Hutchison Paul: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
Hutchison Paul: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:11494] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Hunua) 
: 
 Talofa lava Mr Chairperson. Fa‘afetai fele lava. I am absolutely delighted to speak on the Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill and I too want to congratulate Ministers Carter and Hide and the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee for the excellent job they have done in listening to the people of Auckland. As a fifth-generation Pakeha New Zealander and Aucklander I have a huge interest in the outcome of Auckland and I believe the select committee worked incredibly hard to give it a very very positive outcome. 
I want to mention the Franklin issue because Mr Phil Twyford and his merry followers from Labour came down to Franklin a few months ago and stated in the Pukekohe Town Hall that Labour would split apart Franklin at the Waikato River. Only two parliamentarians I know of one the member for Waikato and the other the member for Hunua myself have spoken out openly for Franklin to become a unitary authority. In my case I have also written in the  
Herald 
 to that extent with the mayor Mark Ball. We worked very hard for that to happen. However that is not to be and what I hear from the good people of Franklin is that they wish the bill and the Auckland region to go forward as positively as possible. 
To that effect I have lodged an amendment which I believe will contribute to that happening. I am very much hoping that it will be supported by the Labour Opposition because it should be. The amendment would ensure that the rural sector must be involved in the development adoption and implementation of the spatial plan. The spatial plan is extremely significant for the future of Auckland. I want to thank the Pukekohe Vegetable Growers Association Federated Farmers Mayor Mark Ball who sadly is not at all well at present and Mayor Penny Webster from Rodney for supporting us. 
I want to thank my parliamentary colleagues and the ACT Party for supporting this amendment. It is very important that the rural voice is heard in Auckland. After all it makes up 75 percent of the new Auckland region. The Pukekohe Vegetable Growers Association came to me and said that reverse sensitivity was one of the issues that was very important for their businesses. For instance a local regulation in Papakura means that they are not able to drive their trucks or tractors or equipment through Papakura from dawn to dusk. They have great issues in terms of water elite soils and roading. All of these are very very important to the people working in the rural sector so I am delighted to present this amendment today. It emphasises just how important the rural sector and its voice is to Auckland and to New Zealand. After all there will be only two representatives from Hunua and from Rodney out of the 21 and therefore it is important to support this amendment. 
I would also like to mention just how well this Minister of Local Government and this Government have listened to people such as the good people of Beachlands. They came to me to say that their children were in danger of falling into the local stormwater ponds. [ 
Interruption 
] I say to Dr Prasad that he should listen to this because this amendment is about the children of the Auckland region. The Beachlands residents pointed out to me that there was no safety for children where the waterways and stormwater drains of Auckland are situated particularly in high-density housing areas. Therefore I put forward an amendment to section 49 “Obligations on Auckland water organisations” in new Part 5 inserted by Part 2 which was accepted by the Government that an Auckland water organisation must have regard for public safety—for example the safety of children in urban areas—in relation to its structures. 
It was very interesting that the mums and dads of this Beachlands community a highly built-up area came to me very concerned that they had contacted the Mayor of Manukau Len Brown and he had said there was no need to worry about that area as the council had put in the beautification. I went and had a look and it was obvious that little children could easily fall down into this waterway. In fact there were three waterways. I spoke to Safekids and other such organisations. I congratulate Safekids on the work it has done and I congratulate the Minister on being so responsive and inserting this amendment into this bill. It will mean that tragedies such as the one involving that poor little child in west Auckland will be prevented to a certain extent at least whereby an Auckland water organisation must have regard for public safety and particularly the safety of children. 
These are two instances where the Government has shown great responsiveness. First it is listening to the people of Auckland—the rural sector in Franklin and Rodney—and inserting a most important amendment into the bill whereby the rural sector must be involved in the development adoption and implementation of the spatial plan. Second the safety of children is provided for. Thank you.