National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill

I move, That the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill be now read a third time. I am very pleased to have played my part in steering this National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill through the House. I certainly acknowledge and appreciate the support that has been received from all parties, with the obvious exceptions of the Greens and the Mana party.

💬 Hon Nathan Guy: Disappointing.

I am disappointed, but not surprised, by their attitude. I think what they fail to appreciate is that since I became the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage in 2008 a lot of work has gone into this project to ensure that the cut-and-cover option became a reality. It is simply and plainly wrong to say—as, I think, Holly Walker said at the Committee stage—that the plans have been around for some years. I think Mr Chauvel may have made a similar allegation in his rather peculiar contribution in the first reading debate. They are both plain wrong. The 2008 plans provided for State Highway 1 to go through the park. I was first alerted to that by Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon in 2008. I spoke to Mt Cook School and said that I thought that was really most unfortunate. I have worked since then to see if we could get this result, and we have.

We have the bill. The bill was introduced. It was referred to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee on 28 August. That committee worked very hard, and I salute its chair and members, because it reported the bill back to the House on 18 September. I also want to acknowledge the contributions from the submitters and the officials from both the New Zealand Transport Agency and my ministry, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, who have worked very hard on this matter.

This legislation is required to complete the memorial in time for the centenary of the Gallipoli landings, and this very speedy progression will enable Government agencies to start work in October on what will be New Zealand’s major legacy project for the First World War commemorations: this wonderful park, Pukeahu. It is the centrepiece of the Government’s programme of projects and activities to mark the centenary over the 2014-18 period. The joint agency WW100 Programme Office in the Ministry for Culture and Heritage is going to lead and facilitate commemorative activities in accordance with other organisations of the Crown like the New Zealand Defence Force, the Department of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and others, and a panel of trusted New Zealanders is going to be guiding and informing these activities. During this period the war memorial is very much going to be a focus of the First World War commemorations and also, increasingly, of a number of significant 70th anniversaries of the Second World War and, as time progresses, of anniversaries for both the Viet Nam and Korean wars. This bill is going to ensure that we have a park that provides a more appropriate setting for these very important commemorative activities.

What the bill does is it grants resource consents, heritage authorisations, and building consents, and provides for the designation of the land, and powers of entry on to the land. It grants rights to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the New Zealand Transport Agency to complete the undergrounding of State Highway 1 and the memorial park in time for the centenary of the Gallipoli landings in April 2015. In doing so, what it is going to do is remove the standard objection and appeal rights available under the Resource Management Act 1991, the Historic Places Act 1993, and the Public Works Act 1981, but I emphasise that rights to compensation under the latter Act are going to be preserved. And should the need arise, the bill will also enable the Governor-General to issue Orders in Council to grant further consents than those covered in the schedules of the bill.

But it is extremely important to note that there are safeguards to provide oversight of these Orders in Council, and a review panel is going to be convened to scrutinise recommendations for those Orders in Council. That panel will report to the Minister at 6-monthly intervals, and the Minister will provide a copy of that report to the House. Parliament is also going to have the power to disallow an Order in Council within 12 sitting days after the day on which it was presented to the House. So what has happened here is that every step has been taken to ensure that the focus and the purpose of the bill are tightly defined, to avoid any risk that powers may be used for anything other than the intended national purpose. The bill also ensures continuing input from important stakeholders like Mt Cook School, the Wellington City Council, the Wellington Tenths Trust, the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, and other organisations representing local residents and road users.

Like many public memorials, the development of this National War Memorial has proceeded in fits and starts. In the 1920s there was a debate over what form it should take. There was some talk that there could even be a memorial parade or a new cathedral, and then a Wellington jeweller, Mr Denton, suggested the Carillon with bells of remembrance, and that was the idea that was enthusiastically embraced by the community. The Wellington War Memorial Carillon Society raised the money for a 49-bell carillon and presented the funds to the Government. The Government then made its contribution towards the construction of the bell towers to house the Carillon. Gummer and Ford were two persons who won the design competition for the bell tower and the new national museum behind it. Gummer was renowned for his work on memorials. I think he was responsible for the Massey Memorial on Watts Peninsula and the Bridge of Remembrance in Christchurch. And so it was in 1932 that the public flocked to this new memorial. At last, New Zealanders had a surrogate tomb for the thousands who had, sadly, died overseas in service of their country.

The next stage was supposed to be an adjoining Hall of Memories, but its construction was cut short because of the Depression and then the Second World War. Indeed, it was to be 32 years before that building was finally opened in 1964. In 2004 Kingsley Baird’s Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was added to the complex, and the remains of an unnamed soldier from Caterpillar Valley Cemetery near Longueval were interred in the tomb.

I give the House that history because it is important to recognise that this has been a developing project, but with this development we will be able to say that we finally have a complete memorial to those who have served this country so well. With the completion of the project, the impressive architecture of the memorial is going to be complemented by a park of equivalent substance and design. The National War Memorial and the various elements of the precinct will be unified. It is going to be a place of quiet reflection where people can congregate for important national commemorations, and our allies will also be honoured with their own memorials. I emphasise that there is also going to be an interpretation centre, where young New Zealanders who attend Anzac Day commemorations will be able to learn more about the tumultuous events that have left their mark on this country. So too will visitors to Wellington from around the country and overseas be drawn to the memorial.

