King Colin: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill — In Committee 
King Colin: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:645;Page:14886] 
COLIN KING (National—Kaikoura) 
: 
 I am pleased to get the opportunity to speak on this bill because although I do not live near the Waitakeres I do recognise the name and their significance for reasons other than those that the members on the other side of the Chamber would have us remember them for. It is around the statement that my capable colleague the member Nick Smith made—it is the fish. Earlier when we were having this debate around Part 2 it was said that when Maui pulled up the fish he had his foot firmly placed upon Kaikoura and that is what gave him the leverage to be able to pull up what we know as the fish the North Island. 
But the point I want to make is that there is a considerable interest in what is being done in the Chamber tonight. It is with great interest that I heard one of my colleagues Mark Blumsky say that he would like to see this bill repealed when National becomes the Government. That is because there are many authorities throughout the country that will be looking at this bill when it is put into law if that is the case as being best practice and a good example of what should be done. They will not be able to be part of the process that has dragged out and split the community whereby a local bill has come to this House with barely fifty-fifty support yet it has been sold as being the best-practice perfect model. 
It is hugely concerning. We see when we look back through all the debates on this side of the House that it has been well argued that this is nothing more than notional and is not going to do something remarkable. It is full of platitudes and is quite condescending to the rest of New Zealand. 
We look at this Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area as being made up of something that started 110 years ago. The preamble states: “The Park protected at local regional and national levels is an area of some 17 000 ha”. I have heard my colleague Paula Bennett say that if there were some real courage and strength to people’s convictions they would set this up as a national park. In actual fact that would be more consistent because when we look at the Resource Management Act and at what it means it does not achieve anything over and beyond that. 
Banks Peninsula in Christchurch is a beautiful spot. However it is also a large area of pastoral farming. Those farmers live in fear of this bill becoming law and impacting on them in such a way that they can no longer farm. There is every possibility that somebody in future Christchurch councils will have this notional idea that we should set up a heritage park on Banks Peninsula. For that matter someone might have a view that we should set up a heritage park on the Kaikoura peninsula. I am sure that all the dialogue that is possible to be had will not satisfy the Maori people in Kaikoura. 
 What we are looking at here is a very very sad case. The Waitakere Ranges in my day were recognised as being a great place where Arthur Lydiard Peter Snell Murray Halberg and those sorts of people went for their Sunday run. I used to go for a Sunday run on Banks Peninsula. We would go from the Sign of the Takahe up over Governors Bay Evans Pass and then back around. There is every opportunity in the future for local authorities to impose this so-called best practice—which is like an illegitimate child that nobody wants to own—called the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area. It is of concern to New Zealanders and it is of concern to the very economy of this country. I am comfortable that members on this side of the Chamber have got it right. It is a clear example to all New Zealanders as to why this Labour Government must be voted out at the next election—the sooner the better. Then we can get some sensible laws that will take this country forward.