Carter Trust Amendment Bill

I move, That the Carter Trust Amendment Bill be now read a second time.

The second reading of the Carter Trust Amendment Bill is another step along the path to ensuring that legacy—an enduring vision of Charles Rooking Carter—continues to deliver for the people in the community of Carterton. As the local MP for Wairarapa, I’m proud to be the sponsor of this private bill; however, I need to add that my part in the process is just a small one.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those that have put significant time into getting us to this point: to the Carter Society, with a special mention to the chair of the society, Sharon Parker, who has been on this journey from the beginning and made herself available through the select committee process; to the Public Trust for 129 years as trustee of the bequest from Charles Rooking Carter, and for championing a future-focused approach; to the St Mark’s parish in Carterton, for being pragmatic and future-focused in supporting this bill; and to David McLay, whose legal guidance and expertise have been instrumental in navigating the complexities of the bequest and the legislative process.

I also want to take this time to acknowledge and extend my thanks to members of the Social Services and Community Committee for their diligent consideration of the bill. Their balanced and careful approach has ensured that the spirit and purpose of this legislation has been preserved while fine-tuning the details. Last on my list of thankyous and acknowledgments is to all the members of this House. In a time when partisanship can often overshadow progress, it’s great to see a sense of unity and a shared commitment to Carterton’s future by supporting this bill.

The Carter Trust was established by the will of Charles Rooking Carter in 1896. The trust was created to fund a home for aged poor men, with the public issue as trustee. The Carter Trust Amendment Bill is a private bill aimed at winding up the Carter Trust, amending its governing will, and enabling the distribution of its assets to the Carter Society and the Anglican Parish of Carterton. The bill also seeks to remove ministerial oversight of the Carter Society’s rules to facilitate more efficient operation of the society and its aged-care services.

The Social Services and Community Committee identified areas where the original provisions could benefit from additional clarity, and unanimously recommended passing the Carter Trust Amendment Bill with these changes. This bill is more than a technical measure; it is a living tribute to the values of Charles Rooking Carter, a philanthropist and a visionary whose ethic was defined by responsibility, generosity, and a commitment to public service. His intention, so clearly stated in his bequest, was to empower future generations, advance education and welfare, and ensure Carterton’s vibrancy in the years to come. I’m confident that this bill will fulfil its promise and protect the legacy of Charles Rooking Carter and continue to serve the Carterton community for at least another 130 years. I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I guess this is one of those bills that we come across from time to time that serves an important role in terms of bringing up to speed an important institution like this particular trust: the Carter Trust. But it also does use a lot of the parliamentary resource, and so, once again, we face the issue of having to use select committee processes and legislative change to change something that perhaps could be done in a more cost-effective and efficient way. I can see the member who’s sponsoring this bill, Mike Butterick, nodding at me, and that is not to derogate from the great job that he has done in bringing this to the House, because it is serving the good people of the Wairarapa.

I would also like to acknowledge that the person whose trust it was lived at a time when the Māori Land Wars were on, and he was known as somebody who had integrity and charitable intentions. He was a good person, by all intents and purposes, but we cannot look at this bill without acknowledging that this was during a colonial era when a lot of Māori land was taken through unfair contract terms, unequal bargaining power, and pressure on Māori landowners. In fact, the amount of his bequeath was in the tens of thousands of pounds, which was quite unusual at the time. So I think it would be fair to say that the legacy has some pain attached to it; and yet, in context, all the research I have done shows that Mr Carter himself was seen as one of the landowners who did act with integrity. But I thought I should mention that because, also, Carterton and the Wairarapa are well known for one of our Labour Māori MPs, Georgina Beyer, who, in fact, was the Mayor of Carterton for some time. So I felt it important to channel what she would have wanted us to say in this House about how that money may have come about, in part, during that time.

Nevertheless, there is now this important trust, which has contributed to community ventures, to education, to culture, to social welfare, and so on. What happened with the trust is when, I believe, the member looked at what needed to be done and got that fantastic legal advice that he acknowledged, it seemed proper to disestablish the original trust and to recreate it. We have a very unusual provision in here, in fact, where the bill overrides the original will of Mr Carter and it also overrides some of the provisions that would not stand up, really, to the Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand laws around entitlements, and so on.

So rather than try to tidy up a will that was really out of date, I think this bill, instead, has disestablished the trust and then reestablished it to be much more fit for purpose and to be able to slot into the modern environment. The Wairarapa is a part of New Zealand that, traditionally, has been underserved and under-delivered due to, probably, the tyranny of distance it has to major cities. We do know, for example, that mental health services there are really stretched. We know that it is really difficult for some older people in the community—for seniors—to get into retirement villages and so on. That is just what has happened in provincial New Zealand as services have coalesced around the cities. So it’s really important to have trusts like this and endowments like this that go on to serve future generations and the needs of those communities. Indeed, the bequeath was made in 1896 and the legacy still lives on today, as we can see with all of the good work that has been done by this trust.

I just want to, really, acknowledge the member for bringing this piece of legislation. I want to acknowledge that the bequeath happened at a fairly controversial time in New Zealand history. It’s easy for us to look back at that time now and query some of the land acquisitions and what happened, which made the colonial landowners enriched. We also can acknowledge that Mr Carter himself was a man of great integrity and known in his community as being a really honourable person, but he did, through his endeavours, get tens of thousands of dollars and then left this really useful legacy for his community in the Wairarapa. All of those things can be true at the same time, and I just think it’s really important that when we look at a trust like this, we take into account all of the histories and all of the perspectives that attach to it. With that, I commend the bill to the House.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As a resident of the Carterton District, and the Green list MP based in the Wairarapa, I’m very pleased to support this bill.

I’d like to thank the Carter Society; Sharon Parker, the chair; Peter Croft, the treasurer. I really salute the good work that the Carter Society does, particularly the Carter Court Care Home that’s got more than 100 residents and has a very pleasant atmosphere, but it needs investment to make it fit for purpose. The change from this bill will see some $50,000 distributed to the Anglican parish, and the remaining funds going to the Carter Society for those essential capital works. The Carter Society is well regulated, well run, and has very much sufficient skill on its committee to be able to manage this accommodation.

I too want to say a few words about Charles Rooking Carter. Not every colonial settler merits positive remembrance, but his story is quite remarkable. He was born in England and became an apprentice carpenter. It’s good to know that he is another tradie that made it to both the General Assembly and Provincial Council. His suggestion that unsold town sections should serve educational purposes led to the establishment of the Greytown and Masterton Trust Lands Trusts which actually still provide significant benefit to the communities.

His other philanthropic legacies are remarkable: fantastic Carterton Library, which is still one of New Zealand’s finest; the Carter Observatory in Wellington—the name is not a coincidence—and, most notably for this bill, he gifted the Carter Home, which was then for aged men, but now serves both men and women; and also, the beautiful, ecologically important, significant Carter Reserve.

I’d like to thank my colleagues Mike Butterick, Kieran McAnulty, members of the Social Services and Community Committee, and this House for ensuring sensible cross-partisan support, which we could do more of. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): Do we have a speaker from the ACT Party? We are not yet—sorry. Todd Stephenson.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. [Interruption] Yeah, I know. I feel like I’m just filling in.

Look, I rise on behalf of the ACT Party to speak on the Carter Trust Amendment Bill. [The Hon Chris Penk hands him a copy of the bill] Thank you, Mr Penk.

Obviously, as we’ve already covered in the previous speeches, this is a bill updating a historic trust. As Mr Butterick has outlined, this actually is a sensible thing to do for the community. Taking something that was established some time ago to actually benefit the local community is a worthwhile endeavour, and we should thank Mr Carter for that.

We discussed this the other day, actually, in our caucus when we were discussing this bill. It is unfortunate—an oddity—that we still have to debate these bills in Parliament for these trusts that, obviously, were discovered or created some time ago. It is great that the Social Services and Community Committee has done work on looking at this trust, making sure the updates are appropriate, and that’s all outlined in the select committee report. So ACT will be supporting this bill, and I commend it to the House.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): I’ll just make way for the Speaker for the valedictory.

Debate interrupted.