Garrett David: Rodney District Council Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Garrett David: Rodney District Council Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 21 July 2010. Volume:665;Page:12550. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID GARRETT (ACT) 
: 
 I do not know about the members on the other side of the House but I am a resident of Rodney District and I have been in contact with councillors—or should I say they have been in contact with me—for some time on this whole issue. I want to correct the record. Statements such as “The people of Rodney think this” or “The people of Rodney think that” could not be further from the truth. The best that one can say is that the people of Rodney are highly divided on this issue. It would be fair to say that there are many—and I am happy to admit that I am one of them—who think that the best solution would probably be a split between the Kaipara District Council and the super-city. The question of course is where that split should be. 
I attended select committee hearings where a number of options were considered and put forward such as the northern railway line that runs past my house which would have put me in the Kaipara District and the ridge for the catchment of the Kaipara Harbour which would have put me in the super-city. There was no consensus on that but there was certainly consensus on one thing. Aside from a small number of Rodney District councillors and a few of their supporters—perhaps a few hundred; Mr Clendon talked about the petition and I think he said 600— 
Darien Fenton 
: 6000. 
DAVID GARRETT 
: That would probably be the total number who wanted a unitary authority. 
There are 90000 people in Rodney. I had a meeting with Mayor Penny Webster a former MP as Mr Hawkins noted. She timed it very badly because a few days before the meeting I received an email from a woman in Australia who was complaining about the number of MPs we have to run this place. She asked why we need 122 MPs to run New Zealand when the Greater Melbourne Council has 20 councillors and they have a population of 1.8 million. 
When I went to see the Rodney District Council I made that point. The councillors were rather sheepish. Then I asked them how many fulltime-equivalents they had. I do not want to misrepresent what I heard but it was in excess of 400—400 fulltime-equivalents. I was astounded. Then the mayor said it was a very wide area. I asked whether she had been to Melbourne. I said it takes half a day to get across it by train. 
So the Rodney District Council has 20-odd councillors I think for a population of 90000 and Melbourne is able to manage 1.8 million with the same number. That is a perfect example of why this is a very bad idea. I am not sure whether Ms Fenton has actually been past the great castle in Centreway Road Orewa—the “not to be for much longer” headquarters of the Rodney District Council. It is astounding. It is a huge castle of a building for 90000 people. 
Last year a councillor rang me gave his name which I will not give and told me that the Rodney District Council budgeted $6 million—this is last year—for new vehicles— 
Hon Members 
: How much? 
DAVID GARRETT 
: —it was $6 million—when it knew it was going out of existence in November the following year. That is an absolutely scandalous misuse of ratepayers’ money—and I am one of them. I am a ratepayer in the Rodney District. The Rodney District Council was so dysfunctional some years ago that the Government had to put commissioners in to run it. I believe they were actually physically attacking each other. So as an example of a unitary authority model one could hardly pick a worse one than the Rodney District Council. 
I will end as I started by saying I agree that the community is divided. Many people and I am one of them think that probably—probably—the area should be divided. The area I live in Kaukapakapa is definitely rural. It does not have very much in common with Parnell—in fact nothing thankfully which is why I live there. Most of the people around my area would be much happier with the Kaipara District Council. But the crucial thing is that we will all get a shot in 2013 to make submissions and move the boundary but in the meantime one could not pick a worse example of a council as a unitary authority than this one and any claim that the people of Rodney wish this to happen is simply nonsense. Thank you.