Whaitiri Meka: Wellington Town Belt Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: Wellington Town Belt Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 16 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9845. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti):Tēnā koe MrDeputy Speaker e ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. Ko Kahunāraki Te Maunga ko Tukituki Te Awa ko Kahumoko Te Manga ko Ngāti Papatuamaro ko Ngāti Tamaterā ko Ngāti Te Rehunga ko Ngāti Ngaherengarengare ngā hapū ko Pūhara Te Tangata ko Houngarea Te Whare ko Rākaihikuroa Te Tekoteko ko Tāwirirangi Te Whare Kai ko Houngarea Te Marae ko te ihu ko te rae tīkina houhia te rongo.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and acknowledgments to you all members of the House. Kahunāraki is the mountain Tukituki is the river Kahumoko is the stream. The hapū are Ngāti Papatuamaro Ngāti Tamaterā Ngāti Te Rehunga and Ngāti Ngaherengarengare. Pūhara is the man Houngarea is the meeting house Rākaihikuroa is the carved figure on its gable Tāwirirangi is the dining room Houngarea is the marae. From the nose to the forehead fetch the peace and instil it.]At 4 o’clock this morning I rose with my family to join hundreds of my kinspeople to celebrate the 100-year celebration of the whare tīpuna at Houngarea in Pakipaki a small settlement just south of Hastings. On the return of the 28th Māori Battalion this was the marae where the Ngāti Kahungunu contingent returned to its people. I know that the last commanding chief was the grandfather of my colleague Peeni Henare Sir James Hēnare. I mention that because our 28th Māori Battalion soldiers left from the wharf in Wellington. So it gives me great pleasure to stand and rise in support of the Wellington Town Belt Bill.The bill strengthens the protection of and modernises the governance arrangements for the Wellington town belt to ensure it is there to benefit all current generations and all future generations. For over 170 years the town belt has been a reserve for the public to enjoy providing a scenic backdrop to the city and recreational opportunities. Over time there have been some I guess challenges around the legal status of the town belt and some land has been taken from it for other purposes.I do want to acknowledge the work of the Wellington City Council and we have got Helene Ritchie in the gallery. I want to mihi to you for the work that you have done in bringing this bill to the House. I also acknowledge my colleague Grant Robertson for his tenacity and perseverance to get us to this point and of course the work of the Local Government and Environment Committee of which I am a proud member.The main purpose of the bill—everybody has described it and I support it wholeheartedly—is about providing more protection through the city council around the Wellington town belt. It will also bring clarity in terms of bringing all the respective pieces of legislation—namely the Wellington City Reserves Act the Wellington City Exhibition Grounds Act and the Wellington (City) Town Belt Reserves Act—under one Act so that has to be a good thing. The bill also aims to impose on the council responsibilities and powers to protect manage and enhance the town belt. In clause 8 there is obviously an explanation of the town belt as a public recreation ground and it goes into defining what a public recreation ground is. Clearly it is an area provided for recreation and sporting activities and the enjoyment of the public.I consider myself pretty much a Wellingtonian having spent 7 months short of 25 years both working in Wellington and living in the Wellington region. In my younger days I represented this province in netball and represented the Hutt in softball. A lot of these areas that we mention as being part of the town belt are grounds that I have played on and was able to achieve on in sport. So from a very personal point of view my early days here in Wellington in the mid-1980s allowed me that opportunity. Today in 2016 although the body is not as fit as it used to be I do enjoy the walks through the Botanic Gardens and the occasional mountain bike ride up Polhill to—Hon Christopher Finlayson: Come to Les Mills with Stuart and me.MEKA WHAITIRI: —the viaduct at the top. Ha ha! Maybe. But this is a great celebration. It is great to hear all the contributions from all sides of the House in support of this bill.Of course the issue around the public works legislation change has been mentioned. I am sure that the council is happy with that and it will look at addressing any particular concerns through another mechanism.But my contribution in support of this bill is really—and others have touched on it—about the preamble. I do not want to reread it out but I want to acknowledge that our history as New Zealanders in the country does stem from land issues that go back historically and my colleague Mr Tirikatene mentioned Wakefield’s New Zealand Company. We all have shared and different histories and for me the preamble should be used as an exemplar as a starting point for our telling our stories through legislation. That preamble for me talks about the acknowledgment of the tīpuna and the iwi who were here and the vision of the early settlers. I think that this is a good piece of legislation like I said to be used when we are modernising legislation that goes back into the last century.There have been calls that if people want a more in-depth understanding of our history they should read some of the settlement documentation but I would like to go a step further and suggest that a lot of that history should actually be taught in our schools. I really believe that our future generations are going to be the conduits of our history warts and all. That is why I say that we should go a step further and encourage our education system to take the time to read about the history of this great nation and the struggles that we have had between the two races. But we are in a time of reconciliation and that is why I am saying you know that I put the challenge out there to all members of the House that we should be doing this more as a matter of course as opposed to it being an exception.Back to the bill—I am happy to join with all members in this House. It meets the requirement of having the protections. It makes it very clear in terms of the respective legislation. I think it is a good piece of legislation well researched and well submitted on from those who came in front of the select committee. I do not have anything more to add other than to support the call to put this bill to the House and support it at its second reading. Kia ora tātou.