In the future, I believe the precinct is most likely to be included in the Government’s proposed national historic landmark list of places that are significant national treasures to New Zealand. Last but not least, the traffic noise is going to be greatly reduced because this tunnelling is to take place. Everyone is delighted that this is going to proceed. To have had State Highway 1 traversing a sacred memorial, frankly, would have been inappropriate and, indeed, disrespectful.

There is keen interest in the development. I am looking forward to attending community meetings to talk to people about it. I am very keen to keep in touch with people. I think this is going to be a memorial of which we are going to be very proud indeed.

It is a pleasure to rise and speak in this third reading debate on the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill. The Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, who has just spoken, gave us an interesting history lesson around activities in the park and the war memorial. He could not bring himself to say the words “Helen Clark”. It is unfortunate that the Minister, whom, I think, we have given some credit to that he has been a person who has worked on this issue over the last few years—he has stuttered along a little bit, but now we have finally got there—could not manage to say that in 2004 Helen Clark put forward this idea. The words could not leave his mouth, which is a pity because this is something that people on both sides of the House have certainly wanted.

I want to make just a few points here. The first thing I want to do is just to thank the officials who worked on this particular bill. This bill was dealt with at speed, at pace. A lot of pressure was placed on officials to be able to not only come up with the bill in the first place but also then deal with the submissions. A number of significant changes were made during the select committee process, and they had to be made at pace. The officials from the New Zealand Transport Agency, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, and also the Parliamentary Counsel Office did do a terrific job in getting that work done. I think in a piece of legislation like this that should be recognised.

This memorial park will be a place that will become integral, I believe, to New Zealand’s heritage and history. It will be a place where New Zealanders can reflect on the sacrifice of those who have gone to war and also on the cost of war. It will also be a place where we will be able to highlight our relationship with countries such as Australia, which has offered to put a memorial within the park. I was very heartened that at the first of the community meetings we had on this, Minister Chris Finlayson said that he would be looking to see within the park some kind of memorial to those who were conscientious objectors to war. He mentioned at that meeting, in particular, Archibald Baxter. I think that is a very appropriate thing for this park. It should be a place of reflection. It should be a place where people can go to think about the overall impact of war. I was very heartened that Mr Finlayson had said that. I certainly support that idea.

It is, obviously, timed to be able to be open in 2015 on the 100th commemorations of the Gallipoli landings. The year 2015 will be a very important time for New Zealanders in terms of our sense of identity and looking back over our history as a country. This is a great legacy project for that time. It would be better if we could have gone through the correct legislative processes, regulatory processes, and consenting processes that would be required for that, but time is against us. On this side of the House we look warily at empowering-type legislation, but in this case this is such a nationally significant project—a project that does need, for symbolic reasons, to be able to be there in April 2015—that we can agree to this legislation. But we make clear on this side of the House that it is not a habit that we want to see in this House, to have empowering legislation that does override objection and appeal rights. That is not something this House should do regularly, and we certainly will not support it to be done regularly.

What we have done in this legislation is attempt to put in place measures that mitigate the fact that we are doing empowering legislation. The Minister has mentioned the review panel that will look at any Orders in Council that are being asked for by the Minister, and that review panel, in turn, has to report to this Parliament on a 6-monthly basis, so that this Parliament has some role. I think those are important provisions in this law. I think what is particularly important and which was added at the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee is clause 24(4), which is what we call the last resort provision. This is to make absolutely clear that the use of Orders in Council should be a last resort. The phrase is that the Minister must have considered “all other reasonably practicable ways relevant” to this legislation to achieve the goals that the Order in Council is trying to achieve. That is a statement to a Minister that they must have considered all other matters. We know that an Order in Council, which, as we know, takes away the rights of this Parliament, can be used only as a last resort under this legislation. That is a significant clause, and I am very pleased that the Government agreed to the inclusion of it in this bill.

Beyond the question of the Orders in Council, I want to speak about the role of the community in this project. The community forum that is being set up with this bill is an excellent process. The addition the select committee made was to include the idea that the local community could have a role in the final design of this park, and I hope the Government takes that seriously. The final design of this park will mean a lot to the people of the Mount Cook community and the wider Wellington community, and it is important that the Government listens to those communities. There are concerns already being raised by those who are perhaps involved in one part in particular, the historic creche that is just on the fringes of the park. They will be impacted on by this. I urge the Government to talk to the community, to listen to the community, and to use that community forum, not just the three times a year that it is possible to use it but more often, to ensure that the community is involved. I also urge the Government to ensure that the residents of Wellington, not just those in my electorate in Wellington Central but more broadly across the city, are kept informed about this project. It will start very, very soon, and people in Wellington may not be aware of the disruption that is coming their way.

I want to make reference to a couple of groups that I think it is very important are considered here. The first of those is the Wellington City Council. The Wellington City Council has generously offered $5 million for this project. It is a key stakeholder. It must be involved all the way through this project. Hopefully, working with the Wellington City Council, we can see the development of this park, this great green space for Wellington, integrated within other plans that the Wellington City Council has. I thank the council for its support for this project. I particularly want to acknowledge the work of Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon and also Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, who have been strong supporters of this project.

