Sage Eugenie: Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sage Eugenie: Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 21 March 2012. Volume:678;Page:1174. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
EUGENIE SAGE (Green) 
: 
 On behalf of the Green Party we extend our condolences to the families and friends of people on the  
Easy Rider 
 for their tragic loss. Co-leader Metiria Turei is attending the tangi of some of the victims of that accident in Foveaux Strait and our good wishes go to those families in working through all of the grief that they are feeling. 
The Green Party supports the Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Bill and I congratulate Eric Roy on his leadership in expanding the revenue sources for the local council to include this levy. I think what we are seeing with the Government’s proposed local government reforms and the Government’s concern about the rise in rates spending is that instead of looking constructively with local councils for other potential revenue streams the Government is focusing very much on rates. This bill is very wise because it is diversifying that revenue stream. 
As other members have pointed out there is an advantage in having a consistent nationwide levy similar to the one that is proposed here so that we do not get a succession of local bills proposing ad hoc measures by which councils can endeavour to provide the infrastructure that our tourists need. We have had issues in areas like Damien O’Connor’s electorate where councils have been unable to fund dump stations and the range of public toilets that are needed for visitors. What this bill does is provide some funding for that for a small community that has got limited rates funding. 
Rather than have an ad hoc series of local bills I support as I said in my second reading speech a much more nationwide contestable fund to which local authorities could apply to get funding for local government infrastructure in order to service visitors. It is ironic I think that this bill is going forward at the same time that the Government is looking to constrain the core services of local authorities. I notice in the bill that some of the funding that the levy will generate is to go to the provision of walking tracks and amenity areas close to the national park and I wonder whether that sort of function will be considered part of the core functions of local government under the changes to the competencies that are being proposed to the Local Government Act. It is that breadth of function that is really important for local authorities. 
The Southland District Council has recognised the vital role that tourists play in Southland and the national economy and through the bill it is seeking to ensure that it maintains the areas that tourists come to to visit; that it provides the services that tourists expect such as a solid jetty good walking tracks and good toilet facilities; and that it has the ability to fund this. If we have local councils having their competencies restricted it does not encourage them to take a wide look at the economic activities that can occur in their areas. If they are to be restricted in providing good quality local infrastructure does that mean that some of those community development functions that the Southland District Council is seeking to help fund through this bill will not be able to be progressed? 
 We also note that 86 percent of Rakiura / Stewart Island is conservation land. If we are going to maintain good infrastructure we need to maintain the natural infrastructure as well because of the ecosystem services that those wild lands on Rakiura provide. That means undertaking good pest control so that visitors when they come here can enjoy the full diversity of the birdlife the other wildlife and the plant communities that have not been devastated by possums and deer. So instead of cutting the Department of Conservation’s funding actually increasing it so that it can do adequate pest control is equally important in maintaining the infrastructure on Stewart Island because those forested and natural areas are part of that natural infrastructure. 
We support the bill and we encourage Mr Roy to show the leadership he has provided here to encourage his colleagues to look at diversifying the revenue streams for local councils elsewhere in New Zealand to include a return of the regional fuel tax and to recognise the value in councils engaging in all of the competencies that they are currently able to under the Local Government Act 2002. I commend the bill to the House and I am pleased to support it. Thank you.