Special Debates — Local Issues

We come now to the debate on local issues, arranged by the Business Committee under Standing Order 80. Would some honourable member care to move that the House take note of local issues? But before I do that, it is a local issues debate. Anyone listening should be able to tick off geographically around this country, so if it sways on to broader political issues, expect some intervention from the Chair.

I move, That the House take note of local issues. What better place to start a local issues debate than focusing on the beautiful Coromandel. At this time of year, as the beautiful pōhutukawa flower begins to emerge on the Thames coast, New Zealanders turn their minds to their summer holidays. They turn their minds to sand and surf and sunshine, and, of course, whenever they do that, first comes to mind the beautiful Coromandel. But before they get a chance to come to the beautiful Coromandel, there is a little bit of work that needs to be done on our roads.

Over the last couple of weeks, some of the local Coromandel people have been severely inconvenienced, but for a good cause. On the Thames Coast Road just north of a beautiful little township called Tapu—Simon Court knows the pub there well—there has been a bridge called the Boundary Creek Bridge. Now, that meant a new bridge needed to be put in. So the good folk at the New Zealand Transport Authority and their contractors had to close the Thames Coast Road for nearly two weeks. What that meant was a degree of inconvenience for the local people, because it’s quite a long detour around the other side of the peninsula for those folk. But we know in the Coromandel that that was important infrastructural work to be done ahead of the summer break.

Then, this very day, on the other side of the peninsula on what is referred to as State Highway 25A, between Kōpū and Hikuai, that road is currently closed, also, during daylight hours from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. for remedial work to be done on that piece of road, as well. So notwithstanding the inconvenience to local road users, we know that that important work needs to be done ahead of the massive influx of visitors that we will be receiving in the coming weeks and months as we delight at the prospect of a glorious summer of sand, surf, and sunshine in the Coromandel.

Another piece of important infrastructure has been returned to the Coromandel, and that is a piece of infrastructure that involves a ferry service from downtown Auckland into Coromandel Harbour. Now, we’ve been without a ferry service to the Coromandel for a number of years, so to have this service back available, which enables people to go from the ferry terminal, the ferry buildings in downtown Auckland, direct into Coromandel Harbour at Hannaford’s Wharf, is a great delight and it’s been very much welcomed by local Coromandel people. It’s not just the good folk of Coromandel town who benefit from a ferry service like that but, indeed, the whole peninsula. So they have an opportunity to come and visit all the delights of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Let’s talk about what some of those delights are. Let’s start with Coromandel. It’s a place where nature has gone all out on beauty, and we all know that, because when New Zealanders think of the Coromandel they have positive thoughts about not only the quality of parliamentary representation but about the region, the area, the beautiful bush, the white beaches, the sand, and all that goes with a holiday in that beautiful part of the world. Think of Cathedral Cove, where work has been done by the Department of Conservation and others to ensure that that track, which had been closed for a long time since the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, is now open again. That is another very favourite tourist spot for so many—not only local domestic tourists but international visitors, as well.

And then, close by, is the famous and wonderful Hot Water Beach, where people can literally go and dig a hole in the sand at low tide and sit in their own spa pool—and people do it. I’ve not visited there at 2 o’clock in the morning, but I’m told that if it’s low tide over summer, at 2 in the morning there are people sitting in beautifully dug sand Jacuzzis in the beautiful Coromandel.

And then, think about the forest walks, the waterfalls, the beautiful bush setting, the magnificent kauri trees that are there for us all to enjoy, but, also, wonderful creative folk in the peninsula and around the area, as well. It would be remiss of me not to mention the southern part of the electorate, Katikati and Ōmokoroa, a horticultural hub, with murals, beautiful artistic areas, and lovely cultural events, as well.

Because this is a split call with my colleague Suze Redmayne, I’m going to conclude by inviting not only parliamentary colleagues to come to the beautiful Coromandel this summer but all New Zealanders. Do come and pay us a visit. You’ll be welcomed with open arms, and we will be delighted to have you spend time but, more importantly, money in the beautiful Coromandel.

Suze Redmayne—five minutes.

I’d like to share my fantastic morning. Dr Shane Reti and I—our fantastic Minister for Universities and Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology—went to Palmerston North today to the opening of Ngā Huia, Massey University’s newest addition to the vet school. Tāwharau Ora, it’s called. We got a wonderful welcome from Rangitāne and also an outstanding waiata—a series of waiata—from the students at Manukura School. It was a great start to the day. Ngā Huia is the third and final major development in Massey University’s 10-year plan to upgrade their vet science buildings. They’ve come a long way since 1963, when the inaugural class of 32 students began their studies in an old building and World War II army mess huts.

The vet school is the only one in New Zealand that’s earned respect and high accreditation internationally. It was ranked first in Australasia—in fact, first in the Southern Hemisphere recently in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. It’s ranked among the top 20 in the world. It was absolutely brilliant to tour the first-class facilities today with Vice-Chancellor Jan Thomas and Professor Jon Huxley. All of the 120 students a year in the group will reap the benefits of these new facilities. Simply outstanding. Laboratories, specialist equipment—it’s glass, stainless steel, shiny and new machinery, even an array of life-sized animal simulators to test and train our future vets.