The other organisations I want to mention are the Taranaki Whānui and the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust. They are landowners within the park area. They have a long historical association with this area. Their name for this area forms part of this bill. Their rights to be spoken to and talked to are important, and I am disappointed that we were not able to perhaps find the accommodation within the bill that they wanted. But they can rest assured that through the schedules of this bill and the community forum, the Taranaki Whānui and the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust are acknowledged for their important role and will be a key part of the development of the park.

The last group that I want to mention in this context is the local community, and the fact that in this bill we have added into the community forum and the consultation processes around traffic plans and the future place of buildings in the park the owners of the Mount Cook Police Barracks and the Tasman Garden Body Corporate, the two buildings that sit either side of Tasman Street and the intersection with Buckle Street. They are representative of the interests of the local community, as is the local residents association, Mount Cook Mobilised, which has also done a fantastic job of advocating for this park. It wants this park. It will become a vital part of the Mount Cook community. The Mt Cook School, with its terrific principal, Sandy McCallum, is also part of that. This is something that it will be uniquely associated with, and it is vitally important that in the development of the park it is a key stakeholder as well.

Overall, the Labour Party is happy to support this legislation. It is not ideal that we are passing empowering legislation, but this reaches the threshold of a nationally significant project. I know that veterans, their families, and all those affected by war will know that this is an important thing. But, much beyond that, for Wellingtonians this will be a terrific place of reflection, a green space, and an open place for people to spend time. It will also attract visitors, I predict, from not only New Zealand but right across the world. It will be something that we can be proud of and that will pay appropriate tribute to the sacrifice of those who have gone to war and to the costs of war. I support this bill.

I wish to take a call and support in essence the previous two speeches from Minister Finlayson and also the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Grant Robertson, who was there on the day that this project was launched with the Prime Minister and with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Wellington City. We know that this project is hugely significant. I was there yesterday with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defence, and Iain Lees-Galloway representing the Opposition, when we were commemorating the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Bomber Command. Of course, 32 of those veterans travelled to London and were back sharing their experiences yesterday at the National War Memorial and also at a function in the Grand Hall afterwards.

It was interesting standing down on the edge of State Highway 1 on Buckle Street, waiting to greet the Prime Minister, with all of that traffic zooming by. When the Prime Minister did arrive, meeting other representatives, the noise of State Highway 1 was not something that was desirable for the National War Memorial Park, which we want to establish there. So thank goodness that the Prime Minister has stepped up to the plate and sought some extra funding to ensure that we can cut and cover the project, so that State Highway 1 can be underground. When we get to the special significance of the centennial of those 2,721 who lost their lives at Gallipoli, almost 100 years ago—it will be in 2015, when the park is open—we can stand there and celebrate in essence what they did for our country.

On that note, I think it is important for everyone to realise that we are in a space where we have an online survey seeking support from New Zealanders and interest from those who want to travel to Gallipoli in 2015. We are seeking their feedback and we have an online survey that is open until 25 November. I urge those who are interested to get involved and give us their feedback. Early indications are that there will be 30,000 or 40,000 New Zealanders who want to travel to Gallipoli in 2015.

For those in the House who have been on the peninsula, and I was fortunate to go this year, we all realise that it is pretty much a national park, that the Turkish authorities have to be involved in managing the numbers, and that means that there will be a ballot process similar to what there has been for the Olympics, the recent royal wedding, etc., etc. We are going to have to manage the expectations, and the indications are that we will be allocated somewhere in the vicinity of 2,000 places, and that is lining up with Australia, which will be allocated somewhere in the vicinity of 8,000 places. It is in essence going to be sorted by the proportion of fatalities that we lost on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

In conclusion, this is a very important project. I acknowledge all of the people who have been involved in this project to get it to where it is now. I am sure the whole of the House is going to be really excited that, come 2015, we are going to have a very special place to commemorate and say thank you to all the veterans who have served for New Zealand. Thank you very much.

As you have already heard in this House, Labour supports the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill, and now we are in the final stages of its passage. It will be welcomed by many, many New Zealanders, veterans and the community—particularly the local community here in Wellington. This bill has had strong local support, not only from those who live in the direct vicinity but also from around Wellington in general and also, I think, from around New Zealand, from those wanting to have a place that we could call a National War Memorial Park.

This bill will enable the completion of the park by 2015 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli. But, as the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage said in his third reading speech, it will also be a place where we can commemorate other conflicts that New Zealand has been involved in. There are a number coming up of 70th anniversary commemorations.

One of those that it would have been nice to be able to commemorate, had the park been built earlier, was the battle for Crete. I was fortunate to represent our country at the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Crete. It was a most moving occasion, but very few people could actually go to Crete to commemorate that battle. Most New Zealanders will never be able to go there, so I was privileged. Being able to go to a place like the National War Memorial and being able to commemorate events with others who were there, and their families and their grandchildren, I think will be a really significant part of this new park.

It is a little bit like going to the Atatürk Memorial. The Minister in his speech—in fact, actually, no. It was not the Minister in his speech; it was something that Helen Clark said at the time that she proposed this park. She said it would be a place where other countries could have memorials and be able to commemorate events when they had been in partnership in war with New Zealand. That is why I mentioned the Atatürk Memorial in my electorate. If you have not been there on Anzac Day, I suggest that you do so. It is the most moving service that you can go to. It is a relationship between Turkey and New Zealand. I am told that the spot where it has been built is very like Anzac Cove, and it has a very spiritual feeling about it. This new National War Memorial Park will mean that other countries will be able to put up memorials as well.

