Carter John: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Carter John: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:3251] 
Hon JOHN CARTER (Associate Minister of Local Government) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Speaker. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: He’s much better than David Carter. 
Moana Mackey 
: It’s the great Hon John Carter. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: That is very kind of the members to say so but I think that David Carter is a remarkable member of Parliament actually. 
I just listened with wonder to the input to this debate from Opposition members. I am actually quite staggered and disappointed by the lack of effort they are putting into this issue. If they are genuinely opposed to the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill then they should fight it word for word paragraph for paragraph and clause by clause. But all we are getting from Opposition members is rhetoric saying that they like the suggestion of having one city one system of roading authorities and water supply and one plan and they think there should be a unitary authority across Auckland but they oppose the bill. Well what sort of nonsense is that? You know the Opposition spokesperson on local government is even recorded in the local paper as saying he thinks there should be one city for Auckland across the whole area. Labour members support that idea and they support the report of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance. Incidentally they keep asking how many of us have read the report of the royal commission. They keep asking us but I would like to ask those members how many of them have read it. 
Hon George Hawkins 
: I have. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: Really? 
Hon George Hawkins 
: Yes. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: All the volumes? 
Hon George Hawkins 
: Yes. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: George Hawkins says that he has read all the volumes. I ask how many volumes there are. 
Hon George Hawkins 
: One. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: One? There are actually four volumes. You see he says that he has read it— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: One is the executive summary. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: There is one executive summary and there are four volumes actually. The volumes are there on the back desk and there are actually four volumes— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: You’re counting the executive summary as a volume. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: No no not at all—the executive summary and four volumes. The fact is that those members obviously do not know and have not read the report. 
But the point is that we are here today to talk about this bill going through the House. Those members are saying that it is dreadful that we are putting it through under urgency. But the fact is that this starts the process as we and the Minister of Local Government have said before and it gets the legislation into a position where we can go to the people and say that there will be one city—we do not need any confusion about that—and we are interested in ensuring that there is consultation on the things needed from a local perspective. That is exactly what the Opposition is asking us to do as well. Again the only argument those members have is that we are starting this process by putting this bill through under urgency. They say that if we had not done that they would have had to support it. Well somebody had to start the process. If it had been the Labour Opposition we would have seen another 50 years go by before any action was taken. Those members stand up— 
Paul Quinn 
: Oh they want to stand up in the Committee. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: —yes of course they would—and say that they are worried about the waste. George Hawkins just stood up and said that it was dreadful that some chief executive was getting a $60000 pay increase. Well if he is worried about that sort of stuff surely he wants to support a system that allows us to address those issues. I would have thought that the Opposition would be quite keen to see a system that allowed those things to be looked at and reformed. Surely that is the sort of stuff we want. 
I cannot imagine that George Hawkins enjoys the traffic congestion he has to drive through day after day when he is in Auckland. Surely he wants that sort of stuff fixed—one would think so. Why would he not want to support that sort of stuff? Why would he not want the Government to actually try to fix the cost that Auckland brings upon the people of this nation because of all the difficulties it has? Why would that member—who is a former mayor—not want a system that allowed decisions to be taken across the region? Why would that member not want that sort of stuff? Well the Minister of Local Government the Prime Minister of this country and this Government will provide for that to happen. It is very difficult to argue about. 
Most important while we fix those things that are problems for Auckland and while we fix the structure to allow decisions to be taken affecting infrastructure and the issues that matter on a high scale for Auckland we are also going to allow local people to have their voice in order to allow local democracy to prevail. We will ensure that the functions Waiheke Island residents want will be there. They can tell us what they want and we will put it in there. People can tell us how many wards they want and how many councillors should be elected at large.