Carter Chris: New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill — First Reading 
Carter Chris: New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:641;Page:10864] 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Conservation) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister for Land Information 
: I move  
That the New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Bill be considered by the Government Administration Committee. It is with great pleasure that I introduce this bill which repeals and replaces the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946. The 1946 Act has guided the official naming of New Zealand’s geographic features for more than half a century but it now needs to be modernised. The bill before the House today is the result of a comprehensive review and consultation process involving public iwi local government and sectoral groups. The result is legislation that provides a sound framework for New Zealand’s official geographic naming needs into the 21st century. It will also help to ensure that place naming will reflect who we are as a nation. 
In my ministerial role as decision maker in some place-naming submissions that the New Zealand Geographic Board deals with I know that official naming of geographic features is important and taken very seriously by communities. The names of places that we know and identify with such as mountains and rivers as well as settlements and localities reflect in a very real way our culture and shared heritage as New Zealanders. Knowing the correct names for places and their location is also important for people in all manner of everyday communications and activities for businesses and their transactions and for emergency services in responding to incidents. 
This bill provides for the continuation of the New Zealand Geographic Board and its important place-naming work. The bill also extends the board’s jurisdiction in particular to include the naming of undersea features within New Zealand’s continental shelf. It recognises the Crown responsibility in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi in the context of official geographic names it refines public consultation processes for proposed names it enables the public to have access to a record of official geographic names it ensures board membership better represents a wider range of constituents and additional board responsibilities and it provides for more transparent board accountability. 
Extending the board’s place-naming jurisdiction to include New Zealand’s legal continental shelf is a significant step. New Zealand’s total continental shelf is up to four times that of the land. This area is of high strategic importance for New Zealand and it is now the subject of increasing research and exploration activity. Right now the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is considering New Zealand’s continental shelf boundary submissions which encompass the approximately 1.7 million square kilometres of continental shelf outside our exclusive economic zone. The Geographic Board’s role in naming features of the continental shelf will play a part in New Zealand’s effective management of the undersea resources within our area. Extending the board’s jurisdiction to include the continental shelf is also consistent with the Government’s Ocean Survey 20/20 initiative which is a coordinated work programme of projects that will contribute to the knowledge base of ocean and sea floor information over the next 10 to 15 years. 
Another aspect of the bill is that it formalises the board’s Antarctic geographic naming activities which are not provided for under the existing Act. The bill’s provisions recognise the Crown’s responsibility in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi in particular with respect to the collection and use of original Maori names of geographic features on official maps and charts. In this context it is useful to acknowledge the valuable role that the Geographic Board plays in providing advice on proposed cultural redress for Treaty claim settlements where place names are involved—an example being the now official dual name of Aoraki / Mount Cook. 
The Geographic Board’s current responsibility for assigning or altering the official names of suburbs and localities is continued under the bill. However this function will be devolved to territorial authorities in the future through subsequent legislation. This devolution agreed to by Cabinet and supported by local government will include a naming code of practice with the Geographic Board retaining concurrence in the process. The bill provides for a similar concurrence role for the board and for public consultation where names for Crown-protected areas are proposed under legislation administered by the Department of Conservation. 
The bill will ensure that the public has access to a record of all official geographic names and it will require documents to use official geographic names where they exist. The bill will also give the board discretion to determine effective consultation time periods and the best means of publishing final name decisions thus relaxing what have proven to be overly prescriptive public consultation requirements in the current legislation. 
Two new board members are provided for under the bill. The first new member is needed because of the significant extension of the board’s functions to include undersea feature naming within the continental shelf. The second new member is from the local government sector and is needed particularly because of the importance of official suburb and locality naming for standardised address information across our country. Accountability provisions relating to the Geographic Board are enhanced under the bill by the requirement to submit an annual report to the Minister on the board’s performance. The bill will now also be subject to the Ombudsmen Act of 1975. 
This legislation provides a sound framework for New Zealand’s official geographic naming needs in the 21st century. It ensures that place naming reflects who we are as a nation. I commend the bill to the House.