Blue Jackie: Local Government (Protection of Auckland Assets) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Blue Jackie: Local Government (Protection of Auckland Assets) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:656;Page:5720] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I am pleased to speak to the first reading of the Local Government (Protection of Auckland Assets) Amendment Bill which is a member’s bill in the name of Phil Twyford. National will oppose this bill and the reason for doing so is very straightforward. The reason is that the bill is superfluous and not necessary. 
The purpose of the bill is to protect the assets currently owned by the various Auckland local authorities by requiring existing and future local bodies in Auckland to hold a referendum before any assets are privatised. This bill is redundant. Auckland assets are already protected. The protections to which I refer are provided in the Local Government Act 2002 which was drafted introduced and passed under the previous Labour Government. It is surprising that we even have this bill. The previous Labour Government had 9 years to make the changes it wanted to make to local government. Six years have elapsed since the Local Government Act was passed. If Labour had any real concerns that there were loopholes in the Local Government Act that meant Auckland assets or indeed assets owned by other councils were at risk I ask why it did not do something years ago. If Labour was serious about this issue why were these initiatives not put in place during its 9 years in office? 
I will tell members why the previous Government did not take any action on this issue. It is because there was actually no need. Significant protections particularly around water services parks and property are already granted to the Auckland City Council. The council is guided by detailed consultation provisions and principles that it must follow when making decisions. In addition council decisions are subject to judicial review in the High Court. This bill basically is a response to the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill. It is nothing more than a political stunt to unnecessarily scaremonger Aucklanders into thinking that suddenly there will be a wholesale sale of Auckland assets. That is an outrageous assertion. The Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill contains no provisions related to the sale or purchase of community-owned assets. Those are rightly decisions for the local community and those whom the community has elected to represent it. 
The controls in the Local Government Act on local authorities’ treatment of assets will apply in Auckland just as they do everywhere else in the country. Auckland assets are under no more threat than they were under the previous Government. To scaremonger that they are is irresponsible and misleading. 
This Government is all about growing our assets not downsizing them. Councils also want to grow their assets and provide excellent public services. I guess we must be an unusual Government in that we believe in local government. The current Auckland bill is all about putting the local back into local government. We trust communities and councils to deliver for their people. Even more we trust the public who elect the councillors. 
I congratulate all the councillors throughout New Zealand who work tirelessly for the good of their communities so that their communities can be supported with decent services. I was on the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee and I want to add here that I was hugely impressed by the passion of the individuals and groups who presented to the select committee. The public were very clear in telling the committee what they want out of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill. They were very clear on what they were concerned about and what their fears were. I have every confidence in the public to elect councillors to make the right choices for their community. 
National will not support this bill. We consider that it is not necessary and that it is redundant. Public assets are already well protected under the existing law of the Local Government Act 2002. There is no need to duplicate this. It wastes Parliament’s time to do so. Indeed if this bill was to become legislation it would be hugely costly and bureaucratic and that is something this Government is totally against. We are in an economic situation where we need to make sure every dollar counts and is spent wisely and where we need to get rid of unnecessary red tape. National opposes this bill. Thank you.