Mahuta NanaiaLOCAL GOVERNMENT (COMMUNITY WELL-BEING) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Local Government): I move That the Local Government (Community Well-being) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Governance and Administration Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported back to the House on 28 September 2018. First I want to acknowledge my colleague the MP for Rongotai Paul Eagle for agreeing for his member's bill to be overtaken by this Government bill. He knew very quickly as he became an MP that this was something that this sector wanted and he put the bill quickly into the ballot. So I appreciate the fact that we're in a position to take over the bill and to do a little bit more. We understand local government has a major role in enhancing the well-being of their communities. The decisions made by local government have an immediate impact on New Zealanders' quality of life. In fact when we think about the role and function councils play in our everyday lives it's far much more than roads rates and rubbish. Local government decisions affect the natural environment and neighbourhoods in which we live and work and they impact on aspects of our health and safety in all sorts of ways. Local government plays a key role in supporting those quality-of-life outcomes that build a sense of belonging and well-being and happiness in our local and regional communities. While there is a strong emphasis on good governance strategic planning and good decision-making actually the work that local government does is more than just about service delivery and asset management plans. The purpose statement in the Local Government Act at its introduction emphasised local government's responsibility to make a broad contribution to promoting the well-being of their communities. It also emphasised that well-being should be considered holistically and that the social economic environmental and cultural aspects of well-being need to be considered together rather than separately. That purpose statement underlined the important role of local government in supporting individuals whānau and community outcomes to provide for their own future within their region. This bill will provide clearer authority for local councils to shape their activities based on what their communities want. It shifts the balance of power back to local communities to decide with their councils what should be done for them with them. It moves the focus from what councils can do to what they should do. It isn't and hasn't ever been the role of central government to tell councils what they should be doing for their communities. In fact under this Government there will be a strong emphasis on working strategically together. We value that. The bill reinstates community well-being into the purpose of local government. The four aspects of well-being—social economic environmental and cultural—will be embedded into the fabric of the local government regulatory framework. They are referenced in a range of other Acts from the Resource Management Act to the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act. Restoring community well-being will return certainty about the role local government plays and will be a welcome change to councils who probably have wondered Why didn't that happen sooner?" Before reference to community well-being was removed from the Act in 2012 local authorities already made responsible financial decisions about the current and future needs of their community. The report of the Shand inquiry in 2007 and the report of the Auditor-General in 2012 confirmed this. The Government believes local government will continue to make the right decisions with and for their communities as we reinsert the well-beings back into the principal Act. Local authorities have said that the change to remove well-beings from the Act in 2012 created uncertainty about the services that they provided. This has led to more complex compliance processes for councils but no significant change in the services that they provide—in fact service delivery expectations have increased. Councils are accountable to their communities not to central government. This bill will give local authorities the scope to develop the services their communities want in consultation with the people who use them. The bill also removes the requirement for local authorities to have particular regard to a list of core services. Councils and their communities are best placed to determine which services they should be providing and the priority that should be given to each of them. These changes give local authorities more flexibility to respond to the needs of their communities. This approach we believe will empower local authorities rather than instruct them about what they should be doing for their communities. The bill restores local authorities' powers to collect development contributions for the full range of community facilities including libraries swimming pools and sportsgrounds. When we think about these services we think about what actually creates community and how much pleasure people get from actually having good community services and what it does for well-being. When this ability to levy development contributions was taken out of legislation in 2014 it left ratepayers to pick up the full costs of meeting the increased demand generated by development. Many councils are struggling to keep up with costs of the growth in their communities while maintaining existing community infrastructure and service levels. A contribution from developers will provide a much-needed boost and while it doesn't address the full extent of funding and financing cost pressures it's a step in the right direction. This bill will help councils by removing a barrier to growth. It will enable councils to shape the places and deliver the services communities want and need. Finally the bill resolves a technical issue that stands in the way of councils accessing transport infrastructure funding through the Housing Infrastructure Fund. The Housing Infrastructure Fund provides advanced funding to local authorities to accelerate the provision of infrastructure for new housing development. This framework allows councils to access funding through the National Land Transport Fund without it counting as a liability allowing councils to borrow for other necessary infrastructure. The Local Government Act includes a provision to prevent local authorities from requiring development contributions for projects that are funded from other sources to prevent double-dipping. The Local Government Act already specifies that borrowing does not trigger these provisions along with a number of other exceptions. Advance financial assistance from the New Zealand Transport Agency will eventually be repaid. This amendment will clarify that this advance financial assistance does not trigger the double-dipping provision. The bill recognises that every council is different and that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Every council needs discretion and flexibility to decide in consultation with their community the nature and level of services they should provide. By doing this councils will best meet local needs and preferences. As I have said this Government supports local government doing the best that it can alongside the people that they represent. It's about local people making local decisions. Decisions about the services councils provide are best made by the people that receive these services not central government. These changes are supported by the local government sector. They've wanted to see them happen for a very long time. This bill represents our commitment as another step towards a collaborative partnership between central government and local government and I commend the bill to the House."