Gallagher Martin: Christchurch City Council (Lancaster Park) Land Vesting Bill — First Reading 
Gallagher Martin: Christchurch City Council (Lancaster Park) Land Vesting Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:646;Page:15770] 
MARTIN GALLAGHER (Labour—Hamilton West) 
: 
 It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak. As people will be aware I am not from Christchurch but I think it is relevant that a Hamilton member should take a call to acknowledge and pay tribute to what is a national ground of iconic status. I know that my good colleague Tim Barnett has worked very hard with the Christchurch City Council on the Christchurch City Council (Lancaster Park) Land Vesting Bill. He gave an absolutely brilliant historical account of these grounds. 
I know that Brendon Burns the very wonderful Labour candidate—[ 
Interruption 
] Brendon Burns is a very hard-working person and he certainly wants me and the people in this House to promote this bill. I know that he will be working and is already working very very hard for the people of Christchurch Central. He will make a great contribution. He is a passionate supporter of Canterbury and Christchurch. 
I have here  
Lancaster Park: An Illustrated History  
by Don Neely and Joseph Romanos. It is a wonderful publication. It gives a fantastic history. Indeed even though I come from the Waikato the home of Rugby Park which is now the Waikato Stadium and which I suspect will be hosting one of the semi-final matches of the Rugby World Cup—[ 
Interruption 
] I tell Mr Colin King opposite not to shake his head. Believe you me we in the Waikato are on a roll. I am looking forward to the Waikato certainly being one of the significant venues for the Rugby World Cup. This is a brilliant book. It talks about the history of Lancaster Park and even touches on the painful times in many senses of the Springbok Tour. 
It gives a very interesting account from Benj Drake who I believe was the then president and chairman of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union. He states: “I sat next to Ces Blazey [New Zealand union chairman]. The game was delayed while the ground was cleared. When it began Ces and I looked at each other and said ‘Thank God’. It had been very violent. There was non-stop chanting in the background. The protesters were mainly on the street on the east of the ground and the atmosphere was most unpleasant.” The book makes the point that the demonstrators represented a large cross-section of the community that day and their ranks included future members of Parliament: Marian Hobbs; now the late—very sadly—Rod Donald; the future world triathlete champion Erin Baker who many years later became a Jade Stadium board member; and Methodist Minister the Rev. Brian Turner. 
I know that you Madam Assistant Speaker will have both happy and poignant memories of that ground. This is one time when you will be frustrated at being in the Speaker’s Chair because you cannot make a contribution to this debate and I know that you would want to because of your own proud Christchurch credentials. I am sure that you as a Christchurch school principal had a number of your pupils attend that stadium both legitimately and not legitimately. I suspect some went AWOL occasionally to some of the midweek games. You would have spoken to them very sternly in your office and would have been taking control and looking after them as well. 
Again I think the Christchurch City Council (Lancaster Park) Land Vesting Bill is a really good bill. It is providing significant building blocks in terms of the future management of this iconic ground of nationwide importance. I think it is actually quite good that Parliament reflects on some of the wonderful history and the meaning of this particular park. It is not just about the stands and the bricks and mortar. Having looked through this publication that I have alluded to I say that the park reflects the character and history of our society. It is with great pleasure that I support this bill and with great pleasure that I say it is really good that as a nation we should recognise and reflect on the history of facilities such as Lancaster Park. 
I certainly wish our Canterbury colleagues well in their attempt to host one of the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup. But again very clearly the Lancaster Park development will probably increase the chances of that. I want also to acknowledge Ngai Tahu in terms of the settlement legislation and the fact that the local runanga the local iwi—tangata whenua—have certainly joined with the interests of the broader Christchurch community and support this bill. 
I look forward to the redevelopment of this truly historic park into a world-class sports arena. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.