Auchinvole Chris: Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Auchinvole Chris: Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6615. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 I rise to speak in favour of the Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill. I do so with great pleasure. This is a local bill sponsored by the MP for Waitaki. My colleague Jacqui Dean I think has done an excellent job. Why I emphasised “for Waitaki”— 
Paul Goldsmith 
: Where is Waitaki? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: I have been there. I have been to Waitaki. I have been to Lookout Point. I have been to Oamaru. 
Kris Faafoi 
: Where haven’t you been? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well when you get to my age you have been to most places really. So it is a bit like one of the other Davids—David Parker—said: there are pleasures in being of a certain age. But I was a little surprised. I had hoped to hear from Andrew Williams who is no stranger to the needs of local government and certainly no stranger to the need for a council to control its own destiny—I would have thought that he would be keen to support the initiative given the very careful work that has been done by the Local Government and Environment Committee rather than him just saying that he does not really know whether councils should do this or not. This is a council-nominated purpose and basically surely central government should take due diligence and great care but treat that requirement with great respect. It is a locally focused bill but not one beyond the comprehension of non-Waitaki people. Nor is it one that is trivial or not deserving of this Chamber’s time. 
I would have to say that I am a little concerned at the rapidity with which the Green Party tends to vote against bills. I sometimes wonder whether the Green members do it in the comfortable knowledge that others will support it whereas I think it would be probably more serious of them if they considered the consequences if theirs was the deciding vote and what would happen rather than saying “Well everyone else is going to pass it—we’ll take a contrary view.” and relishing that. 
Far from this not being an important bill this bill is one that highlights just how important it is that this House does not forget the matters of community interest—that bills with a community focus are no less important than those with a national focus. It is a bill that helps to keep the current use of land viable while also addressing a historical error made essentially in relation to semantics. This happens. It happens particularly in land information memoranda. I am addressing these questions at the moment for people in the West Coast. 
Bills like this are why we have electorate MPs representing their communities. It is a credit to Jacqui Dean that she has spoken for her region in such a fashion. I commend her for her effective advocacy as the member of Parliament for Waitaki. I would also like to take my hat off to Nicky Wagner chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee. That was a great committee in the days when Phil and I were— 
Phil Twyford 
: Oh good times! 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Phil Twyford and I were on that committee. It is a committee that can handle this sort of thing. It is a big committee. All parties are represented. It does a good job. It does a good job. And it has done a good job with this one. 
Kris Faafoi 
: Let’s sing “Kumbaya”. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well I do not know—I think it is important that we do celebrate things when they are handled in a non-partisan manner to the benefit of a community. Kris Faafoi thinks it is funny. I do not think it is funny. 
As the land was originally purchased by the Government from Ngai Tahu in 1848—you want the details—as part of the Kemp purchase the land was included in the original subdivision of the town of Oamaru. Ngai Tahu have a significant place in this issue. As others have noted they have taken considerable advice on the matter. They have confirmed to the council that their view is that the Waitaki District Council has a right to the freehold title of the land and it is therefore not subject to the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. That is significant. 
It is a bill that has received support from its respective council which has worked with and received support from Land Information New Zealand the aforementioned Ngai Tahu the Department of Conservation the Commissioner of Crown Lands and the Parliamentary Counsel Office. It is not hard to see why this bill holds such diverse support. 
The Palmerston Showgrounds and Lot 1 DP 345820 parts of the bill are straightforward revocations of the Reserves Act status. In the case of the Palmerston Showgrounds clauses it will allow Waitaki District Council to sell the land to the current lessees. In the case of the lot 1 clauses the bill will allow Waitaki District Council to regularise the sale of the section to the current registered proprietors and allow the title of the property to be unencumbered by any notation relating to the Reserves Act. This is as it should be. So too I would like to suggest for the critics is the resolution to Forrester Heights also known as Lookout Point. Glossed over one could say in the lamentations of Supplementary Order Paper 150 in the name of Eugenie Sage this issue has been raised before in Parliament. I would like to highlight again the support of Land Information New Zealand which as I say is an organisation I have had some little amount to do with. It is a very very considered group of people. It has systems that go back to the very first surveys in New Zealand and it does not make decisions lightly. 
The Department of Conservation as discussed provided its support in the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Bill select committee stage in 2009. After receiving 37 submissions and hearing a further 19 the Primary Production Committee reported as follows: “The submissions we received concern one key issue: whether the Lookout Point land was mistakenly treated as reserve land under the Reserves Act legislation or whether the council is attempting to circumvent the law to enable a building development.” We heard earlier from Labour members saying that this confusion concerned them. It concerned them. They went down and turned every stone—they turned every stone—and came away convinced. So this is not just a National conspiracy. It is a National-Labour conspiracy. To continue the quote “Having reviewed their records Land Information New Zealand and the Department of Conservation are satisfied that treating Lookout Point as a reserve was indeed a genuine mistake resulting from the various meanings and legal uses of the word “reserve”. While we appreciate the sentiment of submitters and acknowledge there is contention on this issue after receiving advice from Land Information New Zealand and the Department of Conservation we believe that the land was actually classified as “reserves” for an endowment in aid of borough funds rather than as a recreation or similar reserve.” So it was a genuine mistake. On this side of the House—and I am glad we are standing shoulder to shoulder with Labour on this one— 
Phil Twyford 
: Stop stop please. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: —as many other groups clearly are as well—we are of the opinion that progress and the best use of land should not be hindered by genuine mistakes. 
This bill in intent and in action is local in nature but should not be only local in support. During my time as chairperson of the Local Government and Environment Committee I was proud to work on and progress bills such as these. They are very very important and you get a lot of satisfaction from it. Indeed bills such as these are why we have the Local Government and Environment Committee and why its tireless work and achievements under Nicky Wagner should be commended. I support this bill and call on other members to do the same. Thank you.