Of course, as well as celebrating the magnificent building, I want to acknowledge the skills and commitment of the staff and students—they’re the heart and soul of the vet school—and the contribution they make to New Zealand and especially to our rural and provincial economy. They’re a part of the engine room of New Zealand and they deserve to be celebrated. Just before we left, it was brilliant to see the fifth-year students having just sat their last exam. I wish them all well in their future endeavours.

I also want to take this opportunity to talk about the devastating fire which broke out in Tongariro National Park last Saturday. It has wreaked havoc across 2,800 hectares of this really important part of our country. It was a privilege to spend some time up at the Central Plateau Emergency Management Centre on Sunday along with my colleagues, Ministers Mark Mitchell, Tama Potaka, and our member of Parliament for Whanganui, Carl Bates.

The centre was the hub of the multi-agency and community response being led by Fire and Emergency New Zealand to fight the fires. Together, with the National Emergency Management Agency, Department of Conservation (DOC), the Ruapehu District Council, New Zealand Police, iwi from across the region, and local volunteers, they worked incredibly hard to protect our people and our park. Thirty-five fire crews were operating at the peak: 15 helicopters, five fixed-wing aircraft. They evacuated 120 people, tourists and locals alike, from the mountain.

I was fortunate to have an opportunity to fly over the area with Minister Potaka, which put into perspective the mammoth task. We were watching helicopters filling up their monsoon buckets by dropping into creeks in the bottom of a ravine and then dumping it on to the flames. You could kind of compare it to running from your kitchen out to the garden with a teacup of water at a time trying to put out a bonfire. But these magnificent humans did it. With the help of a timely downpour of rain, they managed to first contain it and then put it out. They also managed to protect a DOC hut and the majestic Pou Whenua Te Ririō, which stands at the entrance to Tongariro National Park. Our beloved Chateau Tongariro escaped the flames. It took a village and the rain to put it out, and it will take a village to restore our park to her former glory.

Of course, as well as the devastating impact on the physical landscape, there’s also a significant economic impact to consider, as well. Our tourism and transport operators, hotel and motel owners, restaurateurs, cafe owners who rely on visitors coming to walk the popular Tongariro Alpine Crossing, the Maungatapu Track, and also the Tongariro Northern Circuit—they’re going to be hurting right now, too. Control of the park has now been handed back to DOC, and I know Minister Potaka is relentlessly focused on restoring the flora, fauna, biodiversity, and economic prosperity of our most famous National Park in the mighty Rangitīkei—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O’Connor): The member’s time has expired. Five-minute call, the Hon Carmel Sepuloni.

I stand here today proudly as the member of Parliament for the Kelston electorate. As well as that, I’m a former elected board of trustees member for Kelston Boys’ High School, the parent of a son who has already gone through Kelston Boys’, and the parent of a son who will start his secondary schooling there next year. This school has an outstanding record of achievement. In front of me right now, I have the list of alumni, many of them sportspeople—rugby, rugby league, basketball, soccer, wrestling—many of them with academic backgrounds, many from the business community, from the arts community, and even a few politicians, including my colleague across the House, the Hon Chris Penk.

We have seen how fiercely protective the Kelston community is—how loyal they are, and how incredibly resilient they are—especially in recent weeks, when it was made public that there has been an attempted charter school takeover. The outrage that the community have felt has been evident across social media and in the media. The idea that a trust who do not have the qualifications or credibility to take over a State school and turn it into a charter school is very evident when you just go through the Kelston community or look at any of the social media pages or the media that has been put around it. This is such a clear example of how and why David Seymour’s charter schools model is dangerous, and there are a number of things that we need to point out with regards to what has gone on in this particular instance.

This school has been put under relentless pressure for at least a year. This school has had incorrect information put out there publicly about them, including information about their academic achievement and their roll. They have relentless pressure put on the school in the form of a trust who is attempting to get people elected to the board of trustees so they could effectively take over a State school and turn it into a charter school. That trust was demanding the contact details of the parents of the children at that school so that they could lobby the parents to try and get elected to the board of trustees. This is a State school that has been targeted by, as I said, a trust that lacks credibility and qualification, but this has been allowed to happen because of the David Seymour charter school model, where they have, effectively, set a target for 15 State school conversions to charter schools under their watch. Now, we can imagine that this is not the only school that is going to experience similar pressure, and it’s important that we look at this example so that we can anticipate what could happen across the country.

Alongside the pressure that they have had put on them by the charter schools model set up by that Government, they’ve also had to endure the very messy David Seymour - led lunches in schools programme. Alongside hundreds of other schools, they are also enduring a failed curriculum and qualification change process where they have barely been consulted. Alongside this, and alongside hundreds of other schools, they have been forced to take strike action because of the fact that this Government does not want to meet what are fair pay and working conditions.

