Brownlee Gerry: Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBrownlee Gerry: Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 31 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:10099. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery): I move That the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill be now read a third time. Prior to the last election the Government made it clear to the people of Christchurch that we would be looking to transition from the arrangements that we had post the 2011 earthquakes to a more locally led arrangement as Christchurch continued with its rebuild and recovery.The first step was to transition the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority a Government department into being a business unit inside the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The second significant point came in December of 2014 when I convened a board of local people from Christchurch under the chairmanship of Dame Jenny Shipley to look at what might be all of the aspects necessary to consider as we transition from very significant Government involvement in Christchurch to that local-led leadership. That board was made up of the mayors of the territorial authorities the chair of Environment Canterbury and a number of people who represented business as well as the NGO sector. It was I think a very good process that enabled all of those people to put their particular considerations into the mix measured against the needs of the wider community and of course enabled us to hear from the mayors who were there in their own private capacity including the Mayor of Christchurch some of the concerns that those organisations might have post the arrangements that we might eventually have got to.Eventually there was the report brought down by the advisory board which has been released in the last few weeks. That report essentially sets out the arrangements that were reflected in the bill when it was originally brought into the House about 6 months ago and then worked on the Local Government and Environment Committee over that period of time. In essence what it does is create a new level of organisation in Christchurch that will be able to continue some of the work that was enabled by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act but have it led by local people—have it led essentially by a combination of appointees from the Government and appointees from the Christchurch City Council.That organisation will be called Regenerate Christchurch and over a period of years it will transition from being a fifty-fifty Government - Christchurch City Council partnership into being a fully council-controlled organisation. I am pleased some very capable people have accepted appointment to the board of that organisation and we look forward now to its establishing under a chief executive and getting about its work.If there is a question about what its work is it should be seen in the context of a city that suffered significant devastation in the earthquakes and has gone through a recovery where we have now got some plans and a lot of work being done in a reconstruction sense but essentially because of much of that we need to regenerate many parts of the Christchurch city that have perhaps not suffered the same level of damage but none the less have changed because of the circumstances the earthquake has brought along. So I look forward to some very exciting prospects for regeneration in Christchurch for essentially urban renewal being brought to fruition through the offices of Regenerate Christchurch.It should be recognised that the Government’s commitment to Christchurch remains around the anchor projects. There is a lot of talk about when we will hear about the convention centre when the Metro Sports Facility is going to be done—and I know Dr Megan Woods asks me this all the time but she also appreciates that the Government is actually dealing with a number of complexities not the least of which is that the private sector contractors who will deliver those facilities do like to be paid and paid somewhat handsomely. So there is a necessity to ensure that on behalf of the future owners whoever they may be those facilities are going to work and be suitable for the wider community use that they are intended.In order to continue that process—and I can assure the House that there will be some announcements in regard to both of those two projects I mentioned in the very near future—there is an organisation established by the Government called Ōtākaro Ltd. I hope Mr Tirikatene that I got the pronunciation of that correct. I apologise for not pronouncing that word appropriately if I have mispronounced it. I promise not to criticise you for some other butchering that you do of the language that I am more familiar with. But may I say that the body is being set up as a schedule 4A company under the State-Owned Enterprises Act and it will have strong accountabilities but it will have a particular role in the delivery of the commercial interests that remain around those big projects.The big issue in Christchurch that—well not the biggest issue but one that a lot of people talk about often is what happens in the residential red zone. The arrangements that we have got is that right now Land Information New Zealand is acting as the manager for that land and effectively making sure that it is kept in a reasonable state. The ownership will be represented by Ōtākaro Ltd but the decisions about what its future use may be will be led by Regenerate Christchurch. People may think that is a very convoluted way of doing things but one of the important things to remember in all of this is that this bill before the House today was finally constructed by a cross-party arrangement where members largely from Christchurch sat down with the bill looked at what the city needed and made some conclusions about the nature and shape of the legislation we need going forward. So although it may appear a little cumbersome I am quite sure that it is the best we could have done moving forward.I think the mere fact that we do have significant support for the bill in the House today indicates the ongoing commitment of Parliament to assist Christchurch as we get back into the place that we have been in the past and even better. Alongside those two organisations the city council is also setting up what effectively will be one a one-stop shop for investment called Development Christchurch. Across the three boards there will be a cross-pollination of the directorates ensuring that the three do work well. And I think we are going to be in reasonable shape in that regard.The bill necessarily maintains a backstop position that is held by a Minister. We discussed that extensively in the cross-party discussions that we had and recognised that no matter who is in Government or who the Minister is when you have a bill that sets aside other provisions in legislation—in other words some Resource Management Act provisions—it is appropriate that in the end a Minister of the Crown takes that responsibility.In the time that I have got I want to make some scathing criticisms of an article that appeared in the Christchurch Press this morning—no one will be surprised by that. Under the guise of analysis an opinion piece continued the generally negative approach that that paper has taken to anything that is progressive in Christchurch and largely ignored the fact that this bill is so well supported. It was a great disappointment but there was but nothing unusual in that.I would like to conclude by thanking some people. It is always dangerous when you do that because you may leave some people out. So what I want to do first is thank all of those people who have worked for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority over the years. I know that it has not been easy. Many of those people had their own homes damaged and other issues that they were dealing with in their lives as a result of the earthquake event but they none the less put their heads down and despite some of the critics of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority they have done a marvellous job for the city.I particularly would like to thank John Ombler the original establishment chief executive of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority who came back in at a difficult time out of retirement and has done a great job in pulling the team together and particularly focusing the team on what effectively is their own endpoint. It is not an easy thing for anyone to do and I again congratulate all of the people in the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority who have participated so positively in that wind-up. I also want to mention just briefly the late Michelle Mitchell who was a very significant player in maintaining the focus we have on the psychosocial health in Christchurch. Part of her legacy will be the requirement set down by the transition advisory board that we do have an ongoing focus on that and that has been reflected by Government announcements in recent days.This is a good bill. It is a turning point for Christchurch. It does start the process over a short number of years to returning local leadership to our community.