Mackey Moana:  
Mackey Moana:  
[Volume:654;Page:91] 
MOANA MACKEY (Labour) 
: 
 I am pleased to stand and take a call on Part 3 of the very very rotten Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill. I listened to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance who came and gave a speech earlier bemoaning the fact that he was not able to go home to his electorate and save people from being made redundant because he was being forced to stay at work in Parliament. This is the man who has been fiddling while Rome burns. This is the man who more than anyone else in this Parliament could single-handedly do something to stop people being made redundant yet he has done nothing. He gave a full third of tax cuts to the top 3 percent of New Zealanders and in this part of the bill he is trying to give them a council as well. The Minister is trying to give his mates a council and Labour says that that is not appropriate. It is anti-democratic and we will fight it all the way. 
We know that National MPs have been leading by example and working a 4-day fortnight so they are really angry that they have to be here doing some work. However the fact is that if National members wanted to end this debate now they could agree to send the bill to a select committee and to let the people of Auckland have their say and we could all go home to our areas our appointments and our work. We are here because they will not do that. National members are scared of the people of Auckland having their say and they have no one to blame but themselves for the fact that we will be here this week and next week. 
Labour is putting forward an amendment that says that when the Minister of Local Government decides whom he will hand-pick and put on to the Auckland Transition Authority he has to consult with stakeholders and interested parties. Let us face it: this authority will basically be the council for the people of the Auckland region for the next 18 months. It seems only fair that Aucklanders are consulted about who their new councillors will be because their previous councillors and mayors will effectively be made redundant. The people whom Aucklanders voted in 18 months ago will effectively be made redundant. Those councillors and mayors went through a democratic process. They put themselves through an election campaign. They stood for office thinking that they would get a 3-year term that they would be able to make funding and spending decisions and that they would be able to make decisions for their area. This week the National Government said no. It thinks it knows better than them so it will hand-pick a transitional authority that will run Auckland for the next 18 months. 
Members would have seen in the newspaper today that an Auckland council said it would have to get permission from this transitional authority in order to buy toilet paper. That is how ridiculous the arrangement will be. 
Hon Member 
: What if they say no? 
MOANA MACKEY 
: Call us quaint but the Labour members ask what happens if the authority says no. It is a very good point. We know that Mr Rodney Hide and the National members do not want these councils to have the ability to protect their assets for the next 18 months or to pass rules that protect their staff and assets. They want to stop all the councils’ powers this week in this Parliament so that the councils cannot do those things before Mr Hide and Mr English set up an authority which their mates will run to control Auckland. It is absolutely shameful that this is happening. 
I point out to members an advertisement in the  
New Zealand Herald  
that has a tiny little House of Representatives crest which means that taxpayer money has been used. Maybe this money could instead have been used to advertise select committee hearings for the people of Auckland so they can actually have their say. I notice that the latest meeting in this advertisement is on 11 June. The Labour Opposition says that it is happy to stay in urgency until 11 June so that all these advertised meetings can be held while this bill is being debated. We will stay in urgency until 11 June so that when Dr Jackie Blue holds a meeting in Three Kings this bill will not have been rammed through Parliament. It is ridiculous to have public meetings after the legislation has been passed and to use taxpayers’ money to pay for the advertisement. The National Government thinks that kind of process is fine. The National Government thinks that kind of process is democratic. 
Labour members say that National members can whinge all they want about being here and having to work hard to stick up for anti-democratic legislation but we will hold them to account. This is the only debate in this country on this legislation. The bill is Draconian; Part 3 is anti-democratic. This is the only debate and we will fight because no one else is being given the opportunity to do so.