Coleman Jonathan: Auckland Domain (Auckland Tennis) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Third Reading 
Coleman Jonathan: Auckland Domain (Auckland Tennis) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Third Reading 
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Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 Was that not a wonderful wander down memory lane with the genial old-timer the tennis spokesperson for New Zealand First Dail Jones? He reflected back on the good old days when the Auckland tennis centre was known as Stanley Street. It is a very New Zealand First view of the world to look back turn the clock back and recount those great old days on the grass courts. But we in the National Party are very much taking a 21st century view of the Auckland Domain (Auckland Tennis) Amendment Bill. We are looking at this bill which we are supporting as my colleague Wayne Mapp said as part of providing the vital infrastructure needed for sport in Auckland going into the 21st century. Dr Mapp was absolutely right: if New Zealand is to attract top-class events to New Zealand in the years to come we have to have the facilities to host them. 
As Dr Mapp said tennis is one of the top three worldwide spectator sports in terms of international reach and commercial appeal. It is the only one of those sports that we host here at the top level. There is of course also motor racing and soccer but tennis is where we are still on the international circuit. We have only one real international city in New Zealand and that is Auckland with a population of 1.4 billion. 
Hon George Hawkins 
: Manukau! 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: It is a fact I am afraid. If we are to attract the top-class events we need to get people in through the gateway of this country. We have to have the infrastructure there. There is a lot of competition for these tennis tournaments. When we look at the expansion through Asia and Eastern Europe and at the money that people have in those parts of the world to put into infrastructure we see that we have to be competitive. There is no question that Stanley Street as Dail Jones calls it has done great service to New Zealand tennis and New Zealand sport. But the fact is that it has a capacity of only about 3000 people. The old Redwood and Yock Stands have done great service but frankly they are not up to the demands of international sport and the demands of an international audience today. The time has come to make sure that that great facility can be redeveloped so that it is fit for sport in the 21st century. 
The purpose of this bill was well outlined by the member for Auckland Central and I commend her for bringing it to this House—I do not think it will help her a heck of a lot but it is a good final contribution for her to make as the member for Auckland Central. As she explained the bill will enable the domain lease held by Auckland Tennis to be— 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Arrogance tends to bite one in the backside. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Sorry what was that Mr Duynhoven? 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Arrogance tends to bite one in the backside. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: As she said the bill extends the lease from 21 to 50 years. That is just as well because frankly by the time the new partner gets to build the new Auckland tennis centre under the constrictions of the Resource Management Act a good chunk of those 50 years will be needed in order to have this first-class facility actually pushed through. 
The point is that Auckland Tennis needs to have this facility if we are to continue to host these tournaments in New Zealand. We stage two international tournaments a year. We have the men’s tournament the Heineken Open which attracts a world-class field. Just to delve back a little into history I say that this tournament has hosted the recent winner of the French Open Rafael Nadal and going back 30 years it hosted Bjorn Borg before he became an international name—I am sure that Dail Jones was courtside there to watch that victory. The Heineken Open has been an iconic tournament but it faces competition because the Australian Open starts just a couple of weeks later. Warm-up tournaments for that event are held in both Perth and Sydney and a lot of top players are starting to bypass Auckland and go straight to Sydney to prepare for the Australian Open. If we want to attract people on the basis of more than loyalty we have to show that we can host a top-class tournament in Auckland. 
In having a facility like this there are wider benefits than just those for tennis. When people come to New Zealand they do not come just to watch the tennis. They will spend money throughout the country stay in hotels throughout the country and to go back and tell people what a great time they had in New Zealand. The benefits are even wider than that. The benefits are that the Heineken Open is an ATP tour event. As such it is shown right around the world on ESPN and on CNN. It brings New Zealand some of the worldwide recognition that we need if we are to continue to be significant as a Pacific Rim nation. 
We also of course have the ASB Classic the women’s tournament that Dail Jones alluded to in his history discourse and spoke eloquently on. That is a major tournament as well. The status of that tournament has just been upgraded. The prize money on offer will be much higher and that also means that that tournament has the possibility of attracting a top 10 women’s player to play at it. So that tournament is becoming bigger. 
There is no question that when people go and watch sport now they are demanding to watch it in the surroundings of first-class facilities. I can tell members that sitting in the stands at the Auckland tennis centre can be an unsheltered and at times a bit of a sore experience. I am sure that the development that will now take place there will mean that people will think that going to the tennis is a first-class comfortable experience. Not only will we have great action out on the court but people will be surrounded by the sorts of surroundings that we get when we go to the tennis in Australia. 
I turn to the former Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues. Members should note that Labour has officially done away with that portfolio. I am not sure what that says about what Labour thinks about Auckland issues. It could actually be that Labour has seen what is happening to its party vote support in Auckland and decided to give it away altogether. This debate would have been a great opportunity for an update to be given by the former Auckland issues Minister on the state of Eden Park. We are talking about sports infrastructure and we have 3 years until we are to— 
Jacqui Dean 
: What about Eden Park? 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Yes what about Eden Park? We are hosting the Rugby World Cup here in 2011 and we have to know that that park will be ready to deal with the international visitors that will be coming here. 
One might ask what relevance that has to Auckland Tennis. Well the point is that we have to make sure we have a string of first-class sporting venues throughout the country and of course in our main international city. If we look at Eden Park we see that we no longer have a facility in Auckland where New Zealand Cricket is prepared to host test matches so that has been lost from Auckland. We are using a rugby ground for one-day internationals there and we are using a rugby ground in Wellington for one-day international cricket games. So we have to look at the issue of sporting infrastructure. As Wayne Mapp said people are going to come to New Zealand for a variety of reasons. But there is no question that when we can host big-time sports events like an international tennis tournament or if we can host the Rugby World Cup that will be one of our gateways to raising our international profile and making sure that people come here have a good time and go back home and tell people to visit this country. It is a shame that the former Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues did not tell us what is happening regarding Eden Park because frankly that is a matter of great concern. We have the Rugby World Cup here in just 3 years. Is the stadium built? Is it going to be built? Is all the finance in place? The public need to know—it is about time they were told about that. 
But the other interesting thing about this bill is that I can tell that Steve Maharey was not involved in it because it is all about using private money to provide the infrastructure that a city needs. I commend the Minister Judith Tizard because you know she has deep socialist roots. It must have hurt her to be involved in bringing a bill to the House that will turn a project over to the private sector. That is what this bill will do. We have to face it: we cannot build the infrastructure we need in this country without the involvement of the private sector. Labour has had 9 years to get some of these projects together—9 years—but the only thing we will get from it in terms of private sector involvement by the end of those 9 years will be the tennis stadium. Well a tennis stadium will be great and National wholeheartedly supports that but we would have liked to see more be done. We would have liked to see much more private involvement. 
Harry Duynhoven over there is being very quiet but I think that he agrees really with me on that. I think he would agree really because there is a lot about our economic views that I think Harry Duynhoven really secretly agrees with. And that goes even for some of those socialists over there—even Dave Hereora. He might not understand the whole thing but he is being pushed along to embrace this thing about private infrastructure—private involvement to provide the infrastructure a country needs. 
In closing I tell the House that National supports this bill. We think it will be really important to have that sporting infrastructure—to attract the facilities we need in New Zealand. The tennis stadium will be a great redevelopment and a great addition to Auckland and it will benefit the whole country through the exposure it gives to New Zealand. Thank you.