Carter John: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — Second Reading 
Carter John: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:640;Page:10271] 
JOHN CARTER (National—Northland) 
: 
 I have to say that that was one of the funnier speeches we on this side of the House have heard—not that that member is known for his humour. But when we analyse it we find that that speech had some humorous moments because of the irony of some of the things he said. 
Let me just address them. He criticised my colleague the very good representative from Clevedon about the fact that according to him she is not there. That is a bit ironic is it not? I do not remember that member losing her seat. In fact I seem to recall that her majority increased from 3000 to 13000. That member over there because he was such an inadequate member lost his seat. The fact is that whether or not he likes it he was kicked out by the people he represented because he was not representing them properly. That is the first point. 
Judith Collins 
: Who beat him? 
JOHN CARTER 
: I think it was Gilbert Myles. That is even worse. I had forgotten about that. 
But the other thing that is a bit ironic I have to say is that he says the Government is going to get the young kids to clean up the streets and get them to do this and that. Well was it not that member when he was the Minister of Justice and was it not the person taking this bill through George Hawkins as the former Minister of Police who actually stopped that from happening? One was the Minister of Police and the other was the Minister of Justice and they stopped that from happening under their watch. But here they are now saying it should be happening and the Government should be doing it. Well goodness gracious! 
I have to say another thing that is really ironic. The report of the Local Government and Environment Committee says: “The Local Government and Environment Committee has examined the Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill and recommends that it not be passed.” Let us have a count up. How many National people are on that committee? I think there are four. I think there is one from the Greens which makes five and there are four Labour members. Given that the National Party put in a minority report in support of the bill what does that leave apart from the four members from National? Of course the member from New Zealand First who was sitting in on the committee was also supportive but could not vote or otherwise it would have been a tied vote. So does that not leave one Green member and four Labour members who voted against the bill? I think that at least the Greens were being consistent—they were sticking with their position—but of course Labour was rolled. That is what happened. 
Let me give one other irony from that member’s speech. It is from Mr Goff who says that the very good Minister of Local Government is out there; he has a lot of plans happening and he is going to deal with graffiti because this bill is too narrow and it should be going right across the country. One of the reasons why—and the member for New Zealand First will remember this—the Labour Party voted against this legislation in the select committee is that members were told that the Minister of Local Government was about to bring down a system that would deal with graffiti across the country. Therefore we would have a universal system of dealing with graffiti and there was no need for us to have a local bill because the Government was right on top of it. Well I think the paint must have fallen off that somehow. Is that what has happened? Suddenly is it not ironic that Mark Burton the Minister of Local Government is sitting there while the Minister of whatever Phil Goff is Minister of these days— 
Judith Collins 
: Travel. 
JOHN CARTER 
: He is the “Minister of Travel”? While he made his speech the Minister of Local Government sat mute and made no contribution at all and did not defend the fact that the select committee was told that yes the Labour Government had got the answer: the Minister of Local Government was going to stride into the House and blow the graffiti away. Kids were going to have their hands tied behind their backs so they could not do any more graffiti because Mark Burton had it all sorted out. And now he is not taking a call. I have to say that that to me seems a bit ironic as well. 
When we really think about it can we understand why the Government has changed its mind? Why were all the reasons that it was not good enough to support the bill in the select committee valid then and why are they not valid now? Actually it comes down to numbers. The fact is that the Government ain’t got the numbers to stop it so now its members have the embarrassment of standing up here and supporting the bill and speaking for it even though they do not believe in it. 
Of course the member George Hawkins will say: “Well of course I’ve got the strength to carry the caucus with me.” He will stand there and say: “It’s because they weren’t going to go against me.” I have a funny feeling—did he not get a message from the Prime Minister yesterday? [ 
Interruption 
] That is all right. Good on him anyway. 
So there are a few ironies about the bill. But the other thing I want to say on this bill is that it is another indication of systemic failure in our society. That is what is so important about this bill. It is not just about graffiti. We can start loading this bill in with things like the failure that we now see in our education system the fact that our health system is not responding to the public of New Zealand the failure we are seeing in our police recruits and the fact that everywhere we look we see young people in the care of the Department of Child Youth and Family who are not responding in the way they should and who are not being dealt with. There is failure anywhere and everywhere we look in this society and it has happened under this Government’s watch. This society is starting to seriously unravel and this bill is just another example of that unravelling. 
We need to take this issue seriously not just because graffiti is a serious issue but because it is just another example of the attitude of people in this country. We now have a society that believes in and knows its rights but that will not accept its responsibilities. This bill is just another example of kids thinking they can get away with anything and everything and not have to be responsible for that. 
So because the Government will not deal with graffiti what happens? In this case the local authority has decided that it has to take the responsibility for this issue in its area. But actually the sad fact is that that is occurring right across this country. People local authorities and communities are crying out for leadership from the Labour Government and they are not hearing it not seeing it and not getting it. That is actually what fundamentally we need to understand about this bill. It is actually about a wider issue than just graffiti and it is about a wider issue than just the matter of Manukau. 
I say to this Government to Helen Clark to the Ministers who sit over on that side and to the member taking this bill through this House that they should think hard and long about why they finally got rolled on this issue. They should think long and hard about why they have done a turn-about and are supporting the bill. This country is actually giving those members a signal and telling them that it has had enough. The majority of the people in this House are now starting to say “We’ve had enough.” and the majority of this country are telling those members “We’ve had enough.” People have waited 8 long years for leadership and have now decided they are not getting it. They are opposed to what the Government is doing. 
One of the ironies is that finally the Government has been forced to make a decision and give some leadership and the sad fact is that the Government has been rolled. It deserves to have been. This bill deserves to be passed. The shame of it is that it is so narrow and that the Minister of Local Government and the Labour Government have not done their job on this issue.