This bill was not without some debate as to the process that would be used for the establishment of this park, because it does remove appeals under a number of Acts, and there is the use of Orders in Council. I understand concerns that members have about the use of Orders in Council and proper process, but I said in my speeches that it would have been really good if we had complete agreement across this House for the establishment of this park. Unfortunately, the Greens have decided to oppose it, and to me that is a little bit like having a bob each way. They were in favour of it, but they opposed it, where, on this occasion, for something as significant as this that was not going to cause a huge problem because there is so much community support for it, it would be good if we had unanimous support across Parliament. Maybe, even at this late stage, the Greens might like to consider supporting this bill at the third reading.

Why I think they can have some confidence in what has been put in place are the safeguards that were put in place at the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. I understand the Greens were very constructive at the select committee in helping to put those safeguards in place. Having done that, and having done the best job possible, then I would have thought that they are now in a position where, putting aside their overwhelming principles, they could then support this bill, because this does not happen very often. If you look at what this is about, then I think that maybe this was an occasion when they could have put aside their objections.

I think the safeguard of a review panel that is able to scrutinise the Orders in Council and report to Parliament every 6 months is a very good one. Also, Parliament can disallow the Orders in Council within 12 sitting days. That means the power still comes back here to Parliament. Also, there is the putting in place of a community committee that is able to be involved in the design of the park, to involve those local people who will be affected. That is something that they were keen to see happen, and I am glad that it has now become part of this project.

This is a really good idea. I want to pay tribute to the former Prime Minister of New Zealand the Rt Hon Helen Clark. She had a passion—a burning passion—to ensure that we remembered those men and women who had fought in many conflicts on behalf of New Zealanders. Over her years as Prime Minister, there were a number of things that she did to ensure that our old soldiers were recognised. One of them, of course, was the return of the Unknown Warrior and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. It was a wonderful occasion for New Zealand, and for this Parliament, when the body of the Unknown Warrior was brought back to New Zealand and lay in state here in Parliament, and then was taken on Armistice Day down to where the park will be. It was estimated that over 100,000 people lined the streets to see the body go past. It was a very moving ceremony, and it showed the depth of feeling that New Zealanders have towards those who have paid the price to ensure that we have democracy, free speech, and freedom in this country.

I want to not only say thank you to the former Prime Minister but also acknowledge that, belatedly, this Government has picked up the idea. I think it is a shame that we waited so long. Money was allocated for this park; I was Minister of Transport at the time. Along with Helen Clark, the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, we announced $10.9 million in 2007 for this park. It was then stopped after the election, and nothing happened for a long time. In fact, it was a piece of land that lay there bare, with an old fence around it, and lots of paper bags and plastic bags blowing across it. Finally, a decision was made to proceed. Well done. I am glad that it is proceeding. It will be opened in April 2015, and I hope that at that time we can all come together and commemorate what is going to be a very significant project for all New Zealanders. We strongly support this bill and look forward to its completion with as much speed as possible.

Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. I rise to take a call on the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill, which is now in its third reading. I feel like we have been speaking about it a bit lately in this House, because we have. With the speed at which this bill has gone through its first reading, through a very fast select committee process, through the second reading, through the Committee stage, and now the third reading, we have been talking about it a lot so I feel well versed in some of the issues. But I still have not heard anyone from the Government benches talk about the real reasons why we have to go through this extraordinary step of passing legislation to get a park—the extraordinary step of passing legislation to get a park. We have created parks for more than 100 years pretty well without legislation in the past, and the Greens would prefer to keep it that way.

I would like to elaborate and say, as we have said in the numerous stages of the debate, that the Green Party supports the establishment of this park. We would support it through its normal processes; we want to see it completed in time for the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings for Anzac Day commemorations in 2015. We think that as well as providing New Zealanders and our Aussie Anzac cousins who come, and our overseas visitors, a tranquil place to enjoy throughout the year, it would be an amazing way to commemorate the 100th anniversary of those landings, which some people say is when New Zealand came of age, which obviously was a significant milestone. It is also an opportunity to remember all those servicemen who have died, who are commemorated around this Chamber.

But the Green Party will not be supporting this bill in its third reading because of the process issues, because we are going through this extraordinary step of passing legislation to get a park. We do not think it is worthwhile, and we still have not heard from the Government benches—and less so from the Labour benches, as well. I do not blame them; I think they did it appropriately by announcing it in 2004, because they put money behind it. But no one on the Government side has said why they—remember, they were the Government at that time—scrapped the funding in 2009. If they were such huge supporters of the park, why did they scrap the funding? It is the question that those on the Government benches do not want to talk about, and of course they do not want to talk about it because it is embarrassing.

I agree that New Zealanders and Wellingtonians of all persuasions want to see a park. We want to see a respectful war memorial. We want to see it in time for 2015, but we do not want to see an abuse of process. I still have not heard from the Government benches why we have to pass legislation to see it by 2015. If there is such astounding goodwill amongst the community—and I acknowledge the support of the council, including the commitment of $5 million, and the support, including from the Green Party, to see the outcomes—why do we have to pass legislation? We still have a number of years before the anniversary. Let us not forget that we have known about this anniversary for 97 years. What we know is that the Government—

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: Oh, there’s always a few crazies to hold the process up. That’s why the Green Party’s in existence!