I cannot understand why Chris Luxon and Erica Stanford have allowed David Seymour to have so much power in the education portfolio. A man who leads a party who got, what, 8 percent at the last election is making decisions for our children, and he is simply not qualified or equipped to be making any of those decisions. It extends beyond even what the secondary schools are experiencing; it goes to the changes that he has been making in early childhood education—

Simon Court: Point of order, Mr Speaker. Thank you. I didn’t want to interrupt the member, but your direction at the start of the debate was very clear—to stick to local issues and not to stray from them.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O’Connor): Yes, and, if the member had been listening, there was often reference to Kelston Boys’ High School. I’ve written down how many references, actually, so there was sufficient reference locally. Anyone watching would know where Kelston was. That’s the test. Carry on.

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: This Kelston community is hell-bent on ensuring that this charter school conversion does not go ahead, and believe you me, you do not want to test the Kelston community. Let me just add that it’s not just the community; it is the teachers, it is the board of trustees, and it is the students who are coming out strongly, and this should simply not go ahead.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Kiwis expect a decent public health system, and Westies are no different. In West Auckland, we love our hospital on Lincoln Road; the staff are great, they do their best—but it makes Westies so mad that our hospital is so badly underfunded and understaffed. Patients are waiting too long to get the care that they deserve, because the nurses are too busy to get to them. And why is that? Because this National-led coalition Government is underfunding and understaffing the public health system. The numbers don’t lie. Between January 2024 and June 2025, documents released under the Official Information Act show that 71 percent of all shifts at Waitakere Hospital were understaffed. Three of the wards in the hospital—two of the general medical wards and the maternity suite—were understaffed for one-third of all shifts in that 18-month period. The Huia Ward, a 20-bed acute unit that caters for a range of acute medical and cardiac patients, was understaffed for nearly half of all the shifts in that period. Across the board, these numbers show that Waitakere Hospital has been running short by 20 nurses—20 nurses down on the number needed to deliver the official and agreed safe staffing levels.

It’s a simple equation: underfunding leads to understaffing, and that leads to people not getting the care that they deserve when they need it. Scott, of Te Atatū Peninsula, told me that he turned up at Waitakere Hospital at 4 a.m., on the advice of his doctor, after he started bleeding profusely a week after surgery on his nose. He was admitted but then spent six hours on a bed on wheels in the middle of the emergency room with people working all around him. They told him there was nowhere else to put him, and in all that time, he never got to see a doctor. Judy, another of my constituents, gave birth to a baby girl back in May. Due to some complications, Judy was booked in for a caesarean section at Waitakere Hospital. When the big day came along, it was all go, the contractions were happening, and, suddenly, the clinical staff told Judy that she had to go to North Shore Hospital because there was a lack of experienced staff at Waitakere. Judy also felt let down after the baby was born. She had to go all the way to Warkworth because Waitakere Hospital doesn’t yet have birthing units. West Auckland new mums have to go to Helensville and Warkworth to use their post-natal care birthing centres. In Judy’s words, “It’s woeful.” Craig of Swanson told me he went to Waitakere Hospital a couple of months ago with a broken collarbone. He waited two hours before he was admitted, had an X-ray, and was then told they couldn’t deal with it and he’d have to go to North Shore Hospital. His wife drove him there, and he had to wait three hours before being sent home without seeing a doctor and being told the hospital was overloaded.

These stories are not uncommon, but they are not good enough. Our healthcare workers are exhausted. Is it any wonder they’re leaving in droves for Australia, where they have minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and much better terms and conditions? These people became healthcare workers because they wanted to help people and give people the care that they need, not risk their suffering because of a lack of staff. The people of West Auckland demand a decent public health system that’s there for them when they need it. This Government has made bad decisions and has the wrong priorities. It’s given tax cuts to landlords and property speculators and tobacco companies while it underfunds and understaffs our hospitals. The people that I represent, in West Auckland, demand better.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. There will be no surprise that I rise to speak about our beautiful city Te Whanganui-a-Tara, but particularly the wonderful part of it that is known as the Rongotai electorate, the electorate where I was elected as the MP at the last election.

Wellington is a beautiful city. It is a compact city. It rates high on global surveys of livability, partially because it’s easy to walk and cycle and take public transport. That’s why it has one of the lowest car ownership rates in the entire country. That means Wellingtonians can have a better quality of life, because they aren’t sitting in traffic as long and they aren’t spending as much money—thousands of dollars a year—on owning a car.

Now, 30 percent of the city is covered in greenery, and we’re surrounded by our absolutely phenomenally gorgeous coast. Rongotai means “sound of the sea” or “feel of the tide”. Like so many others, I absolutely love and feel a deep connection to our moana here.

The most bizarre thing to me is that we have recently learnt the anticipated cost of the Government’s priority transport projects here in Wellington, which is right between our Green electorate of Wellington Central and the Green electorate of Rongotai. The Mount Victoria Tunnel projects are now estimated to cost $3.8 billion—that’s $3,800 million. This is an eye-wateringly high amount of money for projects which will do nothing to actually make it easier for people to get around the city.

The Greens would like to see a much more constructive approach that actually takes into account the needs of the local people. This is clearly only a priority for this Government because Government Ministers and backbench MPs get picked up by their Crown limos and their taxis at the airport and get driven to Parliament, and they mistakenly believe that somehow adding less than 2 kilometres of one extra car lane in each direction with seven stop lights in between at a cost of $3.8 billion is going to save time for anyone. It’s outrageous.

