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3746 Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill 16 May 2009 Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am sorry; I did not hear that. If that is the case, I ask the member to withdraw that comment. Hon Rodney Hide: I withdraw. Hon JOHN CARTER (Associate Minister of Local Government): I raise a point of order, Speaker. I know that—[Interruption] Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: We are on a point of order, and points of order are heard in silence. Hon JOHN CARTER: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. That is actually the point I was about to make. I know that it is getting later in the evening on Saturday night and we have been here for a long time, and I know that the debate at times has been robust—and so it should be. However, I was sitting here not far from my colleague from the far north, and I had difficulty in hearing him. I actually did want to hear what he had to say. Unfortunately, it was rather difficult because there were a lot of interjections from that side of the House. I am not saying we have not also interjected, but I suggest that the House let the last three or four speeches be heard. Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you for those comments. Hon DARREN HUGHES (Senior Whip—Labour): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I concur with the comments of the Associate Minister of Local Government, but when a member uses words like “betrayal” in his speech about a political party, that is provocation. Following on from that, I seek leave to table the draft amendments prepared by the Labour Party for stand-alone, dedicated Māori seats. I advised the member for Te Tai Tokerau that we had done that earlier in the day but they were ruled to be not in order. Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is objection. Hon DARREN HUGHES (Senior Whip—Labour): I also seek leave to table a comprehensive list of all the amendments prepared by the Māori Party in order to ensure Māori representation. It is a blank piece of paper. That party moved none. Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is objection. ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tāmaki): It is a privilege to once again stand up in this House, to speak in support of this very fine Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill. Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am sorry to interrupt the member. We have just had points of order from members who said they would actually like to hear what the speakers are saying. Can members keep their interjections focused. They should be rare and reasonable, not interchanges with people across the House. Hone Harawira: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Given your comments, is it is appropriate for me to ask whether I could give my speech again, so that people could actually hear it? Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, it is not. Hon Clayton Cosgrove: I seek leave to table the voting record of Tariana Turia, which shows that she voted many times with the Government over the Auckland reorganisation. Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is objection. ALLAN PEACHEY: It is a privilege to support this bill. The bill is one of a package of measures that will unleash the great potential of Auckland, and of the Auckland region, to contribute to the growth and prosperity of all of New Zealand. Nearly one-third of New Zealand’s people live in the Auckland region. Auckland is the base of some of the most significant business, commercial, and educational functions in
16 May 2009 Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill 3747 this country. It is the key to the growth and prosperity of New Zealand. I commend this bill to the House. SU’A WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to speak tonight. If I sound emotional tonight, I make no apology for it. In fact, for the past few days quite a lot of emotion has been released by all sides of the House on this matter. It is a very significant matter, in terms of the people whom I represent and the communities I represent in Māngere and Manukau City. I have been to many funerals of friends and relatives—people whom I cherish and are dear to me. I am using this point as a preface before I get on to the bill. Those funerals have all been very sad occasions, but our debate over the establishment by this Government of a super-city without it asking Aucklanders about it has deeply hurt me. I say to this House that that hurt is a reflection of how the communities throughout Manukau City and Waitakere feel about the actions of this Government. In fact, they feel that it is an outrage that they have not been given the opportunity to have a say. It may be that they would agree to the proposal. That is the reason why I stand tonight to acknowledge and thank all of my Labour colleagues and the other parties—the Greens and, to some extent, the Māori Party—for holding this Government to account. That is what we have asked for—that it gives Aucklanders the opportunity to have a say. Often in this debate there has been outrage from the other side of the House, but the outrage that I feel, and that I suspect is felt by many throughout Auckland, is that the action of this Government can be described as criminal in many senses. We have had two senior members of the Government—Mr Key, the honourable Prime Minister, and the honourable Minister of Local Government—holding a gun to the head of the mayors and councillors and saying “Click! Bang! We’ve got the numbers. That’s why we’re doing this.” That is a sign of the sheer arrogance of this Government after only 6 months of being in power. For those who are listening, I say that Labour has fought tooth and nail to hold this Government to account. Labour has fought hard to ensure that the bills that this Government is introducing in urgency are examined, because the National and ACT Government’s undemocratic plans deserve to be given back to the people. So we come to the bill. There are four parts and 24 clauses. The member for Manurewa, George Hawkins, held up an advertisement earlier that had been paid for by the Parliamentary Service—by taxpayers. It is advertising a series of meetings. Hon Trevor Mallard: No. SU’A WILLIAM SIO: Yes. It is an outrage. It is advertising a series of meetings that are to be held in the next few months by the Government in the Auckland region. Hon Trevor Mallard: After it’s gone through. SU’A WILLIAM SIO: After it has been done, exactly—after the fact. Here is the advertisement. It states “Have Your Say …”. This advertisement is deceptive, because the main decision has already been made. But here is the other concern: eight meetings are being held in the area of the current Auckland City Council, and the fear and concern we have is that these meetings are campaign meetings for John Banks by this Government. In Manukau and Waitakere, there is only one meeting. There is one meeting for the 380,000 people living in Manukau, which is the third-largest city in New Zealand—one meeting. I have to ask whether that is a sign of things to come, as a result of this Government and the super-city. I lament the loss of my city and of four mayors: the late Hugh Lambie; the late Sir Lloyd Elsmore; Sir Barry Curtis, who served 24 years; and now Len Brown, the Mayor of Manukau City. I lament the loss of the three councillors who represent Māngere. I lament the loss of eight community boards, made up of local people who live in the area. With the stroke of Mr Hide’s pen, those local government bodies exist in name
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