Ardern Jacinda: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — First Reading 
Ardern Jacinda: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:664;Page:11766] 
JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) 
: 
 All of my colleagues are very eager to speak on the Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill because of all the important issues that are raised within it. I am not sure whether some of those issues have been touched on and it will be my pleasure to raise them in this debate. First of all I am sure that Government members would be very pleased that Labour members are so eager to stand in support of this uncontroversial bill. But I contest that some elements of controversy in this bill might not have been touched on yet and I wish to traverse them very briefly in my contribution. 
Members have already outlined that the purpose of the bill is to vest Parana Park land in the Hamilton City Council as a recreational reserve under the Reserves Act 1977 which of course requires the repeal of the existing legislation governing Parana Park the Hamilton City (Parana Park) Empowering Act 1958. The intent of the bill is to give the Hamilton City Council more flexibility in the way that it deals with Parana Park. But I will set out two areas where I have concerns over the use of the word “flexibility” given the way that the Government has chosen to treat some of our park areas in recent times. I think members will note that that is a very natural segue into the wider debate we have had on the use of some of our parklands under the new regime of the John Key - led National Government. Nothing appears to be sacred when it comes to parklands. 
I would like to set out for the Hamilton City Council that Parana Park—[ 
Interruption 
] National members may laugh that this would seem absolutely ludicrous but so did the Auckland City Council when it heard that Great Barrier Island might be mined. That seems like an absolutely ludicrous suggestion on the face of it yet still that is what the National Government has put forward as a serious proposal in quite an extensive document. This suggestion applies not only to Great Barrier Island but also to the Coromandel. We can break that down into an analysis of the areas. Again National members may laugh that that seems like a hysterical suggestion. Camping grounds in the Coromandel and around the Tairua area are proposed as areas that the National Government considers ripe for mining. It is not such a ludicrous suggestion that Parana Park may be captured by that once it comes under the new cover of the Reserves Act 1977—not a ludicrous suggestion at all. 
I think we should be raising in every debate the fact that nothing is sacred any more even if it is a protected land area and even if it is on schedule 4. Even the main protectant that we had for our national parks for our precious sacred conservation areas was up for grabs. In fact I sometimes question why we even have schedule 4 at all given that it now seems to be meaningless. That is one point that I wanted to raise. 
I find the background to Parana Park in and of itself fascinating. I enjoyed reading some of the history of Parana Park about the fact that it was donated and that some community groups such as the Hamilton Beautifying Society were involved in the development of this space and created paddling pools open-air theatres picnic areas and public conveniences and the fact that Rotary was involved in developing those amenities as well. That highlights for me that the Hamilton community takes their public spaces very seriously. My colleague Sue Moroney who has been selected as the candidate for Hamilton West knows that well and so do I. I think that Auckland would bode well by keeping in mind the importance of public spaces as the new super-city council comes in to develop some of its public areas. 
I will touch on the one final issue that I had when I was reading about Parana Park and its great expanse and the flexibility issue that the council now has. I would issue a word of caution to Hamilton City Council that the Government is now on the prowl for public spaces to send its Limited Service Volunteers to. Such a mass of young people is now being sent to Limited Service Volunteers that they are being denied access to support if they are unable to find work until they go on compulsory mini - boot camps courtesy of Mr Key and those are now being held in park spaces all over the country. Parana Park could be the venue for the next Limited Service Volunteers course which is no longer a voluntary course.