Davis Kelvin: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Davis Kelvin: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:660;Page:15551] 
KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 He timatanga korero maku Mr Chair ka mihi atu ahau ki tera kura katahi ano ka tau mai ki raro o te tuanui o tenei Whare i te ra nei Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Taumarere. Kua puta ke ratou i te Whare nei engari e mihi kau ana ki a ratou. Katahi ratou ka tau ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara. Na reira mihi kau ana ki a ratou. 
[ 
Mr Chair I would like to begin by welcoming that Maori medium school of Taumarere today. It is their first time under the roof of this House. They have left this House now but I really acknowledge their presence. The visit to Wellington is a first for them as well. To them I say well done 
.] 
Firstly I acknowledge the school that was up in the gallery a few minutes ago Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Taumarere. They have come down from the very far north; some of those kids have flown in an aeroplane for the first time. They are here to see democracy in action. Unfortunately for them they saw democracy being bulldozed through under the cloak of urgency. I acknowledge them. The mother of one of the children up there in the gallery was a pupil in a class I taught back in the early 1990s. 
I return to the bill. I will talk about new section 11A in clause 5 which describes the core services that local authorities will perform. The list consists of “(a) network infrastructure: (b) public transport services: (c) solid waste collection and disposal: (d) the avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards: (e) libraries museums reserves recreational facilities and other community infrastructure.” My concern speaking as Labour’s tourism spokesperson is that tourism is not considered to be a core activity. I want to know where the Prime Minister—who is also the Minister of Tourism—is right now and why he allowed this bill to go through with his blessing even though tourism has been omitted as a core service. 
Many people will say that it is more important to build roads and to build pipes to take drinking water here there and everywhere but let me read to the Chamber what the Tourism Industry Association thinks about this bill. The Tourism Industry Association is the collective that is basically the go-to group for the Prime Minister. Its news release states: “Local authorities play a critical role in the tourism industry through their investment in public amenities used by both residents and visitors like water sewerage toilets and roads. … Tourism is a core activity for most communities around the country and councils can help provide the best possible experiences to visitors. By helping attract visitors to the region and encouraging them to stay for longer councils are boosting the economic contribution from the tourism sector.” 
This bill reinforces what the tourism sector believes of local government and that is that local government just does not get tourism—it just does not understand the economic contribution that tourism makes to local communities. The association went on to state: “most tourism businesses are small and operate on low margins”. This Government says it is there for businesses but it is neglecting small to medium sized enterprises by not investing in them or making sure that tourism is one of the core services in this bill. 
Councils earn a good return on their investment in tourism as visitors spend millions of dollars in the regions. Let me give members an idea of the sort of return we get when we invest in tourism. If we invest just a single dollar in the United Kingdom marketing New Zealand to the United Kingdom we get an $11 return. From investing $1 in the United States we get a $16 return. If we invest $1 in Australia we get $26 back. Why would local government not want to invest in tourism and get that sort of return? 
The benefits of tourism go beyond the accommodation hospitality and attraction sectors. The benefits of tourism provide employment and business activity indirectly to many sectors of the community including shops supermarkets cafes taxis and food producers. What is it that this Government does not get about the contribution tourism makes to local economies? Why would local government not want to invest in it? 
Nicky Wagner 
: There’s nothing stopping them. 
KELVIN DAVIS 
: As the member correctly says there is nothing in the bill to stop local government from investing in tourism. But because tourism is not mentioned as a core service there is a legal basis or a legal foundation that tells local bodies that they do not have to invest in tourism—they do not have to. The bill concentrates the core services in an arbitrary list designed by the Government. If Government members could look just a bit wider than the shoebox they reside in they would see that there are massive benefits to be made by local government investing in tourism.