Ardern Jacinda: Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeArdern Jacinda: Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 03 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4290. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JACINDA ARDERN (Labour): There have certainly been members on the other side of the House who have not let a second go by in terms of an opportunity to speak in great length on this bill. I instead think that this bill has been pretty well canvassed in this House now and the good people working on the Arts Centre probably just want us to pass it at this point in time. So I will not talk about any great sultans; instead I will use my short address to acknowledge the commitment and the real sense of purpose that is driving the people who are working on this project and I thank them for their work. I have been lucky enough a little while ago now to take a tour of the Arts Centre. It is indeed a great treasure for the people of Canterbury but also of New Zealand. It is a huge burden of work that the people on the ground working on this centre have taken on but they have done so with such passion.Although this bill provides a legal foundation for the trust board and for the governance structure one that is more fit for purpose none of that can capture all of the additional layers of work and passion and love and commitment that go into a project like this—23 heritage category 1 buildings dating from 1876 to 1923. Of course despite the terminology in the bill we in this House have not forgotten the importance and I am sure the trust will not forget the importance as well of the student union building. I know that those who have advocated for that building will look forward to an ongoing working relationship with the trust around ensuring that that too is well looked after but this is a $290 million project and even then that figure does not capture all of the human spirit that will go on behind the scenes to ensure that this project is a success.My final word is to acknowledge that as of February 2015 there have been 1240 demolitions in Christchurch. We absolutely acknowledge—absolutely acknowledge—that for safety reasons some of those demolitions were absolutely legitimate but 20 percent of those demolitions were heritage buildings. For a long time Labour advocated that the powers that sat within section 38 of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act were being used beyond their necessary term of life and that it was becoming overzealous and we should revert back to our normal decision-making process. That was the argument that Labour has made for a long period of time and that is because ultimately we do believe that heritage often captures all of the flak when it comes to safety concerns in earthquake-prone cities and we need to make sure that when balancing those safety concerns we do not lose some heritage buildings that can absolutely be saved and used safely by a city and its people. So I wanted to make those closing remarks.I endorse what Eugenie Sage said as well about ensuring that while decisions are being made around the Christchurch Cathedral we do not allow the continued rot of that building because that then makes a decision inevitable and that would be unfair to the city. With those closing remarks I wish those working on the Arts Centre well. Thank you for your work. I look forward to visiting the buildings in the future.