually get to the point where we have actually shored all of this up, and we will have legislation that will actually be good legislation, because good legislation only comes about when we have collective agreement. We have a sort of collective working so that we bring in good legislation to be able to deal with this situation so that it does not happen again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000653\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EOn that note I do again want to say that it is what it is. We have accepted that. Let us move on, let us deal with this, and let us continue on with other important things that we have to deal with. On that note, I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000654\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002229c236aa-2283-4690-9a84-aa865404bb61\u0022\u003EBill read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000655\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002212c507ce7b3f4d0caa5b3d3d6f5142f1\u0022\u003ESittings of the House\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000657\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022cdee6306249a4ac1b236027a431243f1\u0022\u003ESittings of the House\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022 data-id=\u00220ea3b58c148b4e0f836dd7a2ed9ce498\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000656\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220ea3b58c148b4e0f836dd7a2ed9ce498\u0022\u003EJAMI-LEE ROSS (Junior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I seek leave for the House to adjourn at the conclusion of members\u2019 order of the day No. 1 or at 10 p.m., whichever is earlier.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u00220779f4a1e7b44251b862daff4dfd7b15\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000658\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220779f4a1e7b44251b862daff4dfd7b15\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: Leave has been sought in those terms. Is there any objection to that process? There appears to be none.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000659\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022efc52f95f4e74d229809aa50a60ff4ad\u0022\u003ESocial Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000660\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022ac9c4316b70d4565bb8648f0ed6ceca1\u0022\u003EIn Committee\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000661\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00224a05daa23e994519970b0380baccaf79\u0022\u003EClause 1\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022 data-id=\u0022eb2f310403a54b2b9dbecac08117a89d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000662\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022eb2f310403a54b2b9dbecac08117a89d\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E It is my pleasure to speak on the Committee stage of the Social Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill. It is a bill that Labour has supported all the way through, and I continue to commend the member Tracey Martin for bringing this important bill before the Committee. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000663\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI want to raise a couple of issues in this Committee stage that relate to the technical details, but first of all I just want to again, for the benefit of the Committee, briefly traverse the difference\u2014which is captured in the title\u2014between those who are in receipt of an unsupported child\u2019s benefit or an orphans benefit versus those who receive support for caring for a child who is in their care as a foster child. Obviously, this bill is very specific to those who receive an unsupported child\u2019s benefit. In New Zealand, unfortunately, circumstances mean that many of those individuals are grandparents raising grandchildren, or those who are often described as kinship carers. They are in the devastating situation of their children not being in a position to care for their grandchildren, and often reluctantly, at great expense, have to acknowledge that the grandchildren would be better off in their own care. Many of these individuals are living on pensions. Some scrape together meagre incomes through part-time work. All, however, have made the decision to put their grandchildren first, and we should applaud them for that. I want particularly to applaud the group that has been organised since roughly 1999 under Diane Vivian\u2014Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust\u2014which has been an excellent advocate for change in this area. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000664\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EQualifying for an unsupported child\u2019s benefit is quite a test: you have to demonstrate family breakdown. That in itself is quite a difficult thing to demonstrate. You may have a biological parent who is very unwilling to accept their inability to care appropriately for the grandchild in question. That, in itself, can be a hard test to demonstrate to Work and Income, which often requires family members to openly agree that there has been family breakdown and an inability to support that child. It is a difficult test. Work and Income also requires there to be a long period of time where a grandparent has actually been caring for that grandchild unsupported before they qualify. I know a lot of members in this House would probably have been advocates. Therefore, I do think there is room to look at the threshold test for those families. But the distinction within the legislation that exists that the member is trying to remedy is that, in qualifying for that unsupported child\u2019s benefit, you do not automatically qualify for the same support that a foster carer would receive. That is what this bill seeks to remedy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000665\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EThe Social Services Committee found, however, that in clause 4, inserting new section 29B, which is the most substantive part of the bill\u2014basically, it sets out how, administratively, it would apply the extension of receiving a clothing allowance, which is the one bit of foster care support that we are now trying to transfer to someone receiving an unsupported child\u2019s benefit. The select committee has changed the way the original form of this bill would do that. The select committee has changed