Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) - New Zealand Parliament

3722 Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Bill 16 May 2009
Hon JOHN CARTER (Associate Minister of Local Government): I am pleased to
follow my colleague from up in Northland. One of the things that happens when you
work in this place is that you get to make friends. I count Shane Jones as one of the
friends I have made. One of the interesting things I have found with Shane is that
although he is an interesting and entertaining speaker, if members listen to what he
says—with the exception of a couple of things—they will notice that he never actually
says a lot. But he is entertaining nevertheless.
I agree with him on a couple of points. The first point is that this House needs to
thank the Clerks at the Table for all the work they have done. They have done a brilliant
job. Secondly, we also need to thank the officials for all the support they have given us
during this time. Leeanne O’Brien from the Parliamentary Counsel Office has done an
outstanding job, as well, and deserves to be recognised and thanked very much.
Amongst all these acknowledgments of the people who have made this Local
Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Bill happen we also need to
acknowledge the Minister in charge of the bill, the Hon Rodney Hide, who has also
shown good leadership to all the people who have been working with him. He has taken
great interest in this legislation and is certainly supportive of it.
I guess the point I really want to make, and which is important for us all to
understand, is that over the last 2 or 3 days we have set in place the ability for us to
listen to the wishes and needs of Auckland, and to put in place a system that will allow
all Aucklanders to have good local governance that will deal with the infrastructural
issues that have been of concern to them. At the same time, the system will protect their
rights to have their local government at a local level in order to make sure that the issues
that concern them and that affect them on a daily basis are attended to and reflected.
That is why I am proud to support this legislation. It is not as if we have finished; we
have actually just started. We have started on a long journey. There will be lots of
consultation. There will be lots of input. There will be lots of changes. I have said
before that just about everything is on the table other than the decision the Government
has taken that we will have one Auckland City. Other than that, we are an open book.
We will be out there to listen.
That is the nice thing with this Government and our Prime Minister, Mr John Key.
He is a person who listens. He wants to hear what Aucklanders have to say. John Key;
this Government; the Minister in charge of the bill, Rodney Hide; and all of us have set
up a procedure that allows that situation to happen. I have to say, if ever there was an
opportunity to see democracy in progress it is today. I am proud to support the bill.
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Labour—Manurewa): This has been a black day for
New Zealand, and the date on the calendar in this House is still showing 13 May. Of
course, the only person who really likes that fact is the Leader of the House: he gets four
breakfasts, four lots of morning teas, four snacks, four lunches, four afternoon teas, four
dinners, and four suppers. He is the only person on the National side who has liked what
has happened this week. I am surprised that it took National members so long to work
out how to deal with amendments in the Committee stage. I was getting writer’s cramp,
thinking they must catch on soon—they must work this out soon, but no. We saw John
Carter running back and forth to the Chamber—
Hon Clayton Cosgrove: He had the trots.
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS: —then running to the Clerk’s Office, backwards and
forwards. As my friend Mr Clayton Cosgrove says, he must have had the trots. No, he
was going flat stick to the Clerk’s Office, and in the end National members and their
colleagues woke up to it.
The trouble is that tomorrow most New Zealanders will wake up to it, and they will
know that they have not had the opportunity to have a say in this legislation. They have