Just to help people get their head around the numbers, I have brought some visual aids. [Holds up graph] So this goes back to the year 2000 and it shows some of the cost per kilometre of different motorway projects. A lot of them are projects that we would think of as being extremely expensive. Don’t worry, I’ll send this to members opposite.

One thing you can see that really stands out in this graph is the Waterview Tunnel. The Waterview Tunnel was significantly more expensive per kilometre because it is a tunnel in an urban area. But let’s look at what’s happened with the 2025 investment cases for the new roads of national significance, because of all the projects that have been announced, the Wellington ones are the most expensive per kilometre by far—far more expensive than Petone to Grenada, the Hope Bypass, Mill Road, even, or Warkworth to Wellsford. These are all extremely expensive projects. But if we compare it on a per-kilometre basis, then you see how much more expensive is.

Now, I really have to go back and show you the whole thing in context, because this is the cost per kilometre of motorways. This is the Waterview Tunnel, which is three lanes in each direction. Then over here are the Wellington roads of national significance. I mean, it’s incredibly, incredibly expensive.

Members opposite can sit there and make their jibes and their pathetic little calls out to me to try and get me upset, but it’s embarrassing for them—embarrassing for them—because they’re the ones who are telling New Zealanders they can’t afford healthcare services, that we can’t afford hospitals, that we have to sell public assets, and that somehow it’s unaffordable to pay nurses, teachers, and firefighters what they deserve, to get firefighters the appliances that they need to fight fires, but they can afford to spend $3.8 billion on less than 2 kilometres of one car lane in each direction in the centre of Wellington, the place where people clearly want other options. We know that because Government parties got less than 26 percent of the vote combined. There is no mandate for this project in Wellington. The Greens alone got 50 percent more party votes than the National Party.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I am pleased to speak tonight in this debate on local issues on behalf of the people that I represent and those like them, from Point Chevalier to the Tamaki River—those residents of the Auckland isthmus who have an interest in Plan Change 120 being imposed by Auckland Council today.

I want to start by saying that it comes from a good place. For too long, the promise of New Zealand has not been kept to younger people. There are too many people who ask the question, “Why should I support a property-owning democracy when I see no pathway to property ownership myself?” And the problem is that we have made it too hard to build a home in one of the most sparsely populated and beautiful countries on earth. That much is true.

But the solution, which is a hangover from the previous Government, of increasing the zoned capacity in and of itself is only part of the solution. We need to ensure that we improve the infrastructure supply, the building supply, and, also, the timeliness of consenting in order that people can actually build the homes that they need in our beautiful city.

Simply zoning more property to go up higher and faster is not in itself going to make housing available to the next generation. That’s why I support the Government’s policy of asking Auckland Council to provide 2 million more dwellings. But I equally ask our Government to listen to people, particularly in Auckland, and particularly in the isthmus: how can they consider the possibility—just the chance—that maybe that 2 million number is too high? That is what people are starting to ask themselves in the area of Auckland that I represent.

It may be that people who go down to the waterfront in Judges Bay or Hobson Bay or out in the inner west see the signs saying, “Don’t swim today because there is sewage on the beach.” It may be that people who are worried about the heritage of their communities, or who saw the sinkhole when a 100-year-old brick sewer collapsed due to intensification, have a point when they say that we’re not going to solve the challenge of making housing abundant by simply zoning overstressed areas to intensify beyond what the market will demand anyway. It may be that Auckland Council needs to think carefully about development in the north-west, about greenfield land, about opening up land and planning infrastructure in areas where there is market demand for the type of housing available, rather than zoning more of the housing that people don’t want.

I’ll give you a perfect example. Near where I live on Manukau Road, you’ve got the best bus service in the country, you’ve got Cornwall Park, you’ve got Newmarket, and you’ve got the best schools—not in the country; in the world, actually. It’s a great place to live, but can a developer take a section that’s developed to go to four storeys and build 28 apartments on it? No. Commercially, that fails, and you can see commercial failures all up and down Manukau Road despite the intense zoning.

What that tells you is that the market demand is not in place for what Auckland Council is trying to impose through Plan Change 120. What that tells you is that people who are giving their feedback to Plan Change 120 have a point—that the plan needs to be changed to spread out, and that perhaps, our Government will be listening to those people and saying that 2 million notional units in Auckland is asking too much too soon from a city that wants sensible planning and coordination of infrastructure and development so the next generation can have a shot at a ladder of opportunity to own their own place in a property-owning democracy—but done much smarter than is being done now.

It might be as simple as saying that we want, perhaps, two-thirds of 2 million homes under law. If we were to make a law like that, I think the people that I represent would be much, much happier. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, thank you. As a list MP, I see my constituency as being from Cape Reinga to somewhere south of Stewart Island. I get the privilege—

DEPUTY SPEAKER: Well, that’s fairly local.

