Faafoi Kris: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Faafoi Kris: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 27 November 2012. Volume:686;Page:6794. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
KRIS FAAFOI (Labour—Mana) 
: 
 Thank you very much Mr Chairperson for an opportunity to speak to the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill. There might be a manufacturing crisis around New Zealand but there is no manufacturing crisis in Nick Smith’s office because no one manufactures a crisis quite like Nick Smith does. No one manufactures a crisis quite like Nick Smith does. Not content with manufacturing the crisis of ACC and making an absolute mess of that he had to go and have a crack at our local councils. He had to go and have a crack at our local councils. He has thrust upon them that they are wasteful and they are borrowing too much and then he says the Government will do away with the four well-beings. Well no one manufactures a crisis quite like Nick Smith does and because of that we have had this piece of legislation manufactured for us—manufactured for us. 
Nicky Wagner and Nikki Kaye spoke earlier in this debate. Nicky Wagner said that our councils were in a 24-year time warp—a 24-year time warp—and Nikki Kaye said we are out of touch. Well if we are out of touch then so is the public and so are the councils in my area which bitterly oppose this bill. Both the Porirua City Council and the Kapiti Coast District Council oppose this bill bitterly because it is a complete and utter attack on what they do every day; on what they do well. They are being maligned for doing that job and are being told they are spending too much and borrowing too much when the former Minister of Local Government knows too well that that is complete and utter rubbish. As I said no one manufactures a crisis quite like Nick Smith does. It is his modus operandi. He did it with ACC and this bill is all about manufacturing a crisis in local government so he can have a crack. 
Why is he having a crack? I think it was a member of the Green Party—I think it was Eugenie Sage—who said that this is about control. That is what this is all about. The former Minister said that they are a Government that is about less government. Well yes less local government that is what National wants and more central government control because Nick Smith wanted more control over local government and that is what this bill is all about. 
I want to get to the bill itself Part 1 and look at clause 7. This is where the action is at because it replaces section 10 and it removes those four well-beings—those four well-beings being social cultural economic and environmental. The crisis has been manufactured by Mr Smith. He says that because the councils are doing this council budgets are blowing out spending is out of control and budgets are out of control. Well Mr Smith the Kapiti Coast District Council which is within my electorate has said that infrastructure costs make up about 75 percent of its costs and all these social well-beings make up somewhere between 10 and 15 percent. So where is the crisis Mr Smith? Where is the crisis that you say there is—where is the blowout? Where is the blowout? There is no blowout. 
Mr Smith quite happily manufactures this crisis to make it sound like there is a huge crisis in local government but this is not about council budgets blowing out. This is not about the four well-beings. This is about the former Minister when he was the Minister of Local Government— 
Hon Annette King 
: Revenge. 
KRIS FAAFOI 
: —coming to get revenge as the Hon Annette King says and coming to get more control over local government. 
I just want to look at what the Porirua City Council said when it came and made its submission to the Local Government and Environment Committee when the submissions were being held. They did not hold their punches back because their very first paragraph says: “Overall Porirua City Council (PCC) considers that the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (the Bill) is unnecessary”—unnecessary—“undermines local decision-making and creates risks such as deferred infrastructure renewal.” So is that out of touch? Is that out of touch? Is that as Nicky Wagner says a 24-year time warp? Is that a 24-year time warp when Porirua City Council—I believe one of the most progressive councils in this country—says that the bill before us is unnecessary undermines local decision-making and creates risks such as deferred infrastructure renewal? 
So here we have the Porirua City Council saying that this potentially could be negative for its community in terms of making sure it has strong infrastructure something that the former Minister of Local Government says that this bill is all about. So what have we got here? We have got Nick Smith manufacturing another crisis. What is this all about? But it does not stop there. Porirua City Council says it is “concerned about the haste in which this Bill is being introduced the insufficient evidence upon which this is based and the associated risks which are clearly identified in the Better Local Government Regulatory Impact Statement.” So here we go. The Porirua City Council says that this bill is unnecessary undermines local decision-making and is also being rushed through this House in haste. 
So I do not think that is a 24-year time warp. I do not think that is this side of the House being out of touch. I think that this is about this side of the House being well in touch with our councils and our communities which say that this piece of legislation is a crock—is a crock. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: More rates more debt. 
KRIS FAAFOI 
: Oh and here he goes. “Oh boring. Oh boring.” That will go in  
Hansard 
. Well if you think this is boring an attack on local government is not boring to the people out there in our communities. It is not boring to the people in our communities. But hey let us not stop just at the Porirua City Council. Let us also go to look at some facts from the Kapiti Coast District Council because as I said when Nick Smith manufactured this crisis he would have the rest of New Zealand being led to believe that councils around this country were spending about 95 percent of their money on the social well-beings borrowing that money and doing nothing in terms of infrastructure. But I just want to read from the Kapiti Coast District Council submission where on page 3 they said: “All infrastructure and related services account for about 75 percent. In common with other councils our annual plans and long-term plans show expenditure on social environmental and cultural well-beings comprises a small part of the council’s budget—typically 10 to 15 percent for us but is often highly cost-effective in addressing issues at a very local scale.” I just want to repeat that last sentence: “but is often highly cost-effective in addressing issues at a very local scale.” 
David Bennett 
: Oh sit down Kris. 
KRIS FAAFOI 
: The member for Hamilton something over there is going “Argh.” Well he would because when was the last time he went and spoke to his local council about this bill? I am sure they are not happy with him in Hamilton with what the Government is doing with local—I would actually invite the Mayor of Hamilton to give his office a call right now because it is plain to see that that member from Hamilton does not care about what the Hamilton City Council and the Hamilton mayor think about this piece of legislation. 
 Just for the benefit of those at home who may have had that member over there talking over the top of this I want to talk about the four well-beings spending which the Kapiti Coast District Council says is “often highly cost-effective in addressing issues at a very local scale.” This is a serious issue especially for my electorate because Porirua City Council does invest a lot in those four well-beings and it does not want to see this being removed from the legislation. It has invested a lot of time and effort into making sure that it looks after its communities with its village plan. It is something that has been seen around the country as a leading example of a council being very much in touch with its communities making sure that at the very grassroots level people can have input into district plans and long-term plans. So if we take away these four well-beings then I guess the Minister in the chair the Hon Simon Bridges could answer the question as to what happens then. Does the Porirua City Council have no remit to continue the village planning? Does it no longer have a remit to continue some of the work it does to make sure that the youth—and it is a very young city I think it is the youngest city in New Zealand—in its area are looked after? I think these are pretty serious questions for the Minister in the chair. It may be that the former Minister who was responsible for this bill might like to address this in another contribution on this bill because they are questions that many many councils right round the country are asking. 
In conclusion this bill is unnecessary. It removes powers and obligations from councils in relation to things that they are already doing proactively and it is all being done because one man wanted to have a crack at local government. As I say in all seriousness this crisis was manufactured in local government in order for this bill to come through the House. It is a serious attack on democracy. It takes away the grassroots democracy that Kiwis and communities do take very seriously and we do not support it at all. We wish that the Government would have a look at some of the Supplementary Order Papers to improve it because we think that through the select committee process some good amendments have been offered up.