Paraone Pita: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — Second Reading 
Paraone Pita: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:640;Page:10273] 
PITA PARAONE (NZ First) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Some interesting comments have been made from members on both sides of the House on this matter. First of all I declare my vested interest as I always do where I hold such an interest and I do so in this case. Why? Because I am a resident of Manukau City and I pay rates. If I do have a criticism of the Manukau City Council it is over the level of rates it is charging me. 
Having gone through this process as a non-voting member of the Local Government and Environment Committee I can understand why the Manukau City Council is so concerned. I continue my contribution to this debate on behalf of New Zealand First by quoting from today’s editorial in the  
Timaru Herald 
: “Forget all the nonsense about hidden messages artistic endeavour or challenges to other groups of taggers. It is simply the human equivalent of what cats do when they spray their territory with foul-smelling urine and just as primitive. It achieves nothing other than leaving a mess on a fence or building for the property owner to clean up and because paint is used the removal takes time money and effort.” 
We have heard from the Mayor of Manukau City Sir Barry Curtis about the amount of money it is costing that council to address this issue and the amount has been alluded to by previous speakers. I would acknowledge the Manukau City Council for putting forward this bill. It is a major problem not only for Manukau City but for Christchurch North Shore and obviously for Timaru and we know that it is also an issue and a problem for a whole lot of other metropolitan areas around our country. 
As a resident MP in Manukau City I ought to remind the council that when it first brought this Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill to this House it advised every MP living in the Auckland area of it except for the present speaker and I do not know why. I hope the council finds some irony in all of this. Here I am the one they failed to advise putting in a pitch for the council and this bill. 
Why is it so important that Manukau City addresses this issue? Manukau City I say to all those who are listening is the gateway to New Zealand. I do not believe that visitors to this country should be confronted with what taggers call art graffiti or whatever they like to call it. But quite clearly if we are to present our country to the world then it is important when visitors come through the front door that they are met by a city that is not covered in graffiti. 
This bill is an attempt by a local body to address an issue that is a national problem. During the select committee process members had some sympathy for the bill but at the end of the day the committee felt that it could not support it. Notwithstanding the comments made about numbers and the rolling of particular parties at the end of the day this House needs to pass a bill that not only will be for the benefit of Manukau City but also will lead to positive effects for other local bodies that suffer from the same problem. 
I reiterate that the purpose of this legislation is to minimise the graffiti problem in Manukau City to deter and penalise graffiti offenders and to provide the council and the police with additional powers to deal with graffiti associated problems. I know that although the bill is well intended there are problems with it. Some previous speakers have alluded to that. For example while the retailers who operate within the Manukau City boundary may be able to follow the intent of this bill if it is made into law what of the retailers who live outside Manukau City boundaries? Because of where the Auckland metropolis area is it would be quite simple for those who find some joy in tagging or in marking public property without the consent of the owners to acquire the tools that they require to carry out their antisocial behaviour. 
New Zealand First supports the bill which will make Manukau City one of the first places if not the first place in New Zealand to have strict anti-graffiti laws that could then also be considered for other local bodies throughout the country. We heard from previous speakers about what other local bodies are doing. I know that a press release from the North Shore City Council headed “Tagger Time Bomb” indicated what that council was doing to try to address this problem. It would seem to me that North Shore City Council has a process in place that is being carried out in association with the police. The Mayor Mr Wood is calling on Local Government New Zealand and the Minister of Justice to support the police-led region-wide graffiti eradication programme. We heard during the select committee process what this Government is intending to do and I refer to the report particularly where it covers national developments. 
The Minister advised us that the Government has adopted and is implementing a six-point plan to address graffiti issues. The specific issues in the plan include setting up an 0800 graffiti removal hot line promoting environmental design to make it less practical for graffiti to be written requiring offenders to participate in supervised graffiti clean-up crews and promoting education programmes and the use of relevant role models in schools. We also heard that the first year of the graffiti strategy would end on 30 June 2007 which is just a few days away and that it is intended to establish an effective basis for future projects. We also understand that the whole strategy will be rolled out over 4 years and will receive further funding as the initiative gains momentum. 
So quite clearly the Government has something in place and it will certainly address this issue. But I again acknowledge the efforts of Mr Hawkins for bringing this matter to this House on behalf of Manukau City the largest city in New Zealand. I look forward to discussing this bill in more detail particularly during the Committee stage. Kia ora.