Muller Todd: Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMuller Todd: Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 03 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4280. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): I rise to spend just a few minutes here in the third reading debate obviously speaking very much in favour of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust Bill. It is has been quite a journey actually to follow this bill through as a new backbencher. It has been of course great to be on the Local Government and Environment Committee with our chairperson and our colleagues from across the House.This is one of the first bills that were essentially put in front of us as a new committee to progress. Can I add my voice to those who have spoken already and acknowledge the Hon Nicky Wagner and the leadership she has brought to this issue. I acknowledge also our chairperson Scott Simpson. I think it is worth taking a moment to reflect—during what at times have been a pretty rancorous last few weeks particularly on one side of the House—on hearing the collegial comments mostly from the other side of the House on the approach we took as we walked our way through this bill and provided opportunities for people who are interested in this to make their submissions felt and heard. As noted—and I will talk about this shortly—we had the opportunity to visit the site.As we know this bill is all about establishing in perpetuity the purpose of the trust and giving the appropriate governance arrangements for the Christchurch community and for this world-class precinct. As we have heard the 23 buildings are made of stone—various durations as we have heard going back to 1878—and all but one building was impacted on severely by the earthquake of February 2011.One of the highlights for me as we have gone through this bill has been the opportunity to go and visit the site and see firsthand what we are trying to put in stone in a legislative context down in Christchurch. To be able to see the wide array of stonemasons working on their craft and to see the pallets of stone ready to be put into the new buildings I found quite an enjoyable experience. As Mr Simpson mentioned in his comments it was quite extraordinary seeing parts of the buildings that have had their old fascia removed and they have suddenly revealed something of even more moment standing behind. We were able to see that and know that through this tragedy there will be something that is more enduring and more powerful for the community of Christchurch and indeed the country.We saw the rooms where Lord Rutherford was a young student. An area that was an old swimming pool is now being turned into an outside promenade and even though it was a very cold summer’s day we could picture what it will look like when the community of Christchurch fully engages with the site in the next few years once the building project has been completed.What a building project this is—7 years and $300 million—and it is absolutely worth adding my voice to acknowledge those who are very close to this: Jen Crawford the chair and André Lovatt the chief executive officer. I think it is a very well-made point that not only have they had a business-as-usual requirement in their jobs but they have been able to oversee what has been declared to be the largest heritage rebuild going on in the world at the moment. That I think is a testament to them and the skills they bring to the table and the team they have around them. So they should be acknowledged for that.One of the key deliveries of this bill discussed here already is setting out the charitable objects of the trust and enshrining them in law so there is absolute clarity for the community around the purpose of the trust and what it is there for. I think the moves and the changes in respect of the governance structure are very well-thought-through and the community of Christchurch and the stakeholders of Christchurch should be acknowledged and recognised. The University of Canterbury the Christchurch City Council Heritage New Zealand the Christchurch Civic Trust and Papatipu Rūnanga are the key stakeholders that historically have had a very direct linkage into the governance of this organisation and it was a representative governance model which so often is the case in organisations like this.But it takes some courage to be able to look at the scale of the rebuild that is occurring in Christchurch in this precinct and realise that if you genuinely wish to be world class in terms of protecting and enhancing a series of buildings that are in place in that precinct then it is appropriate to have world-class best-practice governance arrangements as well. It is not easy to move from a representative model to a skills-based model particularly in a tight community such as Christchurch which has always had such direct representative governance around the Arts Centre. So they should be acknowledged. I think that is a very strong step forward and obviously a key component of this bill.I do hold the view though that once we have had the third reading and the bill becomes law there is an opportunity for those who are going to participate in this new governance structure to ensure that they take off their parochial lenses. It is very easy for communities to think that they are the sole harbinger of what is good and best practice when it comes to precincts like this. But as we have heard earlier from Megan Woods when she reflected on the comments of former Prime Minister Norman Kirk around the importance of bringing a wide strand of perspective and engagement around this precinct so too does it fit in my view that a wide strand in diverse governance skills should be brought around this board.So now there is an opportunity for those stakeholders to be able to put forward people. I would ask them to consider not necessarily putting forward people just from their own organisations or from whence they have come; they should look externally not only externally to Christchurch but externally potentially to New Zealand to ensure that the mix of skills that sits around that board are genuinely world class.Ultimately for this legislation to endure in time these phenomenal stone buildings need to engage with people and with communities and as we have noted through this process the community of Christchurch is very different from the one that built these buildings all those years ago. The community of Christchurch in the next 10 15 20 or 30 years and beyond will equally change and become more diverse.Buildings are ultimately just stone buildings however beautiful they may be if they do not have people connected with them and inside them. If they are not evocative to people then they are simply that—just stone buildings. This precinct is far more than that. It has got an incredibly evocative power for the people of Christchurch and for that to be maintained enhanced and to grow they must ensure that that precinct continues to engage in a way that is quite profound and that moves with the evolving nature of the community.The other key change that we reflected on—and that I think is a good one from a good-practice perspective–is the removal of the requirement for the Minister to be informed of vacancies. I think that was a minor change but one that I thinkwas an appropriate amendment if you are looking at it through a belt-and-braces lens which we did.Also we had quite a lot of debate about the requirement to have the conservation plan available at the annual meeting. Again I think it is a very sensible amendment to this bill and one that by the sound of it we will have cross-party support for. It ensures that those who have a strong connection with this Arts Centre precinct can have visibility at a time every year as to the vision around conservation that the board has and it will give them comfort that the institution is heading in the right direction.Can I conclude by adding finally my congratulations to the Hon Nicky Wagner. This is something that she has championed well as a local MP. She is a great MP for the people of Christchurch. That is why they have voted her back with the strength that she has and I can see why because she is a great advocate for Christchurch. She knows what is important for Christchurch and she has through her leadership facilitated a bill that is going to benefit the community of Christchurch for many decades to come. Thank you very much.