Prasad Rajen: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Prasad Rajen: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6527] 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD (Labour) 
: 
 It is very clear that Nikki Kaye and John Carter are the dour salespersons for this particular bill. As they keep doing that with such intensity we do not see quite the full story coming out. But before I get into that I have to say that my good friend Mr Paul Quinn clearly has not read anything to do with this particular area nor is he aware of what is in the royal commission’s report. He did ask repeatedly a few minutes ago what social well-being is. Well I want him to go and read page 204 of the royal commission’s report. 
Paul Quinn 
: Tell me what that means. 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD 
: Social well-being is defined as “those aspects of life that society collectively agrees are important for a person’s happiness quality of life and welfare”. That includes the member’s. I do not know what Mr Quinn is doing here if he does not know what that means. He should try to understand what it is. 
Paul Quinn 
: What is it? 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD 
: I think it is the minimum expectation of those who might have voted for him. They would expect him to understand what “social well-being” is. It is what we do day in and day out in this Chamber. For the member to say: “What is it?”  and not understand it is really quite a sad state of affairs. If the member shouted less from the back of the Chamber and read a bit more he might get there. 
It is clear that the Government refuses to accept that this side of the Chamber has a number of fundamental difficulties with the bill as reported— 
Nikki Kaye 
: What are they? 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD 
: If the member is patient I will tell her. She has been asking what they are all evening. She is displaying her inability to listen to what we have been trying to say. What is more the member should really try to recall what they are. But for her benefit I shall repeat them. Labour members have been saying time and time again that we have to get the participation right. The bill does not have the participation right. We have been saying the Government has to get the powers of the boards right and it has not got them right. The Government has to get the social issues right but it has not got them right. The Government has to get the issue of Maori seats right but it has not got them right. The member forgets all those things. 
But let me turn to what is more fundamental and that is the social issues. I hope Mr Quinn is listening. 
Paul Quinn 
: I am—intently. 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD 
: Well if he is quiet he will understand better. Auckland is a city of 1.4 million people. It is diverse ethnically and in every other way. It is diverse socially culturally and geographically. The double-dipping member will soon understand what I am talking about—if he is able to do that. Any city of that size ought to have a governance structure that addresses the well-being of its citizens explicitly. The report so far does not do that. Members ought to know that the expectation of every person who submitted on social issues bar one was that social issues should be a priority of the Auckland Council. So what did the royal commission do? It spent a significant amount of time on this particular issue and this is what the royal commissioners said: for Auckland to become a world-class city—and I ask Mr Quinn to listen very carefully—“improved social well-being outcomes are critical.” Without improved social well-being outcomes Auckland will not be a great world-leading city. 
So what did the royal commission do? It produced a report that tells us all of the social issues that Auckland has to deal with. It would pay members opposite to be a little generous and a little better informed about the real potential of the partnership between local government and central government to address social issues in Auckland. It is all very well during an election campaign for a party to say it will be tough on crime etc; when the opportunity comes to really do something more fundamental about those who miss out and the social issues board really has the opportunity to do that it fails.