Hayes John: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee 
Hayes John: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6396] 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
: 
 I would like to take the Committee back to comments made by Ross Robertson because he made an absolutely factual inconsistency in error. He referred to the Mayor of Franklin District Mark Ball as being opposed to the southern border drawn by the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill and by the Minister of Local Government and his associate. I have to tell the Committee that if they looked at yesterday’s  
New Zealand Herald  
they would see that Mark Ball was absolutely united in his support for the place where the line is being drawn. 
I would like to take the Committee back about 10 years to the first Knowledge Wave conference. I think I was probably one of the very few people in this Parliament who was actually in attendance at that meeting. That Knowledge Wave conference which was organised by the Labour Party and by the then Prime Minister Helen Clark came up with the recommendation that if this country was to drive forward if we were to aspire to the salaries and to the living standards of people in Australia we had to have a truly Pacific city in New Zealand that would compete with Sydney and Brisbane. About that there is no argument. I want to commend Wairarapa constituent Dame Margaret Bazley who was one of the commissioners on the royal commission that looked into this issue and commend her for the wonderful job that she and her fellow commissioners did. I also want to congratulate Rodney Hide the Minister of Local Government and especially John Carter the Associate Minister of Local Government for the excellent job that they have done. They have listened to the people unlike the Labour Government which had 9 years following the Knowledge Wave conference to actually implement the findings of that conference and did nothing. The Labour Government wasted the space. This Government has been in place for 9 months and here we are now taking decisions on this bill. 
What I think is particularly useful about this bill which will have subsequent application in the Wairarapa electorate is the regional spread and the support it gives to community interests. This bill will create a unified Auckland Council as per the Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Act of 2009. There will be a mayor and there will be 20 elected councillors. What is most important though is that there will be local boards. It is the local boards that will have the real authority as part of this legislation. Certainly we have to look at the overall organisation of the Auckland area. We have to make sure that there is no traffic congestion. We have to make sure that sewerage and water are properly attended to. We have to ensure that Auckland is a vibrant progressive forward-moving city of world class. At the same time we have to remember that local people have serious community interests. So it is important that we have local boards that will engage in democratic decision-making by and on behalf of communities in their area. I think that local committees will better enable the promotion of the social economic environmental and cultural well-being of communities within the local board area. 
I see this legislation as having application in my electorate particularly in the southern area of the Wairarapa where from Mount Bruce south we have three councils and 29 councillors looking after 38000 people. We need to follow this Auckland model in the Wairarapa because it will bring huge efficiencies to our particular area and it will streamline the administration of our local bodies. If we follow this Auckland model we will continue to allow the expression of parochial interests. Local people will be able to make sure that the council will consider the views and preferences expressed by the small local bodies and the decision-making power allocated to them by the council. I think it will be really important for the local communities to identify and to communicate the views of each entity that makes up that huge Auckland super-city. 
It is really important that those councils get involved in local by-laws and that they engage in protecting local parks particular trees of significance and other recreational facilities. I see that local boards will be involved in planning and determining the priorities and wishes of communities regarding non-regulatory activities and local boards must consult their communities by preparing a local board plan. I see this having absolute application again in the Wairarapa and maybe further to the north into the Central Hawke’s Bay area where we have similar issues involving Dannevirke Hastings Napier and right through to Wairoa. We have to look at how we can construct forward-looking local governance and local administration. 
It is really important that in this legislation we allocate decision making to local boards. It is envisaged that in the legislation the council and the local boards will enter into agreements whereby the responsibility for a particular decision or class of decisions will be allocated between the Auckland Council and the local boards so that there are clear lines of responsibility and accountability. Decision making for a non-regulatory activity has to be allocated to the local board. That is what the legislation provides for unless the decision affects a broader area or issue and therefore is not suitable for allocation to a single local board or council. Again I see this as being exactly how a system could operate in the Wairarapa where there would be an overall council and then separate small entities that would run for example Martinborough Featherston Greytown Carterton and Masterton and also give expression to those living in the rural hinterland. At the moment many of those people are shut out from our decision-making process and it is important that we bring them in. 
The bill is very good because local boards will have to monitor the implementation of their agreement with the council and this must be included in annual council reports. The council will be required by the legislation to set a code of conduct which is something our political colleagues across the Committee could think about and which will apply to each member of the local board. The council may delegate any of its responsibilities to the local boards within certain criteria. The Auckland Transition Agency will initially delegate powers and disputes tribunals and will establish ongoing negotiations between the council and the boards. The bill is particularly fine legislation. Again I congratulate the Minister his deputy and his colleagues like Nikki Kaye Simon Bridges Sam Lotu-Iiga and Amy Adams who worked very very hard on the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee. With those few words I say again that I support the bill on behalf of the people of the Wairarapa. Thank you.