Auchinvole Chris: National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Auchinvole Chris: National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 28 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4818. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 I rise to speak in favour of the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill— 
Hon Nathan Guy 
: A very good bill. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
 —sponsored by the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Chris Finlayson. It is indeed as the Hon Nathan Guy says a very good bill and it has received accolades from pretty much all sides of the House. There was— 
Charles Chauvel 
: That’s going a little far. 
Hon Nathan Guy 
: Charles Chauvel supports it. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well no no I do not remember Mr Chauvel hearing all of the debate but he will— 
Chris Hipkins 
: Oh it was better without the microphone. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: God gives some people a good voice. Mr Chauvel will remember the remarks made by the Hon Annette King which were praiseworthy indeed of the concept the design the proposal and the need in fact to have a place of reverence in our capital city because really we do not have one at the moment. 
This empowering bill grants the necessary statutory authorisations and property rights for the project to the New Zealand Transport Agency and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to complete the roading and landscaping in time for the 2015 Anzac Day commemorations—100 years. The bill is vital to the creation of a National War Memorial Park for Wellington providing the certainty necessary for its completion by April 2015 while ensuring the integration of the park and roading networks within the wider Wellington City. 
If I may without any undue offence suggest that Mr Hughes from the Green Party was just a little mean-spirited I thought in concentrating on the sacrosanct nature— 
Hon Nathan Guy 
: They hate roads the Greens. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: —well on the sacrosanct nature of process. I think this is an occasion when process can be fitted in to meet the requirement and I am sure that that will be the case. 
Scott Simpson 
: Sanctimonious. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: It was a little sanctimonious I guess. New Zealanders attach a special importance to our military history as well as to our environmental processes and the reverence we continue to have for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of this nation and what it stands for. Indeed in October I hope to be in Passchendaele paying due reverence to great-uncles who went into that particular dreadful battle where New Zealand lost so many. It will be a moment of reflection. I think it will be great that we have the same opportunity for New Zealanders and for people from overseas to engage in reverence in New Zealand. It will be a fitting place for Kiwis and others to congregate on major occasions or to reflect at any time on these great sacrifices. 
The project will ensure that Anzac Day commemorations in 2015 will take place in a new open space flanked on either side by landscaped areas with trees seating cycleways and walking paths. 
Scott Simpson 
: Very appropriate. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: It is indeed appropriate and befitting for such a historic moment in the history of both our nation and our allies across the Tasman Sea. Indeed the Australian Government has contributed A$5 million of its own for the development of an Australian memorial which will stand with pride opposite the National War Memorial as a symbol of the bond and the shared history between our two nations. 
Hon Nathan Guy 
: That’s right—the Anzac spirit. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: That is the Anzac spirit. This memorial plan has been crafted with great care and respect. And it was again just a tad unfortunate when listening to the Hon Annette King whom I have great respect for as a long-serving politician to hear a little sting in the tail that perhaps we have been dilatory over the last 4 years in getting things done. May I suggest with great respect to Annette King who did leave Government with a plan that that plan was not simply dispensed with and ignored. It was considered. There is a lot of difference between being a little casual in getting on with things and working extremely hard to ensure the best results and that is what Mr Finlayson demanded from the team that has been working on this. 
The memorial plan has been crafted with great care and respect but a number of problems presently hinder the completion of this project by April 2015. These are practical physical problems such as the busy State Highway 1 which is currently in the way of the site and which is clearly incompatible with a memorial status as a place of quiet contemplation and reflection for families dignitaries and visitors. You cannot have it quiet except for the cars. It is quiet or it is not. Also under existing statutory processes it would be impossible to guarantee the necessary statutory authorisations rights and consents to see this project completed on time hence my mild criticism of the Greens. The whole purpose of this bill is to make sure that the project is done on time. As my colleagues on this side have articulated it is time to resolve these problems once and for all. 
Under this bill the Governor-General will be able to grant additional statutory authorisations by Order in Council and enable the relevant agencies to obtain additional property rights in the event that any unforeseen authorisation and rights are legally required in order to complete the project on time and to avoid remedy or mitigate any actual or potential adverse effects on the environment. We are not ignoring the environment. Indeed I think Annette King—whose speech I quite enjoyed and I am showing her that I listened—illustrated that you would have a tunnel underneath a flyover round the cricket grounds and then go straight into the tunnel like Hobbiton. 
The bill also sets the conditions that will apply to the statutory authorisations and provides a process for the independent certification of plans and documents required by conditions of the authorisations. This is to ensure that both the New Zealand Transport Agency and the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage comply with the usual construction requirements and environmental standards that they would have had to meet if the authorisations had been granted under normal process. The provisions relating to Orders in Council and the removal of appeal and objection rights will expire at the close of 31 July 2015. 
To put it simply without this bill the development of this site and its monuments would not be possible on a timetable basis in the foreseeable future. This is a roll-your-sleeves-up grunty little bill that gets the job done. Underneath that or overarching that it will produce not only something that is practical and well done but something that is beautiful that we can all celebrate in and that we can all enjoy. Thank you.