Simon Bridges is quite happy to talk in interjections about the Green Party, but he refuses to talk about why his Government scrapped the funding in 2009, why his party has to abuse the process, and why his party has to go through the extraordinary step of passing such laws. I am sure that the member, who is also a learned lawyer, would prefer to see, in respect of some of the more important pieces of legislation crowding out the Order Paper, some actual achievement there. What we are doing is passing a bill to get a park, and there is a huge opportunity cost. What this bill does, obviously, is override the Resource Management Act, the Historic Places Act, and the Public Works Act. It gives the Crown the powers, through Order in Council, essentially to do whatever it wants to get this park achieved. We are concerned about the precedent this sets for further legislation. We are concerned about the trend from this Government, which can be seen in this legislation.

Of course, the Government talks about consultation because it has to—it is a statutory obligation on many functions—but this Government does not genuinely believe in consultation, I believe. You can see it in the earthquake legislation, which has extraordinary powers of the highest degree and where the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery has extraordinary powers. We can see it in the way Government members have approached controversial transport projects. They do not want to hear from the community. They do not want to have a real conversation about what are the alternatives—how do we have smarter transport options. All they want to do is ram things through a fast-tracked Environmental Protection Agency process where people’s rights to have a say are severely constrained. The rights of appeal are virtually non-existent because people can appeal only on points of law.

But let us get to the good stuff. I would like to acknowledge the members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. I would like to thank the submitters. Both groups, we have to note, went through a very fast-tracked process. I think there was only a week between the first reading and the closing of submissions. We would like to acknowledge them and thank them, but note that it was a very fast process. We are very concerned that the trend seen in this bill is being abused by this Government and that is why we are not going to support it.

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: We haven’t done any late-night urgency in this Parliament.

Well, we are not seeing late-night urgency because we have got the—

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: I miss it.

The member Simon Bridges interjects about late-night urgency. It is because we have the support of the House to go through a new process called extended hours to deal with legislation of a non-controversial nature. Obviously this is pretty controversial, because we are not doing it in extended hours. What we know, though, is that we still have a significant number of bills on the Order Paper—important parliamentary work that we should be getting down to, but instead we are passing laws to get a park. It is absolutely extraordinary. We have known about it for 97 years. The Government refuses to talk about the real reasons why we have to go through this extraordinary step. It is because it stopped the funding.

I would like to quickly comment on the comments by the member Annette King that it would be nice to have unanimous support. We agree, it would be nice to have unanimous support. However, there was a better way to go about this: a better way that did not mean we have to set aside a number of laws; a better way that did not mean we have to give the Minister extraordinary powers to do whatever he or she wants through Order in Council. But I have got to take exception to the comment made by the member Annette King that the Greens should put aside their principles and support the bill. The one thing the Green Party will not be doing is putting aside our principles. We will never put aside our principles. To the Green Party, that is the core of why we are in this House. This is why New Zealanders voted for us in record numbers at the last election, because they want some principle in this House. They do not want the tired pragmatism, the petty point-scoring, the tribal battle across the House.

They want some principle, and the Greens will not be putting aside our principle. [Interruption] The House is riled up now, that is good. I will let the members quieten down for a second, because I would like to finish on a serious note. I would like to finish on a serious note.

I would like to finish with a comment made in today’s newspaper about this. I would like to finish with the comments of historian and journalist Dr Rachel Buchanan from today’s paper, which I think sums up exactly why the Greens are taking this principled approach. Dr Buchanan says: “Pukeahu is a subtle, powerful, significant site and this place deserves to be treated with more respect than this draconian empowering bill seems to allow.” We will continue to vote with principle, we will continue to support this park, but we will not be supporting this abuse of process. Kia ora, Mr Speaker.

That speech by Gareth Hughes was just totally inappropriate for this National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill, and it shows the level of incompetence in the Green Party. It is not a party of principle; it is merely a moon that goes round “Planet Labour”. It has achieved nothing, will never achieve anything, and will do nothing in this Parliament, because it can never, ever be part of a Government, and because its members are objectors and that is all they are.

This is a bill that has actually had real consultation and real listening between the parties involved in the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee, and I would like to thank all the parties that were on the select committee and that worked constructively together. I thank especially the members of the select committee, our Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, and also the Labour Party members for their work in this area.

This is a bill where we did have consultation and where we brought the community in. We actually changed the bill to give the community more avenues for further consultation and effectiveness in the implementation of this bill. It is good work of this Parliament, it is for a good cause, and it was done to get this project completed by the time of a very important day in our history. It is time that this Parliament supported this bill, and even the most principled approach should be one of support. Thank you.