ANDY FOSTER: —of meeting lots—it’s very local—of wonderful people all over our beautiful country. Often, it’s wonderful to be able to help out some of those at a community or organisational level.

Jamie Arbuckle here and I both visited the Upper Selwyn Huts just South of Christchurch last June. It’s located next to the Selwyn River just south of Christchurch, a short distance from Lake Ellesmere. It’s a beautiful settlement of just under 100 houses—a place and a community to fall in love with; a place where everybody knows and supports each other, the way I imagine New Zealand used to be.

It’s sited on a Crown reserve and managed as a local purpose reserve by the Selwyn District Council as a hut settlement. But the whole settlement, at that stage, was under threat of eviction by their own council. That settlement first began as a fishing village established by the people of Christchurch for fishing. The first fishing box there was in 1888, and it became a reserve in 1895 dedicated for fishing huts. It became a popular holiday spot—built tennis courts and lots of infrastructure; people started over time to live there, albeit for short periods.

What I was drawing on there is that the fishing was so good that in March 1927, the future King George IV and Queen Elizabeth fished—cast a line. The Christchurch Star reported then, “His Royal Highness arrived at the Selwyn Huts at 1.30 p.m., remained there fishing until 6.00 p.m.” So he obviously spent a lot of time there, and it’s understood that though he did not meet with any degree of fortune—I understand that as a failed fisherman—he thoroughly enjoyed the outing.

The community held picnics, sports days, gala days, bonfires, fireworks, concerts, fancy dress racing, rowing, racing, and so on. The huts became baches and by the 1940s there was a shop, tea rooms, and regular deliveries of meat, vegetables, and even a community library. It increasingly became a place to stay for extended periods, which was accentuated after the Canterbury earthquakes. Now, most of those are homes which are permanently occupied.

But in 2019, the Selwyn Council determined that it issue only short-term leases and then require the whole settlement to be removed because the waste-water system was at the end of its life. Jamie and I were asked to visit because the council had published a paper in March of 2024 with no engagement whatsoever with the Huts community that simply adhered to the 2019 decision that says, “You’ve got to go.”, even though the council had fixed or was fixing the waste-water system and the reason for removing them no longer existed. The council decided to issue some pretty Draconian deeds of licence and said, “You’ve got five years. We might give you another couple of five years, and then you are gone.” Now, the reason they gave—not waste water—was the potential risk to the settlement from sea-level rise.

So I wrote, after our visit, at length to the council and challenged them on multiple issues. I said that their reason for removing the settlement had changed, but they hadn’t really looked at whether the removal was still justified at all. They’d been unduly certain about the degree of sea-level rise, they based their position on the most extreme possibilities, and they were acting prematurely to terminate the leases well before there was any risk of sea-level rise impacting on the settlement. They used 100-year projections but said, “We’ve got to get rid of you in 15 years.”

Their own consultants on the matter, on the issue of sea-level rise, concluded that even the most severe flooding event recorded did not result in any inundation of the settlement. The consultants said the main message from this report is that climate futures are highly dependent on emissions scenarios and, therefore, highly uncertain. I proposed to them that they considered triggers, as their near neighbours at Hurunui were doing with the Amberley Beach community.

They’d also failed in their self-acknowledged—and this was the council that self-acknowledged—legislative obligation to protect the welfare and interests of the hut owners and residents. The council itself said there were many vulnerable people resident in the Huts settlement and it expected evicted residents would likely end up on the wait-list for Kāinga Ora or the like. Several residents told us that their limited life savings were wholly tied up in their homes at Upper Selwyn Huts.

When the council then said that the Government was not investing enough in social housing in the Selwyn district, it made their argument look pretty fragile. They’d also mischaracterised the consultation as merely of medium significance, even though they were proposing to take people’s homes away. I said, “I think that constitutes high significance under their own significant policy and the consultation requirements of the Local Government Act.” Their officers also misrepresented the Reserves Act maximum lease term in the council paper, and they failed to tell the councillors about the ability to renew the leases.

Long story short, the council acknowledged that it had got its processes badly wrong. They paused their processes the following month, agreed to engage with the Upper Selwyn Huts community, engaged an independent consultant, and there was ongoing consultation for the next wee while. Eventually, that consultation concluded with a full day of oral hearings in August this year, which I joined by Zoom—would have loved to be there, but I had to be in hospital that day. By that stage, the council’s reason for eviction had again completely changed; it was now fire safety. The residents told story after story about their connection to the place and the councillors would have had hearts of stone not to be moved. I had the privilege of summing up and the council moved 180 degrees. That community is now there, and it has the right to stay there.

Dr Hamish Campbell: Madam Speaker.

ANDY FOSTER: We had the pleasure of joining for the 130 years celebration, knowing they would still be there—

DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member’s pushing the time.

ANDY FOSTER: —for 130 years to go. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s really appropriate that I rise to speak in this local debate on the eve of Canterbury Anniversary Day, a day when we celebrate 175 years of everything Canterbury, everything red and black. Make sure you don’t forget the black, because we wouldn’t be seen dead in red. A lot of us will be celebrating tomorrow at the Christchurch A&P show—actually, it’s the new Royal A&P Show of New Zealand—and it’s going to be great.

