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MARTIN GALLAGHER (Labour—Hamilton West) : I will take a very short call. I think that my much esteemed colleague Ross Robertson, who has just spoken, summed up very eloquently and very well the issue about tagging and graffiti vandalism. To that, I must say please add Hamilton.

I also pay tribute to the community of Manukau, particularly to the community workers there. I have been out late, in the middle of the night, and looked at some of the graffiti and tagging issues, along with other issues with regard to South Auckland. I pay great tribute to the previous Mayor of Manukau City, Barry Curtis, and to the current mayor, Len Brown.

In the presence of my esteemed colleague from Hamilton Dianne Yates—and if I may be so bold as to speak on behalf of the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, the Hon Mark Burton, and Sue Moroney, who represent the Waikato for the Government—I say that we want to stand in this Parliament and say that one of the other drivers for this bill was the strong pressure that we received in representations from the Hamilton and Waikato communities. The Hamilton City Council, along with the Manukau City Council, has been crystal clear in terms of identifying this issue as a significant social problem. It has also been clearly focused on solutions and outcomes. It has a graffiti-busting squad that is painting over graffiti. I pay particular tribute to Olly Te Ua of the Hamilton City Council and his team for all the great work they have done at a very solid, grassroots level. I pay tribute to the community workers, who did so much to get a focus on this issue, and who tried to get some positive outcomes. I know that Councillor Daphne Bell, the chair of the community service committee, will be pleased to hear that, and I acknowledge her work and the work of her colleagues.

I went as the member for Hamilton West to community meetings last year in the Melville - south Hamilton area. Recently I went to a meeting in the northern area, and I acknowledge the people who hosted and convened that meeting. We got very clear messages that people want to get on with their lives and they want to keep their neighbourhoods safe and clean. At one level, graffiti was regarded as being at the lower end of crime, but not in terms of the stress on business people, dairy owners, local shopkeepers, neighbours, and other people in that community. They said they want to keep their community. They love their community, and they want to live there and just get on with their lives.

There has been some debate about the issue of art versus tagging—from Ross Robertson, my good colleague George Hawkins, and other South Auckland MPs. Well, anything that is done without the express consent of the owner of the property is tagging. It does not matter what it looks like; it is tagging—it is not done with permission. Things that are not done with permission are obviously not art.

So, without further ado, I say that previous speakers have very eloquently and comprehensively summarised the issues, and I look forward to this bill coming to the Law and Order Committee, which I currently chair. I know that Ron Mark, as deputy chair, is looking forward to this bill. I know that all the members of that select committee will roll up our sleeves and get on with the task. I am sorry to say this to the Opposition, but I have to give a big bouquet to the Government, and especially to the Minister of Justice, for giving us this bill. We had the Prime Minister’s announcement, and now we are getting on with it, and we will complete the work.