Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) - New Zealand Parliament

16 May 2009 Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Bill 3731
Throughout this debate over the last 3½ days every Labour MP has received texts
and emails from Aucklanders who have been following this debate. I thought I would
give some examples from my in-box. The first one says: “Thanks for your team’s great
effort. At least if this Government gets it wrong Aucklanders will toss them out at the
next election.” And I received this one from a National Party supporter: “We’re hacked
off with National. Keep it up because this is about democracy for Aucklanders.” This
one is from a Helensville resident: “I notice that National MPs are meeting but not in
the Helensville electorate. Why does our MP not wish to meet the public in his own
electorate?”. Who is the MP for Helensville? Oh, it is Prime Minister, John Key. This
one is from a Chinese resident on the North Shore: “I put in a submission to the royal
commission and presented it at a North Shore meeting. It asked that ethnic communities
have a voice in the new plan. John Key is running the Government the way that he
wants—i.e. big money and ignore the people.” Another really nice one says: “Sorry you
have to work today but what you guys are doing is vitally important as far as democratic
principles are concerned.” There are many, many more.
This debate has been very enlightening, and I am looking forward to telling the
people of North Shore City, of Rodney, of Waitakere, of Auckland City, of Manukau, of
Papakura, and of Franklin all about how little National thinks of them. We now know
with certainty from the debate over the last 3½ days what National thinks, because of
the raft of amendments from Labour and the Greens that have just been tossed out
without genuine consideration. Not even one amendment got through. The National
Government dumped many amendments that would have improved this bill and may
have restored some certainty and confidence for Aucklanders.
Hon Christopher Finlayson: Name one.
DARIEN FENTON: I am about to, I say to Mr Finlayson. Amendments in proposed
new Part 10, for example, related to good-employer provisions for the Auckland
Transition Authority and the Auckland Council. The other amendments proposed to the
transitional provisions in Part 3 would have given certainty and protection to the 6,300
workers in local government in Auckland, but those amendments were dumped. Those
workers have been given their cards. They have been given the sack, and they have been
given their dismissal notices. National’s message to existing council workers is: “Do not
apply. Don’t bother.” If the face does not fit, people should not bother to apply, because
with this set-up—the jack-up that this Government has engineered—the chances of
getting a job with fairness, let alone getting any respect at work, are gone.
Then there were the very, very important amendments, put up by my colleague
Charles Chauvel, that would have stopped the transitional authority from privatising the
$28 billion worth of ratepayers’ assets that it will have charge off. Let me talk about
those—[Interruption] The member looks a bit lost. Rodney’s $1.5 billion of assets will
be down the tubes. North Shore’s $4 billion worth of assets will be down the tubes.
Waitakere’s $2.5 billion worth will be down the tubes, as will Auckland City’s $8.7
billion, Manukau’s hard-earned $6 billion, Papakura’s $457 million, Franklin’s $1
billion, and the Auckland Regional Council’s $1.4 million. That is $28 billion worth of
assets, built up over generations, that will go from communities into the hands of the
“Rodney Hide Transition Authority”, ready to be handed over to a mayor with extreme
powers. Also, the voice of local people will be seriously diluted.
We had the extraordinary sight of National and ACT voting down a further
amendment that would have made sure that the paid parental leave entitlements of 6,300
workers were not affected by the legislation. What a shocking message to workers that
was! We on this side of the Chamber heard loud and clear National’s views about Māori
representation. They showed their contempt for the tangata whenua and for the Pasifika
people in the largest Pacific city in the world. [Interruption] I am proud to be speaking.