Wagner Nicky: Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWagner Nicky: Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 01 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:2839. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NICKY WAGNER (National—Christchurch Central): I move That the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill be now read a second time. As the member in charge of the Christchurch City Council (Rates Validation) Bill I really welcome this second reading. This is a very simple bill. It is all about fixing an error an error that I believe was made with the best intentions. It is one of those really annoying and frustrating situations where bad things happen when you are trying to do good. It is about validating rates irregularities in the past that were only discovered by the city council last year.Back in 2004 the Christchurch City Council consciously opted to simplify the language of its rating resolution but it left out important information which meant that its resolution did not comply with the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002. All the information that was required was presented but it was presented elsewhere and not in the new simplified streamlined resolution. On discovering that the council undertook a review of all its resolutions since 2004 and found other technical irregularities in relation to seven targeted rates and the uniform annual general charge. Again all the correct information was provided but not in the actual resolution. The council was able to fix the mistakes for the 2013 and 2014 financial years but it needs this validation bill to validate its past setting of rates payment dates and penalty regimes. But let me make this very clear: this is not about the rates being calculated wrongly and all the rates have been lawfully paid. No one is wrongfully affected by this bill.I would like to thank the Local Government and Environment Committee for its work in scrutinising this bill for its support of the bill and for the fact that it returned this bill to the House unamended. I would also like to applaud the Christchurch City Council for acting swiftly to deal with this matter once it was discovered. Parliament does not like validation bills. We hate the fact that we are dealing with retrospective legislation. I am sure many members tonight will show their displeasure. But I have a sympathy for the council because we also want simple legislation we want simple resolutions and we want people to be able to understand what is going on in local government. Also nobody likes to admit that they have made a mistake particularly if it was well intentioned. There is always a temptation to let sleeping dogs lie but the city council has fronted up and I say well done to it.Actually I would like to take this time to spend a few moments paying tribute to the Christchurch City Council and updating the House on the huge workload it has had and what it has been doing since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. As you all know it has been a tough time in Christchurch. It has been extremely difficult for the Christchurch City Council to keep the business-as-usual work under control as well as managing the challenges of the rebuild. Everyone in Christchurch is aware that we have to fix the past while we live in the present and while we build for the future and that takes a bit of juggling. We have learnt that out of crisis comes opportunity. We also feel that the only way that we can reconcile the pain and loss of the last few years is by making sure we take every opportunity to build a better place for future generations. The earthquakes have sharpened our focus on what is important to the people in Christchurch.Everyone in the council and actually everyone who works in the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority is absolutely committed to making Christchurch a safe beautiful and people-friendly city. We want it to be a future-focused place a place where exciting innovative and enterprising things can happen. We want to retain our sense of community and of supporting each other that served us so well during the disaster and also our open-mindedness and our action orientation that our shaken-up city required and our ability to work together for the greater good. Leading a community in times of crisis and enormous change requires really tough decision-making. Decisions have to be made rapidly often with scant information in a changing environment and with a risk of unknown consequences. I pay tribute to the mayor Lianne Dalziel and all the councillors and the officials who work at the Christchurch City Council for stepping up to that challenge and giving it their very best. I know at times it feels a bit like a thankless task but it is hugely important for the future of our city and their work is greatly appreciated by those who understand the challenges.It has been over 140 years since Christchurch was first planned and built. Those were the days of horses and carts cooking on a fire or a wood stove washing in the copper candles and the dunny in the backyard. School was about slates and the strap and life was short. Today we are envisaging the building of a modern flexible future-focused city: a city of electric or even driverless cars organic food and nutraceuticals; a city with an integrated alternative energy grid buildings that are automatically lit and heat-adjusted and with high-tech water and sewer schemes. School is an amazing modern learning environment with digital devices and our life expectancy is increasing year by year. It is the responsibility of all of us to build a city that enables our community to adapt and develop as times change and with the flexibility to be able to manage those unknown innovations of the next 140 years.In this bill we validate unintentional errors in the Christchurch City Council rating resolutions from 2004 to 2012 but I would also like to take the opportunity to wish the council well. It is doing a great job in challenging times and the people of Christchurch appreciate it. Thank you.