Fenton Darien: Kaipara District Council (Validation of Rates and Other Matters) Bill — Second ReadingText is subject to correctionFenton Darien: Kaipara District Council (Validation of Rates and Other Matters) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 13 November 2013. Volume:694;Page:37. Text is subject to correction.]DARIEN FENTON (Labour): Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. Thank you very much for the opportunity to take a call in the second reading of the Kaipara District Council (Validation of Rates and Other Matters) Bill. I have been a bit of a bit player in this whole sorry saga but obviously I have spent quite a bit of time with the people who are most affected by the provisions of this bill and they are the ratepayers of Kaipara. Not all of them of course but some of them have been to see me along with the commissioner and others. I have been along with my colleagues part of many meetings where we listened and tried to unravel and understand a very difficult situation as the former speaker Nicky Wagner just described.I have come to the conclusion that the Local Government and Environment Committee having read the report and having listened to the members speaking has done the best it could possibly do in a really really difficult messy longstanding and bitter situation. I think it is probably one of the worst bills that any member in my time in the House has had to bring to and justify at the first reading. To that end I want to acknowledge Mike Sabin. He did what he had to do. As I said I think that the committee has worked very hard to come up with a solution but it will not please everybody. There will still be a lot of bitterness and anger about this but what else do you do? You have to try to find a compromise so I support the bill for that reason.The bill validates a number of illegal acts carried out when the Kaipara District Council set rates under the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 in relation to the council’s long-term plan and the use of the special consultative procedure. What that means is that any rates purportedly set out under the rating Act can be validated and that any penalties payable on outstanding rates can also be validated. That is what it means. The validation relates to the setting and assessing of rates in the financial years 2006-07 to 2011-12 the 2010-11 annual report of the council a number of irregularities relating to its 2009-19 and 2012-22 long-term plans and the use of the special consultative procedure regarding the 2012-22 long-term plan.Other people have talked about the background to this bill and I intend to do that as well because I think it is important that it is on the record for people to see and for those who are directly affected by this here. The background to this bill is that the Kaipara District Council entered into loans to pay for a waste-water treatment plant at Mangawhai that was worth a lot less than what was paid for it. In doing so the council not only made some really bad decisions but incurred an $80 million debt. That debt has now been saddled on the ratepayers of Kaipara District Council and particularly on the ratepayers of Mangawhai who are now paying up to three times as much a year for their rates.You can understand why they are angry. They are right to be so. The council has created a horrible mess through incompetence mismanagement and illegal actions. I think that citizens deserve better than that from their elected councils. I completely understand and concur with the organisation that they have put together to try to find solutions to this which does not mean bringing a bill like this to validate the poor decision-making of the council. The Kaipara ratepayers especially those of Mangawhai are being asked to repay the loans which were improperly entered into and which were much larger than what was consulted on. They are being asked to pay substantially increased rates because of that. The Mangawhai Residents and Ratepayers Association has vigorously opposed that. It has challenged the council it has challenged the illegal and unlawful actions it has organised and it opposes this bill as well. It is the one that has entered into a rates strike. At the same time—Mike Sabin: But they do concede that it would be necessary.DARIEN FENTON: What was that?Mike Sabin: They do concede that it would be necessary at some time.DARIEN FENTON: Yes. But then there are many other ratepayers in Kaipara who continue to pay their rates to the council and the council with all its problems in the past is now delivering services that one should expect of a council.Commissioners were appointed in September 2012 after increasing pressure from the community and questions about finances. I have to say that it seemed to take a long time for those commissioners to be appointed and perhaps we could have headed off some of these problems a bit earlier. Anyway the commissioners remain in place today and they have sought the help of this House so they can do the job that they have been appointed to do by the Government.I do not envy the select committee or the local member Mike Sabin in dealing with this bill. I do want to repeat that I believe that all members who have been involved in this at all stages and on the select committee have acted with integrity and good intent to do the best they can for Kaipara District and the ratepayers. I know that they have taken this matter seriously. The members from the Labour Party on the select committee have reported back to our caucus on numerous occasions. We have had long discussions about this bill. There has been a lot of concern in our caucus about this and about how we will resolve this problem.I think we are all clear that none of us wants to see retrospective legislation. I think it is abhorrent that this Parliament is being asked to make illegalities legal especially considering that they arise from the incompetence and possibly gross mismanagement of this particular council. I want to repeat the message that I think came from other members in so far as that councils around New Zealand should be on notice that this process is not an easy “get out of jail free” clause to get their stuff-ups rectified. Parliament’s tolerance for validation of this kind is extremely limited. But this is “between a rock and a hard place” stuff. Of course the problem that you are faced with is who is going to pay this debt. If it is not the ratepayers of the Kaipara District Council then it is the taxpayers of New Zealand. Neither is at fault but how do you resolve it?Turning to the report of the select committee that select committee has reported back unanimously and it did hear a number of submissions and travel to Maungatūroto. It has unanimously recommended that the bill be passed with amendments. It has also commented on some of the wider issues surrounding the bill and the need for it and I think it is good that that is in the report and that it is written into the record of the debate on this bill. I share the select committee’s hope that this bill will contribute to a resolution of the issues—these longstanding issues—so the council and its ratepayers can move forward.I also appreciate that there is an additional clause in the bill which Mike Sabin referred to—clause 14—so that any person may bring proceedings against any person arising out of or in connection with any actions or omissions associated with matters validated by this legislation. I think that is very very important and will be of comfort to some who want to see those persons held to account.I am also pleased that there is going to be an amnesty. There was an agreement with the Kaipara District Council. As I say a lot of people will still not be happy but it is progress.I also think that the message from the select committee is that if the Controller and Auditor-General finds parties culpable in her report then we—this Parliament Labour and all the members of this House—expect the Government and the council to ensure that those parties are held accountable.Finally I want to acknowledge the residents and ratepayers of Kaipara District particularly the Mangawhai Residents and Ratepayers Association which has been very outspoken. I know they have tried to find constructive solutions and it has been very very difficult for them. I believe that the ratepayers of Kaipara have been through an undeservedly frustrating and difficult few years dealing with this problem. They deserve a council that does better by them than the one that they have had and I hope that this bill is the basis for moving forward so that they can get the kind of support they deserve through their local council.