I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First as the veterans affairs spokesperson for New Zealand First for the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill. We have spoken on this on a number of occasions in the last few days and it is very pleasing to see this come for its third reading. I have had the privilege over the years when travelling around the world to visit many very special places of commemoration to do with our loved ones who have lost their lives on behalf of New Zealand, on behalf of the Commonwealth, fighting for our country. I can recall a few years ago being in Flanders in Belgium and going to the Tyne Cot Cemetery, where so many New Zealanders are buried and where the silver fern is on so many white headstones. It is a special place where the quietness, the solitude, and the peace are really something, and it is quite an amazing experience to be there. And when you compare that to many other such memorial parks around the work in great capitals and in great cities around the world, you see that, similarly, their memorials and their cenotaphs are given a high level of respect, and are in an appropriate position, as they are in cities such as Washington, DC, London, Sydney, Canberra, and many other great cities of the world where their memorial parts are very much of significance. Just recently we were in Melbourne and were most impressed with the cenotaph in Melbourne and the wonderful large tomb there that you go into in Melbourne. The peace and serenity of the whole place was magnificent.

So here in Wellington, our capital city, it is somewhat unfortunate that our National War Memorial, our national Cenotaph, the National War Memorial Carillon, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior have a major State highway, State Highway 1, marching right across the face of them, with busy traffic noise, which is not conducive to what should be a very respected place for our nation. So this National War Memorial Park is to be completed by 2015 for the 100th commemoration of the Gallipoli situation of World War I, and it is most fitting that this is completed and that we have a National War Memorial Park with an area of green, an area of planted gardens, of trees, and of just peacefulness, so that those national memorials and the national Cenotaph do have a much better backdrop than the current roading situation.

It is very pleasing that the Australian Government is recognising the significance as well, alongside us, as our Anzac friend, and providing $5 million towards it to include an Australian memorial within the park to mark that significance between Australia and New Zealand and of how many Australian and New Zealand soldiers lost their lives at Gallipoli and in many other theatres of war.

It is unfortunate that the Green Party is not supporting this because of the process. It is understandable that the process has been pressure-cooked and steamrolled somewhat to get this done, but we cannot miss the deadline, we cannot miss 2015 for the Gallipoli commemorations, and we cannot risk there being any hold-ups on it. So in situations like this there are certain circumstances where really there should be full cross-party support to ensure that we get this completed.

Moving a major road—trenching it and undergrounding it—is no simple task, and there will be a major component in it that has to be done. They do not want to have any hiccups with it, because it would be a great shame if they did not meet the deadline and, therefore, the whole essence of getting it done by the 100th anniversary would be lost. So in that respect New Zealand First does support this. We will give it all our support and we will ensure that we lend whatever support we can to the Government and to all the other parties—to the Wellington City Council, to the RSA and Veterans Affairs—to ensure that this can be expedited in the fastest manner possible so that we will all be very proud as New Zealanders in 2015 to have a very fitting park of national standard.

But at the same time, as I mentioned in the House yesterday, we cannot just be reliant on marking the 100th year of Gallipoli, of marking the recognition of those who have fallen on behalf of this country, and of marking a significant part of our history of New Zealand without also recognising that we still have issues around veterans’ affairs here today, and tomorrow. There are still veterans in this country who are suffering as a result of going off to many of those theatres of war—going off to Korea, going off to Malaya, going off to Viet Nam, and going off to other more recent theatres of war. They have issues around their health, around their family health, and around various things that occurred to them during their time of service. So although this project is putting $12 million towards the park, and then, of course, a more significant, $70 million - odd to underground State Highway 1, that is a sizable chunk of money, and I would like to think that at the same time, while we are giving strong, multiparty, support to getting this project done, there would be increased multiparty support, and certainly significant support from Government circles, to recognise the affairs of veterans who are alive and with us today and who need a lot more support than they are currently being afforded.

In that respect, as I mentioned also yesterday, the War Pensions Act review that was carried out 2 years ago by the Law Commission made 170 recommendations for a review of various conditions for our veterans. New Zealand First would like to see much more progress, much faster progress, on that review being enacted. We are continuing to ask the Government to move on that. Many of these veterans are becoming very elderly, very sick, and their wives and families are suffering as well. Their wives and families and those around them are being affected as a result. We do have a duty of care in this Parliament and in this country to ensure that our veterans are also being well taken care of. So let us sort out the bricks and mortar of the park, sort out the bricks and mortar of the Cenotaph, the National War Memorial, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, but let us not forget the living flesh that is here today, the veterans who also similarly need that financial support and need that moral support from this Parliament to also take care of them. In closing, New Zealand First supports this bill and we welcome this third reading being completed today.

I think the place of memory is incredibly important. I was struck over the weekend, as I was joining the Scouts of Glendowie and St Heliers celebrating their 100-year anniversary, that they drew my attention towards a little water fountain that sits in St Heliers as a memorial to one of their first Scoutmasters, Guyon Brookfield, who served and died. Awareness of that memorial was being reignited, if you like, in the young people of today, and they are being made aware of it, and they were able to connect with that. It reminded me that that is just a small-scale version of what we are talking about here today: a National War Memorial to all our war dead, throughout a variety of wars, and the importance of allowing their memory to live on in our hearts and minds. I think it is very important that we come together as one House to support this bill, the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill, and I encourage our colleagues in the Green Party to support this bill. Principles are important, but principles do not exist in a vacuum. So once again I encourage the House to join in one voice to remember those who have served this country so finely.

