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3750 Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill 16 May 2009 about the East and Bays Courier with “Call to keep local voice”? What about “Who stole our voice?”, “Democracy at stake”, or “Welcome to Greater Auckland”? The Government is so arrogant that it does not see that it has created a monster already; that concern is reflected in all of the polls that have been taken so far. This Government made a number of commitments to Aucklanders. I remind members opposite of what it said to Aucklanders. I am appalled that members opposite can sit there and fail to recognise the statement they made in their manifesto: “National will: Support the Royal Commission providing an opportunity for people within the Auckland region to express their views about the structures that will best achieve the goals set out above.” It also states that National would “Consult with Aucklanders once the findings of the Royal Commission are known.” Well, I do not know what has happened to those commitments, but over the last few days we have seen the Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Bill rammed through the House under urgency. There has been no opportunity for Aucklanders to be consulted on that, because the Government has passed the bill already. The Government has taken away the right of Aucklanders, under the Local Government Act, to have a poll on the issue. The Government has also established a small but very powerful transition agency— an agency that has no obligations to consult anybody, an agency that is made up of three to five people, picked at Rodney Hide’s discretion. Frankly, that is hardly reassuring. The agency has huge power— Paul Quinn: Have you got the right bill? CAROL BEAUMONT: I am talking about the Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Bill as part of the context for this bill, I tell Mr Quinn—if he were listening. The transition agency has huge power to control councils—huge power. It has more than $28 billion of assets, and there are no protections against the privatisation of those assets. It has huge power around developing change management plans for 6,300 workers who work in local government in Auckland. Over the last few days the Government has created a brand new select committee on the issue—a practice that National has been very strongly opposed to in the past. Why has that committee been created under urgency—why? We can only assume that the Government does not trust the existing Local Government and Environment Committee. Labour wonders what process that special select committee will follow. I can only hope that it will be a damn sight better than what has happened at the hearing on the amendment to the Resource Management Act. I had the opportunity to sit in on that hearing briefly and could not believe the way that people were being treated. It was absolutely appalling. Will the Government give a commitment on the bill we currently have before us that everybody who wants to be heard will be heard, and that it will give them adequate time to be heard? I do not think so. All of these sorts of actions have created an environment of mistrust, anger, and real fear among Aucklanders about the ACT and National Party agendas for local government, and members will continue to hear about that from Aucklanders. This is about a Government that is focused on centralising power—its power! Members on this side of the House do not question the need for change. Auckland faces many, many challenges. It is true that there has been significant discontent about local government, particularly about the inability to coordinate things regionally. There is no doubt about that. I might also say that there is a lot of discontent about the Auckland City Council in particular. Under the current mayor, the Citizens and Ratepayers - dominated council is arrogant, and it fails to address the needs of many of the citizens of Auckland. If people happen to live in Ōtāhuhu, they will know particularly what I am talking about. If the citizens of Ōtāhuhu are listening tonight, I tell them that I am
16 May 2009 Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill 3751 making sure this Government hears about the appalling way in which money has not gone to those citizens and their needs, but has gone to the wealthy in Auckland City. The previous Labour Government set up the royal commission, because it recognised there was a need for change. Labour members broadly support a unitary authority, because do we need greater coordination on key regional issues, but we disagree with the way in which the Government has trampled across the rights of Aucklanders in this process. So far it has done nothing but be arrogant to Aucklanders, and it has not listened to them. Labour members strongly disagree with a number of the key provisions in this bill. We disagree with the at-large councillor provision, because we believe that only people with money or fame will be able to stand and represent the whole city. People may scoff at that concern, but that was the case with the Auckland City Council until very recently—up until the late 1980s. If people took the time to see what the council looked like back then, they would see that most of the people on that council were white, were male, and came from the eastern suburbs of Auckland City. So there are real problems about at-large councillors. The 20 to 30 local boards that are being proposed are completely powerless. Labour wants to see a second tier that actually has teeth and that can do things for local people. What about Māori representation? The provision is appalling; we support Māori representation on the Auckland Council. There are other many other provisions of this bill that we are very, very concerned about. Another provision, which again goes back to the issue of arrogance, concerns the powers of the Local Government Commission. Under this bill, the commission will have a number of very important responsibilities, but nowhere does the bill talk about that commission consulting anybody. NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central): Today the fifth National Government, with the help of Rodney Hide, has finally achieved for Auckland what parliamentarians have been trying to do for generations. We simply do not believe that this is as good as it gets for the people of Auckland. Tonight we have delivered one council that will enable Aucklanders to have better public services. As Aucklanders wake up tomorrow, they will realise that this is a watershed moment in Auckland. It is a watershed moment not just for Auckland but also for <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong>: the moment that the tide turned from endless talkfests, strategies, and action plans to real progress for Auckland. The people of the central business district and the people of Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Herne Bay, St Marys Bay, Westmere, and Waiheke Island deserve to have better public transport. The people of Auckland deserve to have a transport system that enables them to spend less time in traffic and more time with their families. One council will enable that to be delivered. But, most of all, the people of Auckland deserve to have local democracy, and this bill will deliver that for Aucklanders. This bill is about giving local communities in Auckland, like those of Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island, back their voice. For too long, the people of Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island have been forced to constantly battle for people to understand their communities. The royal commission recognised that when it stated that community engagement was poor. We have tremendous respect for the commission, but we believe that the option it offered did not give all local communities across Auckland the voice that they deserve. That is why we have given local democracy a real kick forward by offering local boards. The irony for members opposite is that those members have not yet confirmed whether they support the establishment of local boards. That is right! If they do not support that, they will have to go around the communities of Auckland—like those of Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island—and be very clear about what they are doing to local democracy for Auckland. On this side of the House, our policy is very clear; the Opposition’s policy is not.
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