Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Bill
First Reading
Hansard Direct Link [Volume:652;Page:1743]
NATHAN GUY (National—Ōtaki) : I wish to make a very good contribution to the debate on the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Bill, which is a very important bill that is before the House this evening.
I take offence at the previous speaker, the junior Opposition whip, Steve Chadwick, standing up and saying that we should be focusing on crime and law and order issues. She has obviously forgotten about the 100-day programme that we have just implemented. With your consent, Mr Deputy Speaker, I think it is appropriate that the junior Opposition whip realises what this Government has achieved to do with law and order. I think it was a cheek that she stood up and berated this Government, when we have been working on a very good plan to make our communities safer. We have introduced legislation to remove the right of repeat criminals to parole; we have introduced legislation to crack down on gangs, which that former Minister said we are not doing enough of; we have toughened up the bail laws; and we have been extremely busy on youth crime—legislation to do with that is passing through the select committee. Legislation to do with DNA testing of criminals who come before the police is also moving through the select committee. There is a whole lot more, but I do not want to take all of this precious time to enlighten the junior Opposition whip as to how successful we have been during our 100-day programme.
I take some time to commend the honourable Minister Richard Worth for bringing this bill to the House. It will tidy up the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Acts. It is a very, very important bill that has been sitting around on the Order Paper since July of last year. This Government, which has implemented a 100-day programme, is getting on with the issues of the day. This is an important bill. When we think about it, we see that this bill will be very, very important for all those electorates that National holds. This bill affects the electorates of Shane Ardern, Chris Auchinvole, Paula Bennett, Jacqui Dean, Bill English, Nikki Kaye, Colin King, Lockwood Smith, and Jonathan Young. Labour has very few electorates in rural communities. This important bill will address concerns that have been raised by these electorate MPs in their own patches.
This very important bill will be referred to the Primary Production Committee, which is chaired by Shane Ardern. The committee has a bit of a work stream ahead of it, and it will also have to work hard on this bill. The benefits of this legislation are considerable; there will be real benefits right across the whole of the country, including the formalisation of the lease of the Port Chalmers Bowling Club and the securing of the future of the Otago Aero Club.
We heard from one of the new MPs, Clare Curran—one of the “listies”. She stood up and made a contribution for about 30 seconds.