The arguments for and against and around this piece of legislation, the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill, have been well rehearsed in the House over the last few days and weeks. We know the situation. The situation is that despite the fact that the building of the war memorial park is a commemoration of the centenary of the landings at Gallipoli, we find ourselves in a position where we do need to rush through legislation and legislate for a rushed process by which the park can be built. We know that that has come about because a vision and a plan that was started in 2004 and was in place by 2008 was brought to a halt by the current Government. We know that what is necessary is to assist the Government to get out of that difficult position it has put itself in, and to make progress towards ensuring that our veterans are appropriately honoured by having the park constructed and indeed the full National War Memorial completed in time for those centennial commemorations on 25 April 2015.

We also know that the Greens have put themselves in an interesting position of saying that they support the park and they support the concept, but are opposing the legislation. They would say that is a principled position. What sorts of principles would support not getting this park in place in time? They have not answered the question that I asked yesterday, I think it was, or the day before, about what they would do if it was up to them, if their vote was going to carry this legislation. I think that is perhaps a broader philosophical question that the Greens need to answer for themselves.

But as hard as I have been on the Greens about their position on this legislation, I also just want to take up David Bennett’s rather glossy synopsis of what this legislation is about. He said that this is an example of ideal consultation. It is not. Let us not try to make this legislation into something that it is not.

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: We don’t want to put lipstick on the pig.

Not on David Bennett’s pig, no. But what we need to acknowledge is that this is getting the Government out of a situation that it created for itself that it did not need to create. As much as Labour supports the legislation in order to ensure that the war memorial is completed on time, let us not gloss over the fact that the Government got itself into this position when it absolutely did not need to.

I want to take up a different issue related to this war memorial that has been brought to my attention over the last 2 days. That is the fact that there is a small minority of people out there who believe that a war memorial itself is an abomination, that it somehow glorifies war, and that we are somehow celebrating conflict and death through the construction of a war memorial. Nothing could be further from the truth. I challenge those people who have offered that opinion to me to attend any of the commemorations of the different conflicts that New Zealanders have been involved in over the last century. There are a number of them now. Along with other members of the House I have attended several this year. I want those people who hold that opinion to know that they are sombre occasions where the sacrifice and the service of the people who went and served our nation, many of whom did not come home, and many of whom did come home but were utterly changed by the experience, are acknowledged. It is in no way a glorification of conflict. I think of the experience of watching elderly men and women weeping in memory of their fallen comrades.

Just this week I heard the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs, Nathan Guy, mention that many of us shared some time with the veterans of Bomber Command at the war memorial this week. One of the speakers there recounted the experience of waking up some mornings to find that their room-mate’s bed had not been slept in, and that meant only one thing. That meant that their room-mate had not come home that night and that they were lost. That is an experience that was some 70 years ago now, and yet that gentleman was moved to tears. I have heard a number of veterans recount tales that are similar to that. That in no way tries to suggest that we glorify conflict. That shows the true humanity of conflict and reminds us as a nation why it is important to avoid conflict at all costs, and to seek a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the conflicts that nations might have. These days it is often not nations warring against each other; it is often non-State participants in conflict that we have to work with and deal with, and try to find solutions to the things that divide us.

So I think having a war memorial is an important component of that memory, because if we forget those conflicts, if we forget what it is like to send people to war and not have them come home again, then we are in danger of putting ourselves in that situation once again without being fully cognisant of what it is that we are doing. That is something, I know, that all New Zealanders are acutely aware of at the moment, given the fact that we have suffered the pain of losing our armed forces personnel, especially over the last 2 years in Afghanistan. So I think it is important that we complete the National War Memorial, that we do it in an appropriate way, that we do it in a way that honours our fallen and those who returned, and that we create a space that recognises all the sacrifices of war, including, I have to say, the sacrifices made by those who were conscientious objectors. Absolutely, they were people who had the right to object to war. Certainly, we can debate the merits of the different conflicts that we have sent people to over the years. But ultimately the people who go and serve, their job is not to debate the rights and wrongs of conflict; their job is to go and serve the will of their nation and serve the will of the Government of the day. I think an important aspect of this park is that there will be a space to acknowledge the conscientious objectors, and that it will be a quiet and peaceful place to reflect on the nature of sacrifice. Certainly, at the moment, the war memorial is not a quiet and peaceful place, when you are outside it with all the traffic flowing past.

There is one more thing that I think is important to acknowledge at this point, and Andrew Williams touched on this as well. There is one further way in which we need to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of our veterans, and that is to modernise the War Pensions Act 1954. It was on Tuesday, 1 June 2010, more than 2 years ago, that the Law Commission presented its report to Parliament. It is a very fulsome report—it has 170 recommendations in it—and it is understandable that the Government has taken some time to deal with that report, but 2 years is too long. The right way to honour our veterans is to ensure that we have modern, contemporary, and appropriate legislation that ensures our veterans are being taken care of appropriately, because their service is greater, and the likelihood that they are injured, or ill, as a result of their service is much greater, than it is for the general population. It is unfortunate and very, very sad that we have not been able to do more, and that this Government has not been able to do more, to honour our veterans.

So in closing we celebrate the fact that the war memorial will be completed in time to commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli landings, and we look forward to much faster action from the Government in terms of doing something real and tangible for our veterans by revamping the War Pensions Act.

