Curran Clare:  
Curran Clare:  
[Volume:654;Page:97] 
CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) 
: 
 I am proud to take a call on this extremely important issue. I will speak to an amendment to Part 3 of the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill which is about “Transitional arrangements” for this undemocratically created new council. I am proud to stand here tonight alongside my colleagues and I am proud of everything that they have had to say. While I am standing here I thank and acknowledge all of the parliamentary staff who are working long hours during this important discussion which goes to the heart of our democracy. 
I take democracy seriously and I speak from the heart to members in the Chamber tonight. What this Government is doing is not democratic and many of the people of New Zealand are watching and listening tonight. This issue is about consultation and democracy—or the lack thereof. The people of Auckland have not been consulted about this bill. It is undemocratic. Reform of Auckland governance is needed but so is proper consultation. Members have heard speaker after speaker on this side of the Chamber talk about that issue. 
I will address clause 10 in Part 3 “Auckland Transition Agency established”. The National Government has not asked the people of Auckland what it should call their new local body; it has not asked them anything about it. In fact this bill should not be called the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill; it should be called the “Local Government (We’ll Do Whatever We Like Because We Can and We’ll Be Doing It to the Rest of the Country) Bill”. I am afraid for our country and I fear that the title of this bill does not reflect the Government’s real agenda. 
I stand here as the member for Dunedin South. I speak for Dunedin South. Unlike the National Party member Paul Quinn who spoke last night I do not pretend to speak for the rest of New Zealand. I am proud to represent every single one of my 59442 constituents. I take my role very seriously as I am sure all members of Parliament do. It is a big responsibility to represent 59442 people. I welcome the fact that in my electorate there is a strong and active local authority the Dunedin City Council. There are 14 elected councillors and seven of them directly represent the Dunedin South electorate. Dunedin South is a long way from Auckland. Dunedin is very different from Auckland but the people of Dunedin South are New Zealanders just like the people of Auckland. They are united I believe on this issue and on what they want and expect from their elected representatives. They want to be listened to they want to be consulted and they want to have a voice. 
I will tell the Committee how the people of Dunedin South are feeling about this issue. They have been coming into my office and they have been ringing up and I have been asked about it on radio. They have a big question in their minds right now. As my colleague Clayton Cosgrove referred to yesterday they are wondering what is next. Are they to be next? Is the merger of more councils on the agenda? Will there be a merger of councils with no consultation with the people of New Zealand to create super-councils that remove people’s rights to local representation? The people of Dunedin South whom I have spoken to about this issue are horrified because a number of them are wondering whether a super-council will be established to cover the whole of the South Island. 
I want to paint a picture in the minds of members and in the minds of all the good New Zealanders who are listening to and watching Parliament tonight with a sense of increasing horror at the trampling of the rights of all New Zealanders. That picture is of a bulldozer—a big bulldozer. This Government is bulldozing the rights of Aucklanders and ultimately the rights of all New Zealanders. 
According to Statistics New Zealand the population of the South Island is 1017300—about one quarter of the population of New Zealand. In the South Island there is quality not quantity. But that number is certainly less by quite a lot than the 1.4 million people in Auckland to be covered by this undemocratic super-city. So it is not entirely inconceivable that the Government given its propensity for arrogant disregard for people’s wishes could create a single super-council covering the whole of the South Island on a similar basis as the super-council in Auckland. Let us say it had 20 councillors—12 elected ward councillors and eight elected at large. Under that scenario Dunedin would be likely to get one councillor with perhaps another one representing Dunedin and Oamaru.