Mallard Trevor: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
Mallard Trevor: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
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Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) 
: 
 I apologise if I repeat some points that colleagues have made because I have been held up in meetings. But as David Bennett the member in charge of the Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill and his colleague from Hamilton West know Parana Park is an area that I do know relatively well. 
As a number of us know the park is the base for Anzac Day services and memorials. One of the interesting things I did as a first-time MP was participate in a march. I had been to the services before but I had never been part of the march and on the way to Parana Park people had to break their step in order not all to be bang bang banging on the bridge at the same time and causing it damage. It is fair to say that I was slightly concerned about that. When we were seeing 45-tonne trucks going over the bridge the idea that a few old soldiers could break it as they went across was something that concerned me but that was the practice. It might have been a habit that had developed from Bailey bridges or other bridges that engineers had built and people had used in times of war. 
I will go to the question of the bill’s title and particularly to the name “Parana Park”. I have two substantive questions for the member in the chair David Bennett. The first is by way of confirmation that “Parana” is in fact the name of a South American river that one of the founders of Hamilton visited on the way to Hamilton. 
Grant Robertson 
: It turns out not to be that but carry on. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: It turns out not to be the case? It is fair to say that during a previous debate I spent quite a bit of time researching the name “Parana” to try to work out where it was what the links were and where that came from. I have not heard the explanation yet. 
Grant Robertson 
: We did earlier but carry on. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Oh well I apologise for that. 
Grant Robertson 
: It wasn’t from the member in the chair though. 
Sue Moroney 
: And that’s what Moana raised. It wasn’t from the member in the chair—one of us raised that point. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Oh well it is OK if the Committee has heard an explanation. Was it believable and acceptable? [ 
Interruption 
] That is fine. 
I will go on to my second point which I will address to my colleague from the Maori Party who is currently in the Chamber Rahui Katene and that is whether she and for that matter the Associate Minister of Maori Affairs are happy with the way that the Geographic Board process has been bypassed in order to remove a traditional Maori name not from the whole park but from the section of the park at the south end—the brewery end of the park if you like. I say that setting up names by way of legislation that overrides other Acts as this bill will do—because as we know the specific overrides the general in these matters—means that a name that has traditionally been used for the southern section— 
Chris Auchinvole 
: The brewery end. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Well I am just indicating that the brewery is on the other side of the river. But it is on the south—well it is not actually because we go over the bridge and turn left. But I am right; it is the southern end. It is I think the other bit of the park. I think the member in charge of the bill understands the section of the park I am talking about which has traditionally had a Maori name ascribed to it. It has certainly been referred to in that way. I do not know about recent times but roughly 20 years ago when I was a member in Hamilton—well slightly more than 20 years ago—it was certainly referred to in that way. I am just wondering what Tainui think of the decision to override their traditional name and not use the process of the Geographic Board which is the normal process. I would say that the Geographic Board has traditionally tended to leave options open in terms of using either imported names or Maori names. In this case that right has been taken away from the Maori of Hamilton.