New Zealand Parliamentary Debate

Gisborne DC (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill [4450]

But this local bill has taken a very long time to get through the parliamentary system. It was first introduced by Janet Mackey, member of Parliament for East Coast from 1993 until 2005. She brought this bill to Parliament for its first reading, to make sure that the Gisborne District Council had the chance to have this important community area recognised by Parliament and to validate the purposes for which the park is being used. As colleagues know, Janet Mackey retired from Parliament at the 2005 election, but the bill still had not been completed, despite having been introduced by her several years before.

So it is really quite fitting that we bring this matter to a close and put this legislation on the statute book with its third reading, to make sure that people who use the flea market in Gisborne can go about their business free from any sense of guilt or any sense that they are breaking the laws of our country in purchasing the many wonderful, varied, and colourful items that I am sure are available at the Gisborne flea market.

Shane Jones

: Labour Party tickets!

DARREN HUGHES

: Mr Jones suggests that maybe there could be Labour Party tickets at the Gisborne flea market, and I am sure there will be, because I know how hard my friend and colleague Moana Mackey works in that electorate to make sure that the efforts of this Labour-led Government are well known to the people of the East Coast. It takes a lot of constituency work in that area, and I am sure that she and her supporters will be down there at the Alfred Cox Park selling off the next Labour Party raffle, to make sure that all the wonderful prizes that are available can go to the people of Gisborne.

Christopher Finlayson

: Legal, I hope.

DARREN HUGHES

: Now, of course, as Mr Finlayson says, this will be a legal activity. In that case, I invite him to buy as many Labour Party raffle tickets as his extensive salary will allow him to buy. I note that today, of course, is payday for members of Parliament, and it might be a nice gesture if he was able, this Saturday, to get in the car and drive up to Gisborne, and to partake in all the activities at the flea market. I say to Mr Finlayson that when he has finished at the flea market-as Mrs Tolley said, it starts at about 8. 30 in the morning-there will be quite a lot to do afterwards. Rather than go door-knocking he could go to the i-site-the visitor information centre-at the Alfred Cox Park and find out all the fantastic things that are available to do in Gisborne.

I am sure that anyone who has visited the East Coast recently knows what a fantastic economic transformation is under way in Gisborne at the present time. There are lots more jobs in an area that was often depressed for jobs and where it was difficult for school leavers to get into work. Lots more is happening there with the Youth Transitions Service, which I have been to visit. The Modern Apprenticeships scheme is going very, very well. A lot of work has been done by Mr Anderton in the forestry sector, when he was Minister for Economic Development and, latterly, as Minister of Forestry. So Gisborne is a good example of what is happening across a lot of regional and provincial areas with regard to bringing them up to a 21

st

century economy and giving opportunities to their people. For those reasons we are very happy to support the bill.

In doing so, we acknowledge Mr Alfred Cox. It is good that his legacy has been mentioned in Parliament throughout the progress of this bill. Clearly, he was somebody who put a lot of emphasis on being able to do good public works for the people of Gisborne. That was not necessarily welcomed universally in the House as the bill went through its stages. The Maori Party, of course, raised significant objections to the bill from a historical perspective, and I can see the arguments they were making. But in terms of the current use of the land, it brings together so many people in Gisborne and