Tizard Judith: Auckland War Memorial Museum Site Empowering Bill — First Reading 
Tizard Judith: Auckland War Memorial Museum Site Empowering Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:609;Page:6579] 
Hon JUDITH TIZARD (NZ Labour—Auckland Central) 
: 
 I move  
That the Auckland War Memorial Museum Site Empowering Bill be now read a first time. 
 As MP for Auckland Central I have been asked by the Auckland Museum Trust Board to promote this bill which will enable the Auckland War Memorial Museum to expand and redevelop to meet the needs of the people of Auckland and of all New Zealanders and of the over 70000 schoolchildren and over 250000 international tourists who visit the museum each year. This bill will repeal the Auckland Institute and Museum Site Empowering Act 1918 and will replace it with this new legislation allowing the leasing of land within the Auckland Domain for the purposes of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and for extensions to the museum. It validates the lease granted by the mayor the councillors and citizens of Auckland to the Auckland Museum Trust Board in 1920 and allows extensions and redevelopment of the museum. 
This is only the second expansion since the museum moved to the Auckland Domain site in 1929. This project follows the extensive restoration of the fabric of the existing building done in the mid-1990s which cost more than $45 million of which the Government contributed $15.8 million. That ensured that the museum building is structurally sound and adequately serviced for its present functions. The proposed redevelopment of the museum is possible only if legislation allows an extension to the present lease area. 
The area of land to be used has already been set aside by the Auckland City Council district plan for the museum and resource consent under the Resource Management Act has also been granted. The passage of this bill is the final step to ensure the project can proceed. The new bill will also correct lease provisions covering the existing building as it has been determined that the north-east and north-west corners of the building were built outside the existing lease area. This bill will correct that earlier mistake. 
This project has two major elements. The first is the construction of a new southern public entrance and an eastern goods entrance and the excavation below and filling in of the present open central courtyard. This will allow construction of new onsite collections storage areas conservation servicing and workshop areas a new special exhibitions area and an education suite with classrooms new studio and tutorial spaces a theatre curatorial and staff areas an events centre and various supporting amenities. This part of the project will add approximately 60 percent to the existing area of the museum. 
The second element of the project is to provide an underground car-park alongside and to the south-east of the existing buildings. There is currently a serious shortage of parking in spite of the good public transport that serves the museum and this lack is inhibiting the use by all Aucklanders of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. It is proposed that the additional car-parking will be underground and this will enable better use of the surrounding parkland. It will also provide level weather-protected access for the elderly and for people with disabilities which is not currently available. The Government announced earlier last year that it would make a contribution of $26.5 million over 5 years from the Regional Museums Fund towards the redevelopment of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The total cost of the project will be double that and the expansion project is scheduled to commence on 1 October 2003. 
The Auckland War Memorial Museum is one of the biggest museum collections in New Zealand. It is one of the major cultural institutions in New Zealand that provide us with access to our heritage. It is a vital part of our cultural tourism circuit which is important for the economic well-being of the country as well as being a vital link in New Zealand’s growing information network. 
More fundamentally the Auckland War Memorial Museum is the keeping of our treasures our taonga of our art and technology our heritage and our stories our scientific and cultural knowledge. It is a major and respected repository of Maori taonga of artefacts and information. It is Auckland’s major war memorial recognising the service and sacrifice of New Zealanders overseas from the New Zealand wars to the Boer War to the recent peacekeeping work with which our armed forces are now involved. It recalls the names of all those servicemen and servicewomen who died in service of our country in war. It reminds us of where we have come from and how we came to be what and who we are. The Auckland War Memorial Museum provides a foundation for our sense of identity in an increasingly globalising world. It epitomises that foundation. The proposed extension to the museum’s building will enable it to fulfil all of these roles better for the future. 
The Auckland War Memorial Museum is an exceptional resource for the Auckland region and for New Zealand. It is widely supported and this has been further demonstrated by the very strong community backing for the project with funding for 80 percent of the total project already having been pledged. 
As this is a local bill it would normally be referred to the Local Government and Environment Committee. However because we need to have this bill reported back to the House by 15 August so that it can be passed by 1 October I propose to ask the House’s leave to refer it to the Government Administration Committee. I thank the whips and parties in the House for giving me an assurance that they will support that. I regret that this relatively short timeframe is being forced upon us; however the project and the bill have had wide notification and consultation already and the time is necessary to get the project under way. 
The Auckland Museum Trust Board which is appointed by the electoral college representing local councils from across the Auckland region has satisfied the Clerk’s Office that it has followed the Standing Orders in the preparation of this bill and has given notices required to constituency MPs representing parts of the Auckland region. I recognise that other MPs including list MPs have interests in this bill and I would urge all of those MPs to take the opportunity of the bill’s referral to the select committee to satisfy themselves that this important project will add significantly to one of the most important cultural institutions in New Zealand. I want to congratulate everybody who has been involved in this huge redevelopment project and in the bill. I urge the select committee to give it thorough and speedy consideration and return it to the House by 15 August.