Twyford Phil: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
Twyford Phil: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:670;Page:17079] 
PHIL TWYFORD (Labour) 
: 
 It is a rare pleasure to take a call this afternoon in this debate on the Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill. In commenting on the bill’s title clause I raise a question about the Hamilton City Council. We have seen all around New Zealand over the last year or two a great deal of concern. District councils and city councils around New Zealand have been rather worried about the prospect of a unified Auckland as was executed by the Hon Rodney Hide and we have seen a flurry of initiatives to amalgamate regions. The fear that has been stoked— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: Title—we are on the title. 
PHIL TWYFORD 
: —around the use of the words “Hamilton City Council” in the title of this bill is that the region could very quickly end up being amalgamated and that we could see a different local government entity. 
We saw this situation recently with George Hawkins’ Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill. It was passed in this House at its first reading and then very quickly with the creation of the new Auckland Council—otherwise known as the Auckland super-city—it had to be sent back to the Auckland Council. The council had to be asked whether it wanted to pick up the bill. What started out as a local bill sponsored by my colleague George Hawkins for the former Manukau City Council is now to become a local bill for the Auckland Council. I think that raises the question of whether the title of this bill for Hamilton City Council will have any sort of life or whether it should be changed. 
Property Council New Zealand just published a report called  
Initiatives for Hamilton 
. It is one of a flurry of initiatives all around the country looking at local government amalgamation. Property Council New Zealand has proposed for Hamilton an amalgamation of four territorial local authorities in the Waikato region. That amalgamation would probably necessitate a change in the title of the bill possibly even before the bill is passed. The bill would have to be referred back to the august Local Government and Environment Committee which is chaired by my colleague Christopher Auchinvole and it might have to be renamed the “Waikato Regional Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill 2010” because the kind of initiative that Property Council New Zealand has proposed would see four local bodies in the Waikato being merged into one. 
It is quite interesting; Property New Zealand has also proposed the corporatisation of the assets and services of local councils in the Waikato and their amalgamation into a super-unitary authority. I think that raises the question of whether the title of the bill should be amended at this stage. Otherwise the bill may have to be referred back to the select committee before it is even passed. 
The “Land Vesting” aspect of the title is important. Perhaps the bill should be called the “Park Securing Bill” because we saw recently in the legislation for setting up the Auckland super-city a threat to the security of local ownership of the Waitakere Ranges. There was a great deal of concern in Auckland particularly in west Auckland amongst people who fought long and hard for the Waitakere Ranges parkland to be held in perpetuity by the people of Auckland. There was a great deal of concern that the bill that transferred those provisions in the existing legislation and that transferred the title of the parkland to the new Auckland Council actually weakened the protections and could open the door for Auckland Centennial Memorial Park in the Waitakeres to be transferred out of local ownership. There was some concern about that issue and a great deal of debate. I think some of those concerns were somewhat assuaged but not entirely. 
The “Land Vesting” referred to in the title of this bill is incredibly important.