Cunliffe David: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Cunliffe David: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:3254] 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) 
: 
 I support Sue Kedgley the member who has just resumed her seat. Of course the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill is not an end in itself; it is the start of a very very slippery slope. She is absolutely right to point out that the $28 billion worth of assets that will all go into council-controlled organisations will all be subject to the majority on the new council which of course will be dominated by the at-large councillors elected across the city using the bank balances of the good people of Remuera. 
It is OK for Nikki Kaye that the gulf islands have their community boards but is it not a shame that so early in her term she has slipped from what she could have been. She could have been a good MP. She could have risen above the nimby factor and said “Because my gulf islands are OK … ”. It does not take long until we get to Melissa Lee and start worrying about brown people coming up the motorway and invading the good white suburbs of Mt Albert. It is a slippery slope from the gulf islands to brown people on the motorway and that is what those Nats stand for. 
I tell New Zealanders to be very afraid when the Government concentrates power. John Carter asked: “Have you read all the volumes?”. Well there are three volumes and an executive summary. In a sleight of hand the Government managed to turn 6 inches of integrated research and 3000 submissions into this report. There is a misprint on it; it should say “Making Auckland Bluer”. It is in blue print. I remember when Mr Carter handed it out and I remember the look on his face. He knew he was giving the people of Auckland a permanent right-of-centre local government. The Government took those four volumes put them in the rubbish bin and replaced them with this report. Members will notice that it is not the same thickness. It is not as thick as the Minister of Local Government. This is not even an executive summary. 
What does the bill do? I will get back to the content of the bill. Part 1 is called “Preliminary provisions” and one would think there is nothing much in it. But when we check the fine print we see that it completely overrides section 49 of the Local Government Act. That section requires a poll or a referendum on reorganisation. National members used to be big on referenda were they not on the anti-smacking bill. They are very big on crime and punishment but they are not very big on referenda about local government for some strange reason. I do not know why that is. They said they would consult on those volumes that they have now put it in the bin. They said they would consult on making Auckland bluer but they did not. Then they said “Well you’ll get your say in the select committee.” That is fine. Here is the bill that overrides the Local Government Act and there is no select committee. It is being rammed through the House in urgency which is why we are here to take away the right of Aucklanders to have their say. Those members are doing it by stealth. 
It is intriguing that Roger Douglas was here because this is the Roger Douglas model of change management. It was used in Baghdad; it is called “shock and awe”—crash it through before the people line up. Why are those members so frightened? They are frightened that the people of Auckland will rise up like the thousand people who marched in Henderson at a day’s notice. The hikoi is coming from the north the south and the west. It is coming with the disempowered people the brown people the poor white people and the people of colour and ethnicity like Mr Bakshi. The people will rise up and will not be silenced by this bill now or in 2011. They will rise up and they will have their say because they do not want to make Auckland bluer—not now not in 2011 not in 2014 not in 2017 and not in 2020. The people want to have their say; this Government is taking that away. 
Labour stands for the people. We stand with the people and we stand for democracy. This bill is an outrage. The Government has spent a million bucks got a thorough report put it in the bin replaced it with something wafer-thin like the Minister has not consulted on it has rammed through a bill with no select committee process and has overridden the law.