Beaumont Carol: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill(No 2) — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBeaumont Carol: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill(No 2) — Third Reading[Sitting date: 15 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:13895. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour): I was hoping that the previous Assistant Speaker would still be in the Chair—not from any disrespect to you Mr Assistant Speaker Tisch but because I was going to acknowledge of course as others have Ross Robertson’s election to the Papatoetoe subdivision of theŌtara-Papatoetoe Local Board representing Team Papatoetoe. I know that Ross will be a very hard-working anddetermined representative of his local community. I just want to acknowledge that as I rise to speak in support of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 2) which I have spoken on in every stage of this bill going through the House.As many of us will now know this is a very narrow bill—quite a technical bill really—that fixes what was probably a mistake made in the rush to pass the Auckland legislation the super-city legislation. The ability of local boards to be able to delegate responsibilities duties and powers confirmed or allocated to them under the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act was a transitional arrangement with a limited life and that life is due to expire at the end of October if we do not pass this legislation. Of course it is obviously important that we do so and I think that every party in the House recognises the need to ensure that local boards can in fact continue to delegate responsibilities duties and powers as they are currently able to. What the bill does is say the things that they can delegate and the things that they cannot.It is important because the local boards as others have said have started to take shape really. Their role is an important part of local government in Auckland. It is a co-governance arrangement between the local boards and the governing body. That is important. It is fair to say that local boards play different roles throughout Auckland and that may well be appropriate. It is also fair to say that some have been more active than others and have probably been better advocates for their communities than others.It is probably also fair to say that many local residents still do not fully understand the extent of the powers and responsibilities that their local board has how important it is and how different it is from the former community board. So this bill is important to allow those important parts of our local government structure in Auckland to get on and do their job. Of course they are elected to do quite a large job. The areas that they cover are not insignificant. They are larger than most units of local government throughout New Zealand and I think that is important. When we talk about local boards people outside Auckland may not realise what large areas these boards cover and how many people they are actually working for.Of course we have just had the local government elections and I want to acknowledge everybody who stood in the local government elections throughout New Zealand. It is always a big thing to do to put yourself forward as a candidate to go out there to talk about what you stand for and to seek a mandate from the public. Many people throughout New Zealand did put their hat in the ring and of course we now know who has been successful.In terms of the local boards in Auckland my colleague Phil Twyford spent some time talking about what has happened with them. It is fair to say that for this side of the House it is a very pleasing result really—a positive outcome for the centre-left in terms of local boards with some very strong tickets and some very effective people elected. I am a list MP based in Maungakiekie and in our area we have two subdivisions the Maungakiekie and theTāmaki subdivisions. We have got three community independents elected in Maungakiekie—Brett Clark Bridget Graham and Simon Randall—and in theTāmaki subdivision Josephine Bartley ChrisMakoare AlanVerrall andObedUnasa all stood as Labour candidates for that board. Across Auckland there were some very very strong candidates. Some are returning for a second term as local board members and some are new and exciting people coming into the local board roles.It is fair to say that the role does need further definition and as I said earlier greater understanding is required from the public about the role of local boards what they can and cannot do and the extent of their powers. Auckland University of Technology’sSuper City? State of Aucklandresearch indicates exactly that. It says that although the super-city is functioning well in many areas we are still seeing a lack of clarity aboutthe roles of the council as a governing body and the local boards. So there are still some issues there.I also want to note that one of the findings from that same report was that there were too fewMāori Pacific and ethnic peoples and younger adults holding elected positions on the council and the local boards and women urgently needed stronger representation on council-controlled organisations. Well can I say that one of the really positive things about this election for local board representation in Auckland has been the large number of new Pacific representatives we have on local boards in the Auckland area. It is a very very positive outcome. There was an even larger group of course who stood some of whom were not successful but I think—and I can see others across the House nodding—that this is a very positive thing because we want local government to reflect the communities that they represent.Hon Judith Collins: Ha ha!CAROL BEAUMONT: I am sure that is hysterically funny for the Minister. I do not quite know why it is so funny. But anyway let us not divert on to that.In my own area the local board has done a number of very positive things and it has included what you might call environmental projects and a music and arts centre. It has funded community events improved Onehunga Mall and worked with sports groups to improve their sports facilities. But the one I want to particularly pick up on is the housing issue. The local board has worked very hard on the idea of a Housing Warrant of Fitness. There are many renters in theMaungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board area and it has a rental housing quality project to improve housing quality in rental properties in our area by working with stakeholders to explore options to achieve positive housing outcomes for tenants particularly those in areas of higher deprivation. This warrant of fitness scheme will be the first of its kind in the country and is a joint project between environmental services and community development. I want to applaud our local board for that.Can I say that this is in the context of a housing crisis in Auckland something that I think my colleague Phil Twyford has been doing a very good job of holding the Government to account on. There is a housing crisis in Auckland. Homeownership is out of reach for most New Zealanders which of course is contrary to what the local member of Parliament forMaungakiekie thinks. He thought that actually $130000 for a housing deposit—Hon Maryan Street: How much?CAROL BEAUMONT: —that is $130000—was not out of reach for most Aucklanders. Well of course he got rubbished up and down the country for that one because as we all know that is an extremely large amount of money. He also talked about I think 1100 affordable houses in the Maungakiekie electorate. Of course there is no such thing. In fact that electorate is actually probably one of the ones where housing prices are going up the most strongly.Housing is a real issue in our area and I do want to applaud our local board for working on the Housing Warrant of Fitness issue. I would say that the Government needs to recognise—and I think it probably does and is starting to get the message—that people are very concerned about housing issues in Auckland. Housing affordability and access to decent-quality rental accommodation are two absolutely fundamental issues. Of course another important issue is public transport. These are issues that certainly on this side of the House we take very seriously.As I draw my comments to a conclusion I again just reiterate that we do support this bill. It is necessary to ensure that the local boards can fulfil their function. I just want to make one final comment for the record about the local government elections and that is to acknowledge the contribution of the former councillor in the Maungakiekie areaRichard Northey who has done an exceptional job and who has worked very hard with our local board. Thank you.