Wong Pansy: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — Third Reading 
Wong Pansy: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:646;Page:15741] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 I am delighted to take a short call in this debate on the Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill. I was just reflecting on the generosity of the Mayor of Manukau Len Brown. When he presented the Manukau City Council’s submission on the Government’s johnny-come-lately anti-tagging legislation he said that he welcomes the anti-tagging law. He really does not mind who champions the cause as long as the city council gets the tools to do the work. I cannot say that that generosity of spirit was shown by the Labour Government towards one of its own. So tonight I take a short call to compliment the Hon George Hawkins who with the support of his colleague Ross Robertson championed this issue which is so important to the Manukau community in order to give the community the tools to make sure taggers get the message that the residents have had a gutsful of the disrespect of private property. 
The Hon George Hawkins reached out to the other parties in the House and I am just delighted that our colleague Judith Collins showed her support and worked together with New Zealand First to ensure that this bill even though it was defeated at the select committee actually managed to find a second life and was tonight thrown a lifeline to become legislation. But we know there is a little sting in the tail because a Government bill will probably overtake this bill and supersede it. But that did not stop the message getting out there that the Hon George Hawkins would fight for his community and would back the Manukau City Council because it knows what it is doing. The Labour Government in election year has started to listen and hopefully it will listen a lot more because it has a lot more to listen to. 
I want to highlight a few interesting comments made in the report back on the bill by the Labour members of the Local Government and Environment Committee. Those Labour members believe that this bill which will be passed tonight is not the right solution although they hope it will be a catalyst for the implementation of a multifaceted national approach to graffiti. Maybe they foresaw the possibility that a Government bill would be forthcoming. Also they described graffiti as “culture”. I do not quite subscribe to that view. I think that budding artists who want to tag properties should tag their own property not somebody else’s property. I think their own property is the only place for them to start their work. 
Labour members said also that the Manukau City Council should use other initiatives to develop and expand its urban design initiatives to minimise opportunities for graffiti as if that were entirely the city council’s problem. The city council has been very proactive in terms of environmental design to minimise crime as well as graffiti but ultimately individuals need to get the message that tagging public property and other property will simply not be tolerated. 
So this evening common sense has won out particularly in election year but the credit should go to the Hon George Hawkins for his tenacity in staying with this bill and fighting for a cause that is dear to him. It is a pleasure for me as part of the South Auckland team to support the passage of this bill.