In just over 2 years and some months, 25 April 2015 will be the day that our nation commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing at Anzac Cove. Both my grandfathers served there. Both, fortunately, came home, although one was wounded, and—can you believe it—was patched up and then sent to Passchendaele before coming home. At Gallipoli 103,000 New Zealanders served, 50,000 were wounded, and 18,500 made the ultimate sacrifice. At the time we had a country with a population of just over 1 million people. That was a sacrifice almost intolerable to bear.

So nearly 100 years on it is with great pride and, I guess, expectation that I support the passage of this legislation, the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill, through the House. I want to commend the work of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee and the diligent chairmanship of David Bennett, who has guided this legislation through the select committee process. I am looking forward, along with all other New Zealanders, to seeing this new memorial park built in time for the commemorations on 25 April 2015, and I commend this bill to the House with pride and expectation. Thank you.

Do the Greens want a call there? A split call—right?

💬 Hon Member: No.

OK, thank you. You can have the full 10 minutes.

Well, I do not think I need the 10 minutes. Thank you for that opportunity. I raced down to the House because I was really keen to take a call on the third reading of the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill. I have seen this, along with other members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee, through the process, and very hasty it was too. But it was a very constructive process, I have to say. It is one of those rare moments in the House when you feel good about something that we actually are voting on. It has not happened very often recently. So I am really pleased that Labour is supporting this bill, and that we are going to have as a result of it a wonderful National War Memorial Park, which will be built in time for the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli in 2015.

I have heard other members talking about their experiences of visiting Gallipoli. Well, I have not done that; I hope one day that I get over that way. But what I have done, and I mentioned it in my second reading speech, is I have visited Flanders and I have visited the sites of many of the famous battles in World War I—of Passchendaele, Ypres, and Messines. When we were in Messines, quite recently, we were told that the remains of a First World War soldier had been found—someone from the Battle of Messines. It had just happened accidentally. Contractors had been digging a ditch and they came across the remains of a soldier. That was incredible—95 years after that battle they are still finding the remains of people who fought. It has now been confirmed, since I was there, that it was a New Zealand First World War soldier who fought in the battle who has been discovered. The remains were found alongside two New Zealand infantry soldier badges in Messines, as I have said, where New Zealand troops were involved in intense fighting in World War I.

It is really poignant to think that 95 years later we are still finding the remains of soldiers who fought in those dreadful battles of World War I. I could not help thinking, now I see that it has been confirmed that he was around 25 years old, how unbelievable it must have been for the mother, being the mother of a son myself, to say goodbye to her young son and to never hear from him again—never to hear from him again. Of course, that family is no longer there and they cannot confirm the identity. The only good news about that is that he will be reburied. He will be buried alongside his comrades from the First World War, in an appropriate Commonwealth war grave. So I think that when we get to the celebration and commemoration in 2015, I will be thinking about that 25-year-old. You know, I feel close to him, because I was there when they found his remains and his body. As I said the other day, hundreds and hundreds of people lost their lives—New Zealand boys, young boys—in that battle. This New Zealand soldier will be buried with a concrete plaque that will say “Known only to God”. That is just unbelievably sad, is it not? And there are many like that—from the First World War, in particular.

So commemorating Gallipoli, Messines, Ypres, Verdun, and all of the battles that our troops were involved in in the First World War, is incredibly important, because there are family histories and there are family connections, whether or not you agree with war—and I certainly do not. I think it is a reminder for us all to pay respects to the memory of people who went to war believing that they were going to make a difference, and that it was about democracy and fighting injustice. I certainly will look forward to the memorial park celebration in April 2015. This is a wonderful park, which we have agreed among ourselves in this Parliament, apart from the concerns of the Greens, should be built. It is a place where we can contemplate the lives of people like the 25-year-old in Messines—the lives lost—but also think about peace and talk about peace. I came away from Messines and those places feeling more strongly than ever that that was an awful war and it should never happen again.

If nothing else, this National War Memorial Park will be about our determination as a nation to fight and make sure that there is never again a war of that magnitude. It was a futile war where our sons were sent away, lost to their mothers, not named, and buried in foreign graves. In many ways this memorial park will pay tribute to those who have given their lives, but who have also become a part of our history, a part of our blood, and a part of who we are as a nation. So I am really pleased to be able to support this bill in the third reading. I think, as I said, it is good. It is one of the good days in Parliament when you can celebrate or agree on something that is worthwhile and something that we all believe in. This is something that we all believe we need to do for the memory of those who have gone before. Thanks.

It is a privilege to take this last call on this very important bill, the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill. As a former serviceman, whose father, Lew Sabin, and my uncle, Lew Gibb, were also former servicemen, this bill holds a special place with me. Can I just acknowledge all current and all former servicemen, in particular, and those who have given their lives so that we have the freedoms that we enjoy today. Can I make clear the reverence that I hold, certainly this party holds, and, indeed, all New Zealanders hold for those men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Anzac Day truly does epitomise the very special place in the hearts of New Zealanders that these veterans and servicemen, and current servicemen, occupy. This bill really is about providing the mechanics to ensure that in 2015, on Anzac Day, we have an appropriate place to pay homage to those people who have laid their lives down for us, and those who have served in wars and come home, and carry those scars with them for ever.

This bill is about ensuring that we have a place to celebrate for them. The politics that have been played out today are not what is important here. Those people are special to us. This place will be special to us. They have made sacrifices, lest anyone in this House or this nation forget. I commend this bill to the House.