Chadwick Steve: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
Chadwick Steve: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
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Hon STEVE CHADWICK (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to take a very short call on the Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Bill. Those of us in the Chamber 2 weeks ago will remember that we had a lengthy debate about this bill because we felt that it was very important to the people of Waikato. It was also a great example to other territorial authorities around the country of honouring the intent of land gifted to councils. I come from Rotorua. I acknowledge the good people of Ngati Whakaue who have endowed amazing stretches of land to our city to be used as recreational reserves for the benefit of the many and not just the few. This bill is a reflection of the way city councils and regional authorities around the country are taking seriously their responsibility for managing assets under their purview. 
Clause 8 is a short clause but I think it is very significant. I too congratulate the drafters because clause 8 makes very clear what the vesting of the land is not. It covers off the dutiable gift so there will be no incurring of gift duties on the transfer of this land. Clause 8(b) states: “a supply of goods and services for the purposes of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985:” and I think that makes things very clear for the Hamilton City Council to go ahead. I congratulate them. 
I hope that the member in the chair David Bennett who is supporting the bill has done his homework. We were very concerned about the footprint of the land and the missing 0.4 hectares. The good member in the chair has had time over the last 2 weeks to go away and find out what happened to that land and whether the missing land was due to an anomaly between the historical archive reserves of the Hamilton City Council and land registered on the land base of that region of the Waikato. We do want to find out about that. It may have been sold off. If it was sold off it has been lost to the people of Waikato. 
This legislation shows that regional authorities around the country do have a plan as opposed to the Government at the moment which clearly does not have a plan. When we have an asset like Parana Park which is a beautiful park and is certainly not for sale we need a plan. But we in the Opposition are very concerned about what assets are for sale as the Government tries to get on top of the double-dip National-constructed recession. Before the Canterbury earthquake hit we were facing a double-dip recession. This Government needs to make sure that it is not looking at selling assets as a way of getting out of this constructed double-dip recession which is part of National’s mismanagement of the economy. The Hamilton City Council on the other hand is making sure it is looking after assets. I think it is great that there will be no incurring of GST as clause 8(b) states. 
I congratulate Waikato and the Hamilton City Council. This is something for ordinary Kiwis who cannot afford to travel now because of the costs of travel the costs of petrol and cost of living pressures. Those costs mean they cannot get out of the Waikato. Families there are rather trapped but they can go to Parana Park. They can go to Parana Park and play in the paddling pool. That is wonderful for the many and not just for those at the top who got a tax cut and who can afford to get on an Air New Zealand flight from Waikato and get around the country. This will be a wonderful asset for families facing incredible cost of living pressures. They can get out on Saturday and look at and enjoy this recreational reserve. I think these provisions called “Miscellaneous provisions” are incredibly important for stipulating in law what this vesting of land is not all about for the good people of Waikato.