Many great things have come out of Canterbury and Christchurch over the last 175 years—

Rima Nakhle: Like Dr Hamish Campbell.

Dr HAMISH CAMPBELL: —including myself. I ask a question as I stand here: what do London, San Francisco, and Christchurch all have in common? Well, I will tell you. They’re all cities that have faced devastation, have not only survived, but have come back stronger, bolder, and ready to thrive in the future.

Christchurch, of course, has answered “What sort of place do we want to become?” by saying that we want to be a place with vision and with courage. We have redefined ourselves as a city where traditional meets transformational. We have historical landmarks, and some of these do continue to provide discussion—whether it be the Canterbury Museum or our cathedral—but there are other great buildings, like the stadium, Te Pae, the Court Theatre, and the Youth Hub, which all offer bold responses and fresh opportunities.

Tourism is thriving in Christchurch. Christchurch Airport is preparing for its busiest ever summer season, with international capacity climbing 15 percent above last year and surpassing pre-COVID levels. I do want to acknowledge our outstanding Minister for Tourism and Hospitality or her tireless work to enhance tourism across the country. Just this morning, she welcomed official statistics showing continued growth in overseas visitor numbers. Of course, we’ve had the Tourism Boost package developed in partnership with industry, we’ve had the $7 million events and tourism investment package, and this is all leading to great, great outcomes for Christchurch.

It’s not just tourists that are choosing Christchurch city; our city now has the highest rate of domestic migration in the country—a clear sign that New Zealanders are choosing to work, to study, and to live in Christchurch. This influx of talent and energy is strengthening our workforce and fuelling innovation.

Of course, Christchurch is also the city of choice for students. Enrolment at the University of Canterbury, which sits right in the middle of my electorate of Ilam, has surged to about 25,000 students this year, an all-time high for the third year running and a 12 percent increase on 2024. Of course, further growth is expected next year. I’ll make a quick shout-out to the students. They’re starting their summer break, having finished their exams. Ilam will be a little bit quieter without them, I won’t deny, but we are looking forward to having them back next year. Also, I want to acknowledge one of those students, Lachlan Rountree, who has helped in my Ilam office very capably. I wish him well for his future endeavours.

It’s not just our university students that we’re sending off. We also sent Kevin the giraffe from Orana Park up to Hamilton Zoo. I understand transporting a giraffe is no small feat. There’s a lot of—

DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ryan Hamilton will be very happy.

Dr HAMISH CAMPBELL: Yeah. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be a breeding programme. All the giraffes in the Hamilton Zoo are males, but maybe future breeding programmes will benefit.

Not many electorates can claim to have an international airport, a world-leading university, and giraffes and other wildlife, but I digress. Christchurch is leading the way. A recent Business Canterbury report shows that 64 percent of businesses expect the economy to strengthen over the next year, the majority of businesses plan to hire more staff, the majority of businesses intend to invest in plant or equipment, and 79 percent are confident in their ability to manage disruption.

Innovation is another major driving force in Christchurch, and I want to acknowledge the opinion piece in the Press yesterday by Nathan Beaumont, talking about Christchurch. He said, “Across this region, businesses are doing extraordinary things. They’re the engine of the South Island—creating jobs, developing world-leading technology, and strengthening New Zealand’s reputation overseas.” Of course, the university has long been a source of world-class ideas, and, now, our Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology has just unleashed a new intellectual property policy that will empower researchers to take that even further. Christchurch is the place to be. I’m looking forward to a great, great show.

Thank you. I want to give a very different kind of advocacy today—from the electorate of Mt Albert, with regard to the plans to build more houses—from the one that was given by the Hon David Seymour. I want to do it, first, by talking about why we need those houses; why they need to be where, actually, it was planned they would be. The first reason I want to give is one where I’d actually refer people to a book called Abundance by Ezra Klein, which makes a really compelling case for the link between not having enough affordable housing in a city and issues like homelessness. There’s a direct correlation, and it is incredibly important that we look at this differently. We need to break through a block that we have had around affordable housing, and it needs to be close to our city, because we need our city to thrive. It needs to be a livable city. It needs to be one where we don’t all take our cars everywhere.

My solution, today, is not to send every new home buyer out to Drury. That is, unfortunately, the message that we heard from David Seymour. He talks a big game, but he’s actually protecting an interest that is very wary of this. It is very wary because it’s actually really nice to live in suburbs full of beautiful houses, close to the city, without many people there. I’m lucky enough to be one of those people. I’m in one of those communities. But what we miss out on, even from our point of view, is our kids moving into those areas. Our kids don’t, because they can’t afford to. I have two daughters and a son. One daughter will go and live in Nelson, because that’s affordable if you’re going to be a teacher. Another one is in Sydney, and it’s really hard to see how she will come home and, if she does, how she will come home and live near me. It undermines my quality of life, too, if she doesn’t get to live close.