it, basically, by making a reference in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services Act around rates of payments to persons or organisations that are in charge of a child. Why has the committee made a general cross-reference, rather than just simply stating in law that you would receive a clothing allowance? Well, the select committee points out that the reason is: \u201Cthe clause as drafted may give the impression that the chief executive is required to determine such an allowance. However, section 363 of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act relates to the chief executive\u2019s discretion to determine the rates of allowances payable to caregivers of foster children \u2026 We believe the amendment would clarify that, although a clothing allowance is currently provided for foster children, the provision, as well as the amount provided, is at the chief executive\u2019s discretion,\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000666\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EIt is somewhat concerning that such an important allowance is at the chief executive\u2019s discretion. I would have thought that that would be the kind of support that should actually be entrenched in the legislation. Granted, it is obviously currently available, it is provided for\u2014I would really challenge any Minister who would allow a chief executive to remove that support\u2014but stranger things have happened in policy in this area. So I think it would be good if the Minister could consider entrenching such support and allowances into legislation, so that we are not just cross-referencing the discretion of a chief executive in a bill like this.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000667\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022230e7b7e531e4971bc9b14ecc3928a7f\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: If the member would take her seat, she will get the call back in a second, but I think we have got something procedural to sort out.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000668\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002264dc8ab3b937423eb3c4284d14ebecb2\u0022\u003EJami-Lee Ross\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave for all clauses in this bill to be debated as one question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000669\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221e618ac5b307401783bd1e14c0c94a71\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: I think, also, \u201Cand amendments\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000670\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cebb640848fc4faf8d340060343311b5\u0022\u003EJami-Lee Ross\u003C/span\u003E: And amendments.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000671\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002270fc6a55e9de4176856d1140c9fa0480\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: So if we have the understanding that all questions on this bill are going to be debated as one question\u2014is there any objection to that process? There is none. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000672\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002230a585ff8ce94d3ca39663cd3b9451f7\u0022\u003EClause 1 (continued) and clauses 2 to 4 and amendments\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000673\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228a5dd214fd3a4635a720f7a73f26c564\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you very much, Mr Chair. That is actually quite helpful, because I have some Supplementary Order Papers I would like to speak to. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000674\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ESo not only should it be entrenched in law\u2014one of our other concerns is that we should, actually, be ensuring equity between foster carers and kinship carers across the board. I think it is fair to say that, actually, the member has plucked out an incredibly important allowance in the clothing allowance. It is very hard to argue that that should not be shared across that wider range of carers. But there are other allowances that a foster carer currently receives, and it is our view that those, too, should be given to kinship carers, because the fundamental question we should be asking ourselves is: if not a grandparent or a kinship carer, then who? Who is caring for that child? We know the State is an incredibly poor parent, and the State very rarely has any intention of being the long-term carer for a child in a residential facility. That is no home for a child. So if it is not a grandparent, ultimately, it would probably be a foster carer, who would then be entitled to that extra support. So why should a kinship carer not be entitled to that support? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000675\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EWe have Supplementary Order Paper 72, which would extend the provisions of this bill so that there is equity between foster carers and those kinship carers. I accept that that may be a bridge too far for the Government, so to speak\u2014but we thought it was worth a punt, because we think the argument is right. But, again, that is not to diminish what Tracey Martin has done with this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000676\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EAnother point that I wish to raise is the commencement date. I know this will be raised by others. I want to put on record Labour\u2019s support for Jan Logie\u2019s Supplementary Order Paper 70, which would mean that the commencement of this bill\u2014essentially, when families would receive the support\u2014would be much closer to when it is passed in the House than it currently is in this bill. In this bill we are looking at waiting until 2018. Many members of this Committee may, like me, have received letters from grandparents and children\u2014photos, messages, handwritten messages, pictures; they have been heartbreaking to receive\u2014saying: \u201CPlease bring this in now, we need that support.\u201D The argument that has been made by the select committee that looked at this bill was that the Government has brought in start-up payments at the beginning of each year for these families, between $250 and $400, and that, really, that will suffice until we hit 2018\u2014and that is when this extra support can phase in. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000677\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI have to say that, if we are going to demonstrate any generosity\u2014and I use that word in inverted commas\u2014then it should be for this group. Really, to say that it would be too generous to double up on a $250 yearly payment with a clothing allowance feels sadly mean-spirited to me. I think it is great that there is that start-up support, but when you are looking at school fees, books, and uniforms, then, actually, that amount at the beginning of the year is barely going to touch the sides. So I do not think it is too much to ask to have the continuity of having this kick off straight away, being in place for those families, and making sure we show that support that I think they rightly deserve. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000678\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ETo conclude, we would like to see an early commencement, we would like to see it extended a bit further, but, failing that, we will, of course, wholeheartedly support the bill as it stands. We think it is the right thing to do, and we again thank the member for bringing it before the House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022 data-id=\u0022878acca50593406ba197c1e925177da5\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000679\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022878acca50593406ba197c1e925177da5\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO (National):\u003C/span\u003E I rise and take a call. First of all, can I again acknowledge my friend and colleague Tracey Martin. Both of us have worked in our first term as first-term MPs, and the work that we did, actually, with kin carers and on the specific task force that was to look at the very funds that have now become the Extraordinary Care Fund is supporting some of the benefits that we know that kin carers, grandparents raising children, actually absolutely need. I think that throughout that process we heard some of the concerns, but also, too, I know that Mrs Martin was very clear that that process was not about the clothing equity that was needed in regard to kin carers. At my standing I do not want to talk for too long, but I want to do this because I want to acknowledge the fact of the journey that we took together to make sure that those kin carers and those grandparents who are out there are acknowledged for the work that they are doing. I think that, again, as I have often said, for any member of Parliament to have their member\u2019s bill drawn\u2014in fact, Mrs Martin, I do not know what it is, but you have got the lucky wheel, because you have had another bill drawn again, so you are very fortunate to have had two in this period of time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000680\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EIn regard to the Social Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill for kin carers and orphans, I just think that this bill is important. With regard to the previous comments by Ms Ardern in regards to the time frame, I think we have worked together collectively and collaboratively to get the balance right. I think we came to a point where we realised that at the moment the Extraordinary Care Fund was important to see us through to a point where we could then also look at the commencement date, and so that has been in negotiation with us, and I think that is important. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EI just want to finish off by saying that last Monday I was with the Hon Jonathan Coleman and we were up in Kait\u0101ia. We just happened to be in a great place. Great people up there. [Interruption] OK. Some people call it tiger country, but I think it is a wonderful place to be\u2014a wonderful part of the world to be in. We just happened to be at \u014Cturu School. Some of you may not know that place, because many of you have never travelled there, but I was there with the Hon Jonathan Coleman, and at \u014Cturu School, the principal, Fraser Smith, was there. He talked about the wonderful things that they were doing in that school. They had won this environmental award and in that school they had just pressed 200 tonnes of olives into olive oil. They had honey bees and they had a whole variety of things there that they were working collectively on. It is a low-decile school.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000682\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EHe then said to me that the demographic profile of their school is that one-third of the children there come from solo parents; another one-third come from grandparents raising grandchildren; and as for the others, they do have a mixture of families that are supporting them. He said to me that this is one of the absolute challenges, especially when grandparents are coming forward and talking about the challenges that they have. It was also a great example of how the school was working collectively to be able to have its own community garden where, actually, people could be involved in meeting some of the challenges that they faced as well. But the point that I wanted to make in this is that when I told him about the work and about this bill he began to see the importance of how this could meet some of those needs. So I just wanted to give a small practical example, Mrs Martin, of how this bill will definitely meet some of the needs of the families that I have seen up in the far north, in Kait\u0101ia, at \u014Cturu School, where Fraser Smith is the principal\u2014and the work that they are doing as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000683\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003ESo I just want to commend you for the work that you are doing. I think this is a bill that we in the Government worked collectively on with New Zealand First and with you, Mrs Martin, and I believe that this truly does make a difference to our families. So on behalf of the Government, and on behalf of myself as well, I just want to commend this bill and congratulate you on the work that you have done as well. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022 data-id=\u0022dcb9046bab1e40dfaf35505129863787\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000684\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dcb9046bab1e40dfaf35505129863787\u0022\u003EJAN LOGIE (Green):\u003C/span\u003E I too would like to offer my congratulations to Tracey Martin on getting things this far. I will speak mostly to my Supplementary Order Paper 70, which relates to how Mrs Martin has managed to get the bill this far. It was a feat of quite supreme nuancing and finessing to be able to get this bill through the Social Services Committee and to get the Government to make adjustments to be able to keep this bill alive. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000685\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EIt is a real credit to you to have been able to do that to keep this bill alive, but I sense that it is not what you ultimately wanted because I know that this bill has come from Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and that Mrs Martin has been working very closely with those people all the way through. The fact is that they are now contacting us\u2014or, actually, they are not contacting us so much; it is the children who are contacting us\u2014as MPs in this House, and I am sure that probably everyone in this House has had the letters and has seen the photos of these children. They are what this is about. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000686\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EThe fact is that you have managed to keep this alive, but I believe it is our duty now to respond to those children\u2019s requests and to your perseverance in keeping it alive by taking this opportunity to give this House the chance to say: \u201CHang on. Actually, do we really want to make those children wait until 2018? Do we really believe that our budgets are so constrained that we cannot afford that little extra for those children to be able to have new clothes to wear to school?\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000687\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EI cannot imagine anyone standing up in this Chamber and actually saying, you know: \u201CMy account for it is that it is a maximum of $8 million a year.\u201D It is not anywhere near that amount because that is looking at the total sum for over 12,000 children, and at the full amount on top of $900 if there are 1,600. I know that that is not the full amount, and I have not been able to calculate it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000688\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003ESo it is nowhere near $8 million, and it is the chance for over 12,000 children to be able to go to school feeling like everyone else in their class\u2014that they have the clothes and they are able to stand tall, and that if their family is fostering other kids, they have the same clothes as those other kids in the same household. I really, really would like to hear from any member in this House who would stand up and say that $8 million out of the Government\u2019s Budget is too much to enable that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000689\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EWe have offered any member in this House the opportunity to just say that, yes, 2018 is too long to wait and we are not going to make you wait that long. All members need to do is support Supplementary Order Paper 70, and then, 3 months from the day on which the bill receives the Royal assent, we can give those kids the chance to be able to get those clothes, go to school, and stand with pride. And we can take that burden away from their families, who are surviving, in many cases, as Jacinda Ardern has mentioned, on pensions. They are struggling to get by and are trying to do the best for their families. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000690\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EI remind this House that these are not just any old kids; these are children whose families have fallen apart and who are now with their grandparents because something went horribly wrong. Often those kids have been through unimaginable trauma, and they have enough to cope with. We can do this. We can just say that, yes, we will deliver this to you now. We are not going to make you wait until 2018. I hope against hope, because nobody is listening to me right now in this Chamber, apart from members on this side.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229dc203b3-21b0-4d4a-a530-746504e05f20\u0022 data-id=\u0022f04468e32cb04a599ac57ef8036e367f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000691\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229dc203b3-21b0-4d4a-a530-746504e05f20\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f04468e32cb04a599ac57ef8036e367f\u0022\u003ERICHARD PROSSER (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I am enormously proud to rise on behalf of New Zealand First to take my first call on my colleague Tracey Martin\u2019s bill. I know it has been a source of great passion for her, as well as reflecting the great knowledge that she has on this subject. I do not intend to take up too much of the House\u2019s time. I do wish, as I say, to give some acknowledgment to Tracey Martin for having this bill drawn from the ballot, and also for the enormously productive cross-party work she has done, both in the Social Services Committee and through other auspices, to gain the Government\u2019s approval, to basically get it on side and to persuade some, essentially, very decent members on the Government side that this is a necessary bill and this is a bill that will help a sector of the community that otherwise would not get help. I think it does reflect the fact that even in a combative, adversarial Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, there are still avenues by which we as good people can work together for a common goal. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000692\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229dc203b3-21b0-4d4a-a530-746504e05f20\u0022\u003EI want to also acknowledge the other Opposition members who have spoken, as well as Government members such as Mr Ngaro. I acknowledge Jacinda Ardern for bringing what is a very forthright and valuable Supplementary Order Paper to this bill. I also acknowledge Jan Logie, and I want to speak about her Supplementary Order Paper in a moment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000693\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229dc203b3-21b0-4d4a-a530-746504e05f20\u0022\u003EI had a brief conversation with Tracey Martin this morning when we talked about the upcoming Committee stage of her bill. She said to me: \u201CWhat\u2019s an orphan?