Barry Maggie: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Barry Maggie: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 12 June 2012. Volume:680;Page:2858. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
MAGGIE BARRY (National—North Shore) 
: 
 I rise happily to talk to the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill. I well remember when it came in actually. It was the dark days of Labour. Political correctness was at its absolute height. Labour was redefining everything: light bulbs shower with a friend—it got too nonsensical for words. And this is a piece of legislation that absolutely is long overdue. Let us have a little look at it shall we? These so-called four well-beings—well what exactly does that mean? It means that local authorities are suddenly getting involved in National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) pass rates. They have targets for this. Hello? Get back to your core business. This is what this piece of legislation is looking to do and it will do because we have the courage to address these issues unlike Labour which ushered in a lot of stuff and nonsense that is too expensive and utterly unaffordable. Let us have a little look at it shall we?  
We heard Nick Smith before who knows a great deal about this looking at the way in which the spending has grown. It has quadrupled since 2002 from $2 billion to $8 billion. What have we got? A lot of stuff and nonsense and politically correct rubbish which has to go—and it needs to go. This piece of legislation will tidy it up and we have the courage to do it. Frankly local government can do better and it must do better. This bill aims to ensure that it does. We will make sure that local government is consistently measured across the country so that we can see the poor performers and we can get a heads-up if some council is running amok with unaffordable ludicrous sewerage schemes.  
The ratepayers need protecting. They need protecting from people on the opposing side of the House actually because those members are the sorts of people who would borrow us into the sort of indebtedness that Greece would envy. It is a ridiculous situation but we have to look at it really strongly. These four well-beings were always ludicrous and now when we look at what we can do we need to provide affordable and reliable services. We need to focus in on the basics. It is all very well to talk about NCEA passes when you have potholes on the road you have stuff and nonsense happening all through the electorate.  
I live on the North Shore. We have in my electorate people on fixed incomes who are really hurting because of the way the rates are being hiked by a big-spending mayor who lives on the other side of the harbour. He has big plans for rail. It will not solve any of the issues that plague us on the North Shore with transport. Nor is he going to necessarily put the kind of money into the infrastructure that the people on the North Shore are used to. These are people who deserve to be able to stay in their own homes and not face the kinds of rate hikes that profligate spending has brought upon them. It is wrong and it needs to be stopped and this is the piece of legislation that is actually going to do something about it.  
Legislation will help councils and give them more tools to keep the debt down and the rates affordable. If they do not want to they will be brought into line. Accountability greater efficiency effective and affordable—these are alien notions to the people on the other side of the House. They could not run the Government that way they cannot run their party that way and they let local government run amok in this way. Councils need to be pulled back into line and fortunately we are here to be able to do it. Stronger council governance labelled as a threat to democracy? That really is drawing a long bow. How typical that members opposite would bray and bleat about such measures. Councils need to be kept under control. We need to keep the debt down and the rates as I say are the strongest thing.  
Council governance—let us look at it. Central government will be able to assist struggling councils before the situation becomes critical. Elected council representatives will actually get stronger powers. If you listen to some of the chattering classes you would think that they are actually having their rights reduced. In fact mayors will be involved in the development of plans; they will be able to do more. They will be able to appoint a deputy mayor and committee chairpersons. They will have a stronger leadership role.  
Leadership is of course a very touchy issue across the House. There are a lot of Davids clamouring for it. There is a Grant and no doubt a couple of Jacindas as well. They are all vying for the absolute void of leadership that exists across the House. But on the other hand with the local government reforms that we are bringing in mayors will be able to be held accountable and they will be able to make more decisions about how the council is run. Again it is about accountability which is a word that Opposition members know very little about. They probably would not even know how to spell it although if they get their NCEA pass rates up with local government they might be getting a bit better.  
We plan it in a different way. Government does the governing and local authorities deliver the services. It is a pretty clear distinction and I think it is probably an important one and that is why this piece of legislation is needed. So we will do as we usually do and ignore the chattering classes and their cheap political points.  
I have been interested to see actually that they are trying to knock gardeners. Gardeners are people who along with the farmers are good people in New Zealand. Suddenly though on the other side of the House we are being told that gardeners are no good that they do not have a role and a place. How ludicrous! How sad is it for Opposition members that they are attacking gardeners. They are attacking people in their own backyards who are doing their bit to save the planet. The Opposition really has lost its way and lost its direction. This is of course not news to us.  
But I return again to the statement which is that the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill is an excellent piece of legislation. I support it unreservedly as does my North Shore electorate and as we do here on the sensible side of the House.