This is a really interesting scheme that’s come up. It’s not easy for people in my community to look at it without some fear. There are good reasons to have some fears and to participate in the submission process that’s coming up, to make sure that we get it right. While it has been a long time, it is now a bit of a rush, and the risk of that is that we actually don’t get it right, we don’t engage in the process, we rush the plans, and we make mistakes. This is an area that has been subject to issues like stormwater issues. There was a big issue in the floods. It’s important that the buildings are quality, that we engage our creative powers, and that the people in those suburbs really get stuck in and improve those plans. It is also important we don’t chuck out the baby with the bathwater, because this is a powerful step in creating an inclusive community, if we get it right. There are some beautiful examples. We’ve got a subway that’s going to come right into the area. It’s going to be eight minutes to town. It’s going to be amazing to have a fast train that is eight minutes to town, and it’s going to make a big difference to how that suburb thrives. It’s going to be really important that there are advocates in there fighting for the Government to spend money to actually make sure that things like the rail happens fast, and that there’s grade separation at schools, where the traffic can still flow and the public can still use those places. That’s really important.

What was really a little bit shocking about the Hon David Seymour’s speech was it was like he was distancing himself from this process, when this is the Government’s policy. This is actually a Government policy, and he is, actually, in the Government. He’s the Deputy Prime Minister, so it’s, actually, not something that he can distance himself from or that he should be distancing himself from. That is not appropriate. It’s really important that we fight for what we need in our suburbs and make sure that we get it right, but it’s also important we remember all the generations that live in those suburbs and make sure that they end up being quality communities. I intend to do that. I’ve got a public meeting on this issue very shortly—I think it’s in two weeks. It would be great to see people there. We will make sure people are well served and they can do a good submission. Thank you.

Hello, Madam Speaker. I really enjoyed hearing about Coromandel and Rangitīkei and Christchurch. There were some nice, positive local speeches about the great places we come from around this country, and I intend to talk about the great places I come from like, like Horowhenua and Kāpiti.

I can’t help but notice the contrast on the other side of the House; just the miserable approach that we’ve heard towards a fun and positive local debate. I really wish all people would enter into it with the same spirit, and it’s not too late. There’s one speech left.

Hon Julie Anne Genter: I said some positive things.

TIM COSTLEY: Oh, the lady doth protest too much right now, while she’s cancelling tunnels and roads, just like the one that got cancelled in Levin. People still remember that, back in 2018 when Labour cancelled it and then Julie Anne Genter said, “Well, you can only have two lanes. One is for buses and public transport.”—there is no public transport, of course. But people are driving on those roads now, up Transmission Gully, through the Kāpiti Coast. They’ll be driving to spend their summer there. I know some people are arguing for Coromandel, but I would say they should come to the Kāpiti Coast and Horowhenua—what a place to come to to spend your summer.

The strawberries are already out. The beaches are heating up. It is, I would argue, the best place to spend your summer in New Zealand—and talking of things like strawberries, they are award-winning. I think of Lewis Farms that took out a Wellington Gold Award this year with their strawberries. Shirley’s Strawberries—also great. I wouldn’t be picking favourites.

You can spend a night on Kāpiti Island with the guys at Kapiti Island Nature Tours. They just won one of our local business awards. You could check out our amazing food and beverage sector, something I’m really proud of. I think it’s fantastic. You can drive from Foxton Fizz down to Whittaker’s for chocolate, and everywhere in between. What a fantastic region to come to.

It’s so good that I’ve run events, and I’m running another one in March in Parliament to celebrate our amazing food and beverage sector that comes out of this region. This time we’re doing it in summer so that those strawberries will be in season. I know some people love asparagus. I’m not such a fan, but some people love it.

What a place to come to and what an area for growth in New Zealand. Some MPs come from places like Dunedin and St Clair Beach; Katie Nimon is from over in Napier, which has Marine Parade—terrible beaches. Can we just acknowledge that these are terrible beaches? They’re popular. I don’t know why. If you go to St Clair, it’s a concrete wall into rocks in the ocean, yet people want to flock there. Come to Paraparaumu where there’s a nice open beach. It’s safe. You can go to Raumati. Every now and then there are a few people in the region we’re not so keen on, but it’s a great place to come. Check out the new surf life-saving club at Waitārere—I was referring to Chris Hipkins—or at Paekākāriki. Matt and Karen have done an absolutely stunning job fund-raising and running that project. Homestead Construction from Levin have built it, and it is something we should be proud of. It is exactly the kind of thing we need.

There are some big ideas for growth. There’s an idea for a gondola on the hills, overlooking the sea; a marina—big things, and why shouldn’t we have them in our region of Kāpiti? It is a fantastic place. It is, I would argue, the only place in New Zealand you can have the authentic mountain-to-sea experience. You can be in the heart of the Tararua Ranges and then, an hour later, you can be in the Tasman Sea. What a great place to come and do that.

Things to attract people in are what our region needs. It’s great to see the growth that’s already happening. In just a week, Rebound will be opening—Rebound Playland & Trampoline Park. This is the new trampoline park and indoor play centre. I put up a little photo on Facebook. It went bananas.