\u201D. My understanding of an orphan was that it was a child who had lost both their parents to death\u2014that was my perception of it. She said: \u201CYes, you\u2019re right, but there\u2019s much more to it than that. A child in New Zealand is legally declared an orphan if they do not have parents for a number of other reasons.\u201D, which I had not previously been aware of. If, for example, both the child\u2019s parents are in jail or if they are both unable to carry out the activities of parenting because they are drug addicts or alcoholics or otherwise incapable of providing care, then that child is declared to be an orphan. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000694\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229dc203b3-21b0-4d4a-a530-746504e05f20\u0022\u003EAs this bill addresses, there are a number of gaps in the legislation and in our social care arrangements that need to be filled so that children who fall into these categories and the people who care for them are able to access the sort of support and the kinds of allowances that are available to children who, for whatever reason, do not fill those particular pigeon holes. We do not want to go into too much more detail on that, because I know it has been addressed by other speakers and I realise there are other speakers who wish to take a call on this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000695\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229dc203b3-21b0-4d4a-a530-746504e05f20\u0022\u003EI want to predominantly talk about Jan Logie\u2019s Supplementary Order Paper 70, which calls for bringing forward the commencement date of this bill from 1 July 2018 to 3 months after the date on which it receives the Royal assent. Again, I say I am very appreciative of the fact that Government has agreed to support this bill, but pushing the start date out to 2018 means that what we are essentially doing as a nation, as a Parliament, as a Government, in order to save a comparatively very small amount of money, is putting what is a small amount of money for a Government and for a nation onto the shoulders of a small number of people who are in the worst possible position to be able to afford to pay it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000696\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229dc203b3-21b0-4d4a-a530-746504e05f20\u0022\u003EI do not want to be provocative, but I do wish to make a comparison between the amount of additional funding required from the Government that bringing the start date forward will cost and compare that with one particular other item of discretionary Government spending that is going to go ahead. We know from the breakdown and from the figures that Tracey Martin has given us in support of this bill that the additional cost to the taxpayer of rolling it out will be about $16 million a year in total. So what I would like to say is that what we are about to do as a nation is spend $26 million on two referendums on changing the flag. I say that just to put this thing into perspective. Many people would contend, and I would agree, that no one has called for a referendum on the flag. No one actually wants a change in the flag, if the political polls are to be believed. Yet here we are about to spend nearly 2 years\u2019 worth of what it would cost to bring the start date of this bill forward from July 2018 to 3 months after the date it receives the Royal assent. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000697\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229dc203b3-21b0-4d4a-a530-746504e05f20\u0022\u003EWe can, as an intelligent, caring nation and as a Parliament that has shown we can work across party boundaries, look at those two things not in isolation but alongside each other and say: \u201CHere we have a bill that will cost about $16 million or a referendum that will cost $26 million. One of them is for a change in the flag that no one wants and a referendum that no one called for. The other one is a very tangible assisting support payment to some very vulnerable kids and some very stretched caregivers who look after them.\u201D I would really like the Government to take that on board, look at those two things side by side, have a deep think about which is more valuable, and put its money where its mouth is and support Jan Logie\u2019s Supplementary Order Paper 70, as we are going to. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022 data-id=\u0022f05011ef838248ac9d0ee40c616356e6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000698\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f05011ef838248ac9d0ee40c616356e6\u0022\u003EJENNY SALESA (Labour\u2014Manukau East):\u003C/span\u003E I am pleased to take a call on the Social Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill. The Labour Party strongly supports this bill. May I commend Tracey Martin for bringing this bill to the House and for championing such an important issue, something that I am passionate about, and an issue that I think is important for this Parliament to address. Children who are orphans or who are unsupported usually go through a lot, often very tragic circumstances, before they get to the point where they are orphans or they are not supported and they can no longer live with, say, their biological parents. For instance, both parents might have died in a car accident; or a mother might have died from cancer after suffering for many years, leaving behind five children; or, as was presented to the Social Services Committee, a husband might have taken the life of the wife and the children are left in the care of the grandparents\u2014very, very tragic indeed. The State considers kids unsupported when parents are no longer able to support them due to a family breakdown. So the circumstances in which kids get to this point\u2014either being an orphan or being unsupported\u2014is indeed really, really, tragic. Again, I commend you, Tracey, for bringing a bill that will actually address this issue, that will bring parity for how we deal with kids who are orphans or who are unsupported as well as those whom the State already pays the clothing allowance to at the moment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EIn this bill it will no longer matter if the child is cared for by family or by a kin person. This bill makes sure that children actually get the clothing allowance, and I think that we as a society should look after all of our kids, but especially those who are in such vulnerable, vulnerable states like these kids. Fairness and equity are some of the core, core values of the Labour Party, and they are some of the reasons why we strongly support this bill. Providing parity for foster children as well as those who are orphans and unsupported is what I think this bill actually does, and for that we are in support of it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000700\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EI was not fortunate enough to sit on the select committee that considered this bill; however, in reading the documents that came through from the committee process, it states that there are around 8,500 families and kin carers who are caring for over 12,000 kids in this situation in New Zealand right now\u2014a lot of kids. This bill was first introduced, as far as I can see from the paperwork, in September 2013, so it has been around for quite a while. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000701\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EI would like to talk about the commencement date, which is in clause 2 of this bill. This bill has come back to the House with a new proposed date for commencement. So the commencement clause says that it will not start after it receives the Royal assent, not even this year in 2015; it will not even begin next year. It is not until 3 whole years from now in July 2018 that this legislation may come into force after it gets through the third reading. May I just reiterate what my colleague Miss Ardern stated earlier on: the Labour Party is in full support of Jan Logie\u2019s Supplementary Order Paper 70. If I can just quote from it, it says: \u201CThis Supplementary Order Paper amends clause 2 to change the commencement date of this Bill, bringing it forward from 1 July 2018 to 3 months after the date on which it receives the Royal assent.\u201D The Labour Party supports this Supplementary Order Paper and we hope that the Government considers it favourably. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000702\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EIf our children are a priority for this Government, especially our most vulnerable children, and I believe they are, then implementing a bill like this one\u2014implementing this on behalf of orphaned and unsupported children\u2014should be a priority now, today, in 2015, not 3 years from now in July 2018. We believe that if New Zealand really wants the best outcomes for children, then we need to invest in and prioritise the policies that focus on our children, especially our most vulnerable kids. All children in New Zealand deserve equal opportunities. Mr Chair, I would like to thank you and I would like to thank Tracey Martin for bringing this bill to the Committee. The Labour Party is very, very pleased to support this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022530ce0c4-c977-40cb-90fb-754f54931ff1\u0022 data-id=\u002214546398871d49bc8dbf4974a821df34\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000703\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022530ce0c4-c977-40cb-90fb-754f54931ff1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002214546398871d49bc8dbf4974a821df34\u0022\u003ETRACEY MARTIN (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E This is just a very short call to thank all the other members of the Committee who have spoken already, and to thank them on behalf of the children. I want to thank Jan Logie and Jacinda Ardern for their Supplementary Order Papers 70 and 72. I want to acknowledge Alfred Ngaro and the statements that he made around the process of this bill and the arrangements and the conversations that were had, and the reasons that had been articulated previously for the way that the bill stands now. So this is just a very, very short call to thank you all for your support.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u00227e8d5fdef6cd46fbb13d6fb91e8cf1b5\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000704\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227e8d5fdef6cd46fbb13d6fb91e8cf1b5\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: We now come to putting the questions. Just in case we do not get through it, I am going to seek the indulgence of the Committee by seeking leave that, if we have not quite finished by 9.55 p.m., the report back of the Committee will be slightly delayed. Is there any objection to that process? There appears to be none.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000705\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EClause 1 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000706\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 70 in the name of Jan Logie to clause 2 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00229555c244581a410496a972676f7f200a\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 48\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 32; Green Party 14; M\u0101ori Party 2.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 72\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 59; New Zealand First 11; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAmendment not agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000707\u0022\u003EClause 2 agreed to.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000708\u0022\u003EClause 3 agreed to.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000709\u0022\u003EThe question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 72 in the name of Jacinda Ardern to clause 4 be agreed to.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00227e8081df5448419dbf45fcfa9f7f19de\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 46\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 32; Green Party 14.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 74\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 59; New Zealand First 11; M\u0101ori Party 2; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAmendment not agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000710\u0022\u003EClause 4 agreed to.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000711\u0022\u003EBill reported without amendment.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000712\u0022\u003EReport adopted.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000713\u0022\u003EThe House adjourned at 9.55 p.m.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2015040166e93d2e78f848ad812ebd57ab16259b000714\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n  \u003C/body\u003E\n\u003C/html\u003E"