Twyford Phil: Franklin District Council (Contribution to Funding of Museums) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Twyford Phil: Franklin District Council (Contribution to Funding of Museums) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1666] 
PHIL TWYFORD (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to speak to the Franklin District Council (Contribution to Funding of Museums) Amendment Bill and I say at the outset that Labour supports this bill after extensive negotiations and consultation. It is an uncontroversial attempt to address some of the anomalies in the law that have seen some ratepayers in Franklin unfairly penalised. As the member for Hunua rightly said they are subject to a double whammy of rates for services both in the Waikato and in Auckland. This situation has arisen because Franklin lies between the Auckland Regional Council area and that of Environment Waikato. I think approximately half of Franklin’s residents live on the Auckland side and the other half on the Waikato side. We know that when elephants mate the grass can get well and truly trampled and no doubt that is how the residents of Franklin feel about this issue. I am not sure that internecine warfare is about to break out in Franklin—I certainly hope not; it may well when the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Auckland Governance is released at the end of this month—but hopefully this bill will go some way towards staving off the threat of internecine warfare. 
Some councils in Auckland had to be dragged kicking and screaming along with certain members on the other side of the House to pay their fair share for certain important regional amenities—and the member for North Shore will know what I am talking about; he voted for the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill in the face of considerable local opposition I would imagine. Certain regional amenities in Auckland like the observatory and planetarium the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust Opera New Zealand and the New Zealand National Maritime Museum are very important organisations. All these fantastic organisations were supported by the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Act yet as I said many Auckland councils had to be dragged kicking and screaming. 
On the face of that it is an unfair irony that some of the good ratepayers of Franklin have ended up paying twice for regional amenities in Auckland. I am talking about the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Museum of Transport and Technology. It is not an insubstantial amount of money. For the 2008-09 year Franklin was levied $755000 for the Auckland War Memorial Museum—a fine institution—and a further $290000 for the Museum of Transport and Technology. Of that money 28 percent or approximately $299000 came from Waikato ratepayers. That is not an insubstantial amount. The intent of this bill from the member for Hunua is that Franklin ratepayers who live outside Auckland and inside Environment Waikato’s boundaries no longer carry that burden. It is fair and reasonable and that is why Labour is supporting this bill. Franklin ratepayers living on the Auckland side of the district have not suffered the same burden. They have not been levied for Waikato amenities. 
As spokesperson on Auckland issues and an Auckland-based MP I am keen to support this bill in the interests of soothing any potential resentment against Auckland or Aucklanders—fearful of the prospect of internecine warfare breaking out. Such feelings will no doubt become more sensitive as we approach the delivery of the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Auckland Governance and the member for North Shore knows what I am talking about. It might be worth reflecting for a moment on this issue of boundaries and how vexing they are for people living in and around Auckland. The royal commission’s report is very eagerly awaited and expectations have been raised by a very fine panel of commissioners who over the last year or so have been hearing submissions engaging in dialogue and travelling internationally. In fact the report is so eagerly awaited that there is a growing tide of resentment that the National Government apparently intends to hold on to the report of the royal commission for up to 2 weeks so it can politically massage and manage the public reception of the findings. I know that Auckland’s citizens and ratepayers and the elected leaders of Auckland are keen to see that report and to have a proper public debate about it because it is important. It is important for our democracy and it is important for Auckland. I am concerned that the Government at this stage intends holding on to the report and coming up with its own formulations so it can compromise the public debate that will follow its release. 
The very situation that has imposed on some Franklin ratepayers the unjust burden that this bill seeks to lift—that is being sandwiched between Auckland and the Waikato like some kind of pre - World War II Poland—places the Franklin District Council in a very interesting position with regard to the impending changes coming down the barrel. The Franklin District Council wants to remain a separate and independent entity—separate from Auckland. Franklin treasures its rural status. We can drive through the district of Franklin and see the vege stalls on the side of the road; it is no urban latte-sipping community. The council in its submission to the royal commission argues that Franklin is rural and it wants to stay that way. It does not want a bar of Auckland. It proposes and in this it is backed by Environment Waikato that the Auckland regional boundaries be pushed northwards leaving Franklin entirely within the area of Environment Waikato and free from the clutches of evil Auckland. 
On the other hand the Auckland Regional Council makes the argument and I think it is a good argument that if the region is to successfully manage growth it is essential that both the urban area and the peri-urban area are managed in an integrated manner. In a city the size of Auckland there is always intense pressure to develop the rural green areas on the fringes of the city. With limited tools to manage this growth there is likely to be continued and intensified pressure on district councils like the Franklin District Council—and the Rodney District Council is in a very similar situation. With a likelihood that this National Government in a misguided approach to the issue of metropolitan urban limits will free up more land for housing in a misguided hope that that will somehow make housing more affordable this pressure on Franklin will get worse. I raise this matter because the issue of boundaries has caused the very problem this bill sets out to fix. I believe we are bound to be back here before very long to debate the issue of boundaries as the royal commission’s report is released. [ 
Interruption 
] I do not know when it will be released; I am not sure. Maybe there are some colleagues in the House tonight who can tell us when the Government will release the royal commission’s report. I know that the people of Auckland which includes the people of Franklin are very keen to see that report. 
The museums of Auckland which some members on the other side of the House will probably find themselves in as political relics one day have benefited handsomely from these legislative anomalies. Goodness knows the museums could do with a few bob. It is a shame that some of the residents and ratepayers of Franklin have had to subsidise this activity. I note that the bill does not give Franklin’s Waikato ratepayers a refund for their contribution in recent years. I wonder why. The ratepayers of Franklin deserve our thanks for that. I commend this bill to the House and Labour will support it.