O'Connor Damien: Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Bill — Second Reading 
O'Connor Damien: Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:677;Page:718] 
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman) 
: 
 I would just like to acknowledge a couple of people. One is my colleague Annette King who passed over her opportunity to speak on the Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Bill. As a former Minister of Tourism I have some views on this and I would like to express them. I would like to acknowledge also actually the similarities despite what we have heard from some of the speakers of places like the Chatham Islands places like the West Coast places like Kaikoura and places like Westland itself. In fact of the whole region of the West Coast 85 percent of that area is in conservation land—exactly the same percentage as that on Stewart Island. So the dilemma for the people of Stewart Island—and I acknowledge my colleague Eric Roy what he is doing for them—is something that I think the country as a whole is facing. The Chatham Islands certainly do Westland the West Coast Akaroa—there are a number of places around the country wanting to be destinations for tourists and wanting to show off with pride what they have to people who have come from around the world but struggling to literally pay for that.  
I thought we could call the bill the “National Party (Wake Up) Bill” because what is happening here is that a tax is being brought in and put in place—or the ability to do that. For a party that has always maintained that less tax is good less tax is better for everyone and if we pay too much tax we will be ruined it may have learnt something from Greece perhaps because if you do not pay any tax that is where you end up. This bill brings in one more levy—or a tax or call it what you like—a charge on visitors to Rakiura which is necessary to protect the environment and enhance the visitor experience. Well the dilemma of how you pay for adequate facilities as I say is faced by many councils up and down the country. In fact I am not sure what the Minister of Local Government Nick Smith will say about this—a council imposing a greater rate or tax. I imagine he might be jumping up and down in his usual manic state trying to say that rates are all bad and we have got to get them down.  
The reality is that we need taxes and we need rates spent wisely to maintain infrastructure to maintain the communities and to provide opportunities for industry and tourism. This is one such levy and Labour supports it. But we have got some fairly ad hoc arrangements. This adds to the smorgasbord of opportunities around the country. There are a couple of airports—I dare not name them because if the tourism industry was to be true to its word because it campaigned against a proposal that I myself put up if it is true that any additional charge will keep people away from our country then there is a risk that this might stop people going to Rakiura. I doubt it. I confess I have not gone to Stewart Island. I would love to go. This is not going to reduce my desire to go to that wonderful place. Neither will a charge imposed on visitors to this country reduce their desire to come here. The important thing is that any levy or any rate or any tax we gather is spent wisely for the purposes for which it was laid down.  
Hon Tau Henare 
: The tourism spokesperson and he’s never been to Stewart Island! 
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR 
: I have to say that I think the Local Government and Environment Committee has done a good job to tidy that up and make sure that it is spent for the right reasons. The member over there should listen he would learn a lot more. It is never too late to learn. Can I ask the Government whether it will consider a visitor levy on everyone coming in to provide a fund so that all the other councils in the country that are strapped for cash can apply for a fund that provides toilets and basic signage.  
I would just like to take the opportunity now to offer my condolences and apologies to the tourist who came to this country and unfortunately turned the wrong way on to a roundabout and lost his wife as a result. That was a tragic accident but our police for whatever idiotic reason decided to prosecute that poor guy. Anyway he was let off. The point being that I am guessing the signage that we have around this country was not adequate enough to show that person where he should and should not turn. The point being that we need proper infrastructure to properly protect and look after the tourists that come to this country. That was a tragic accident. We need to make sure there are proper safety requirements that there are proper infrastructure requirements and environmental protection on Rakiura the West Coast Northland Akaroa Banks Peninsula and right around this country if we are to uphold the “100% Pure New Zealand” brand. It is a valuable brand. This levy will assist in upholding that brand down in that wonderful Stewart Island / Rakiura.  
But the question for the Government is: is it going to do anything else to try to protect the rest of the conservation estate because what it has done is chop the Department of Conservation budget? It has chopped the budget and it has allowed the Southland District Council to bring in a levy that will effectively do the same or replace the money that they will not have on the island to manage the environment. It is a bit of a merry-go-round really and I have to say that the Government has got to be a bit more consistent.  
I appreciate that Eric Roy has brought the bill to the House. We support it. We support it because it is a smart and a very good bill but the principles behind this apply to the whole country. So what are we going to say to the Chatham Islands residents—the few over there who are trying to generate a bit more tourism who have incredible natural resources but have huge costs? What are we going to say to them when they ask us “Can you place a levy on either the goods or the services or the visitors coming to our island so we can better protect what we have?” Well I suggest that we would have to say yes too. I personally do not have a problem with that. Or what about those on the West Coast who say: “Eighty-five percent of our land is locked up in the conservation estate there is a small amount of rateable land we have to maintain the roads and all the infrastructure. Can we have a levy?” And the Government and its agencies have said no. They have said that of all the $500 million worth of coal coming from one mine above Westport—$500 million in export earnings—not a cent goes as of right back to the councils on the West Coast.  
So we have got some inconsistency right through New Zealand and all I ask in Labour supporting the bill is that we get from the National Government a bit more consistency around protection of the environment funding for conservation support for infrastructure and the key issue of taxation. We do not believe and most of New Zealand does not believe the blind rhetoric that comes from the National members that reducing your taxes will make us all better off. Well they chopped $14 billion worth of taxes for the wealthy and then told us we could not afford a whole lot of stuff in health and education. And we are supposed to feel better off? Wake up National—wake up. We support this bill but let us have some more consistency from the National Government— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Well sit down and let’s get on with it. 
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR 
: —particularly from that member who has been in so many different places philosophically and physically that he does not quite know where he is at the moment. In supporting this bill can I just say that Labour would like to see more consistency and I am sure my colleague the Hon Annette King would like to see some consideration for the Chatham Islands which they rightfully deserve.