Sepuloni Carmel: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Sepuloni Carmel: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6432] 
CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour) 
: 
 Before I get into what I want to discuss I point out that the Government decided that this matter was so urgent that we needed to deal with it under urgency so I find it rather shocking that none of the Government members are standing to take calls. This is the second time the Government has put the House into urgency to deal with this particular issue. I find it rather concerning that none of the Government members finds it urgent enough for them to stand up and debate it robustly in the Chamber. I think the New Zealand public would be interested to know that those members do not find this issue is as urgent as they would like the public to think it is. 
With that in mind I would like to refer back to what the previous speaker Te Ururoa Flavell was talking about—Maori representation. I was part of the group that marched in support of Maori seats on the Auckland Council and one thing struck me. I was left wondering why we continually have to have protests over things like that when we would think that they would be automatically granted under the Treaty of Waitangi. The constant battle by Maori and others who support this request for Maori representation is completely unnecessary. What we will find is that 1 year 2 years or 3 years down the track Maori seats will be granted and we will look back at this time and wonder why the Minister of Local Government Rodney Hide made it so difficult. Why did he have to incite protests from the New Zealand public when it was something that should have been granted in the first place? I look forward to that time. It may not be now; it may be 2 or 3 years down the track it may be when the Labour Government is back in power it may be 4 or 5 years down the track but I look forward to the time when I can turn to Mr Rodney Hide and say: “Now the right thing has been done. Why didn’t you do it in the first place?’. 
I want to touch on the voting system in respect of what is being pushed through in the bill. The bill proposes that first-past-the-post voting system be used to elect the mayor councillors and local board members in spite of many submissions to the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee saying that preferential voting would deliver fairer more representative results. The concern that some people have expressed to me is that some of our people who are less politically savvy might struggle with a preferential voting system but I think it is important that whatever voting system we implement it is one that ensures that people’s votes actually count—that people place their votes and that they count. The last thing we want is a mayor who is elected by only 20 percent of the Auckland region. That would hardly be representative of what the Auckland region wants. We need a voting system that ensures that the votes of all Aucklanders count in some way. 
Some people have talked to me about their concern that some people may find it difficult to understand what is required of them in respect of a preferential voting system. But there is nothing to stop Auckland from putting some sort of education system in place so that we can ensure that in the lead-up to the local elections Aucklanders are aware of how the particular voting system works. I cannot understand why therefore we are left with a voting system that could potentially give us a mayor who is elected by only 20 percent—perhaps even less—of the Auckland voting public. We on this side of the Chamber believe that ensuring that candidates win by majorities and that fewer votes are wasted will deliver more legitimacy and is likely to lead to increased voter participation. 
Preferential voting—for instance the single transferable vote system—also delivers more diverse representation. If the Government decides not to include Maori seats on the council that issue becomes even more urgent but it is also important to encourage candidates from other ethnic minorities including Pasifika and Asian people as well as from other important interest groups like youth and the disabled.