But the other thing opening is Golf for Good, and I want to just take a minute to shout out to Golf for Good. This is the new mini golf course, and you say, “Oh yeah, we’ve had mini golf courses before.” This one is pretty unique. This is a combined project of the local Lions and Rotary clubs. I think it sends a really special message when you see Lions and Rotary working together. I do actually just want to make a special mention of Alistair Beissel, who has chaired this committee; of Vic Hewson, Mal Bird, and Anthony Clouston from the Rotary Club. They’ll be starting their meeting in 10 minutes’ time on a Thursday night. And from the Kāpiti Combined Lions, I want to mention Rex Bullard, who’s done a great job with sponsors Tony Lester, Murray Pringle, and Alan Gibbs. They have done a fantastic job. Not only that but they give these sponsors tickets, family passes, to hand out. They donate them to, say, the local scout group who then raffle them off for auction—you know, hand them out. That generates money directly into these local clubs.

But then everyone that comes to play on the mini golf course also raises money for the local community. This is exactly the kind of thing we do when our community is at its best, our country is at its best, and what better community in this country than Horowhenua, than the Whitby area, and in particular, I have to shout out to the Kāpiti Coast.

Speakers don’t normally inject themselves into the debate, but if they did, you might hear about Raglan occasionally. I call Greg Bennett—Glen Bennett, sorry.

That’ll do. Being accused of being negative on this side of the House—it’s not by choice or for fun. It’s the reality that we have to speak up in these local debates about local issues. They’re important. It’s not this Pollyanna, just, “Life is wonderful and everything is fine.”—

Tim Costley: Cheer up.

GLEN BENNETT: —as we as we tiptoe and we’re told to cheer up, because I want to talk about homelessness in Taranaki and, particularly, homelessness in New Plymouth.

When you say, “Cheer up.” or “Let’s stop being negative.”, it’s not about being negative. These local issues debates are about shining a light on the challenges and on the things that are going on with our local communities. I’m saddened and broken by the fact that in Taranaki, over the last 18 months—or less than, actually—there has been a 250 percent rise in homelessness—a 250 percent rise in homelessness. That is why we get called negative or for us to cheer up, but the reality is we are here standing in this Chamber to fight for the people who are homeless, to fight for the people who are voiceless. I am here to speak about that this afternoon.

We look at the challenges—and there is many a challenge when it comes to homelessness and why people end up in homelessness, but it definitely is around rising rentals. It’s definitely around the challenges in the economy. It’s definitely around job losses. It’s also about traumatic events and things that go on in people’s lives, but it is also about choices that are made by people in this House and by the Government.

When we look at the housing plan and the State housing initiatives that were in place, there were a number of them. We had more than 600 applications on the social housing wait-list in Taranaki—over 600. They are not individuals; they are families and people in need. They are generations of people and we need to do something to change the state of our housing here in Taranaki and around the country.

I look at the initiatives that were in place and were under way. I look at the 44 units that were built between 2020 and 2023 in central New Plymouth. We often get told about the facts: “We don’t have the right site because it’s one and two bedrooms we need.” Well, they were all one- and two-bedroom units.

We also look at things like the purchase of property to build over 100 Kāinga Ora houses in central New Plymouth, as well. That was paused. That’s just sitting there with nothing else going on. There were more than 100 other houses up in West New Plymouth, in Westown, and in Glenpark Avenue over in Vogeltown. Again, those projects have been paused and are just sitting there while people sit on the housing wait-list, while people sleep in cars, sleep in doorways, sleep in the park, sleep down by the beach, in places where it’s actually not acceptable, because everyone should be able to get a decent night’s sleep in a safe place with a roof over their head.

I think it’s an indictment on Government, it’s an indictment on this House, that we as a nation are allowing people outside these doors, people in New Plymouth and Taranaki, to be on the streets. Then we look at things like—and I’m glad that the New Plymouth District Council has stepped up. They’ll put some money in. Do they need to? No. Have they chosen to because they’ve seen the need? Yes.

I look at the challenges of our men’s night shelter that was established in 1981, I think it was, closing its doors this year because of lack of funding. They were providing housing to our most vulnerable. I do want to congratulate the New Plymouth District Council for stepping up and stepping in and looking at a Taranaki homelessness action plan, supporting the Ngāmotu Street Initiative to support and help those in need.

I need to finish by thanking those who are stepping up and stepping in where Government is failing. I think of the Roderique Hope Trust and what they do around housing people. I think of our iwi providers. I think of church groups. I think of the YMCA, who are stepping into spaces that we as a Government have failed in, because, as I said at the start, there has been a 250 percent rise in homelessness in Taranaki. That is an outrage. That is on us and we must do something about it. [Interruption] Yeah, laugh as you want, or think that we’re just being negative, but we’re here to stand up for people in need. We’re here to stand up for people and say that everyone—everyone—deserves a dry, warm, safe place to call home, that they can share their lives, their loves, and their futures with.

Just before we adjourn the House, I would just like to make mention of Roland Todd, whose mother passed away this week. We’re all thinking of Roland today. I’d also like to thank Kellie Watkins and everyone in the Chamber officers’ team, which has pulled together and helped us do our job as well as we’ve been able to, so thank you. The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 18 November 2025.

The House adjourned at 5.58 p.m.