Sepuloni Carmel: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
Sepuloni Carmel: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:11574] 
CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour) 
: 
 I start by acknowledging our team on the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee. If I was an ordinary person out there in the public I know whom I would want advocating for me and it certainly would not be the National members on that select committee. I acknowledge Phil Twyford for doing a fantastic job of leading the Labour team on this legislation. I acknowledge George Hawkins who comes with experience having been the Mayor of Papakura. I acknowledge Su’a William Sio who also comes with experience having been the Deputy Mayor of Manukau. I also acknowledge our other member on that select committee the Hon Shane Jones. I say again that if I was a member of the public not a politician I know whom I would want advocating for me and it definitely would not be the members on the other side of the Chamber. 
I rise tonight to speak to an amendment I have put forward. The amendment is to add a new section 21A which states: “The Auckland Council shall continue to hold for the purposes of a scenic park and as a memorial to commemorate the completion in the year 1940 of the first 100 years of settlement and progress in the Metropolitan District of Auckland the land known as ‘the Auckland Centennial Memorial Park’ and any other land acquired by the Council or its predecessors for the purposes of that park.” The motivation for that amendment is that the Auckland Centennial Memorial Park in the Waitakere Ranges was created by the people of Auckland for the people of Auckland who subscribed to support it. It has subsequently been developed with ratepayer moneys but many gifts of land have been incorporated into the park. The amendment protects the ownership of the land. That is the amendment I wish to speak to now. 
I lodged the amendment on behalf of the people of Waitakere people who should have been represented by their member of Parliament Paula Bennett but unfortunately in this case she has failed—as she has done in the past over and over again—to represent those constituents. So I am standing to represent their views. I need to make it known that in the past Paula Bennett campaigned against the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill even though the people of Waitakere were staunchly in support of that bill being enacted. During the select committee process of the bill we are discussing tonight so many Waitakere people came forward to make submissions to make their views heard on a broad range of issues. Of particular relevance to my amendment was their concern that the Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill poses a danger to the Waitakere Ranges. Waitakere people want to see the legal protection that was given to the ranges safeguarded and that is what my amendment will do. 
Just as a bit of background the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill was introduced by my colleague Lynne Pillay the previous MP for Waitakere and I applaud Lynne Pillay for introducing that wonderful legislation. It was to ensure that the Waitakere Ranges belong to Auckland. Before the legislation was enacted Paula Bennett and other National MPs voted against it and it appears that the super-city process has provided them with an opportunity to undermine the Act. That is the concern that has been put forward by members of the public in Waitakere. With the super-city legislation the Government has tried to erode the unique protections given to the ranges and potentially strip ownership of the regional park from Aucklanders. Section 77(1) of the Local Government Amendment Act 1992 gives the Auckland Regional Council rights of ownership over the area now known as the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. Instead of transferring ownership from the Auckland Regional Council to the Auckland Council this bill in its current form proposes to repeal section 77. We have to ask why. We have been given some clues. Paula Bennett and National are openly in favour of nationalising the Waitakere Ranges.