Chadwick Steve: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
Chadwick Steve: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
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Hon STEVE CHADWICK (Labour) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on clause 3 of the Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill. I will reflect on members opposite tonight who look very agitated about the fact that Labour members are taking this bill seriously and debating it in the Chamber clause by clause. I think they should feel very privileged that we are paying Hamilton the respect that it deserves. 
I heard about the history of this land in the debate on clauses 1 and 2. I think we jumped a little bit of history to 1929 and George Parr. We forgot the original owners of this land. I am sure that my colleague Te Ururoa Flavell will be really interested in this. This bit of land I say to Mr Flavell was confiscated from Tainui. It is quite interesting that we are now calling it Parana Park rather than the name Kirikiriroa given to it by Tainui. I think that issue should have been better considered by the Local Government and Environment Committee. However we have the bill back before us. 
Part of the reason why we are concerned about the bill—and we like the clarity in it about the park being vested in the Hamilton City Council—is that we are really concerned that assets that have been built up by past generations should always be protected and never sold off so that Kiwis can own their own future. 
I think this bill particularly the vesting of the park in the Hamilton City Council at least fits our principle that we protect our assets although there is some contention about the role of the Tainui Maori Trust Board and Tainui iwi and in the naming of this land as Parana Park because that is what they called it in 1929. That is rather unfortunate. 
This bit of confiscated land was ultimately freeholded sold for generations and then turned back into council land by George Parr. The bill protects the future of the land for its original purpose which is covered in other parts of the bill. Clause 5 talks really about the tribute to George Parr and what he left for future generations of families in Hamilton to enjoy. So we are really pleased about the park being vested in the Hamilton City Council. 
I think there should have been more caution at the select committee. My colleague Sue Moroney talked about forced mergers and unitary authorities. We know that when the next Government comes in Rodney Hide with his controlling mechanism of mergers around the country will disappear. 
That will give certainty to the next Government about whether Hamilton City Council actually has a secure future or whether we will face another bill like the Auckland super-city bill for Hamilton which means we will have to go back and address this legislation all over again. I congratulate the member in the chair for sitting patiently. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Me? 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK 
: Not you no Mr Chair—the member in charge of the bill David Bennett. He should have a little chat to Tim Macindoe who is not showing quite the same tolerance about the need for good debate about the bill. 
We have learnt about the history of this law. We must correct in  
Hansard  
that Parana Park was confiscated Tainui land taken by the Crown in the 1860s. That is the reason we are debating this bill. We have been denied the ability to look at a Supplementary Order Paper on other bills that attempt to address mistakes of the past like the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill. We are absolutely fed up that the Minister tabled a Supplementary Order Paper yesterday on that bill that denies community access and public submissions. We will fight it over the Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill and we will keep it going so the people of Hamilton know that we do not trifle with democracy on this side of the Chamber. We take things seriously. 
We think the select committee did a fine job but they did not look into the future with regard to the bill. We will debate the bill with fulsome debate right through every clause because we believe in democracy. We know that people are listening out there. They know and the people listening in the Chamber tonight know that democracy was denied by the Government over the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill.