Carter John: Business of Select Committees — Appointments 
Carter John: Business of Select Committees — Appointments 
[Volume:654;Page:3186] 
Hon JOHN CARTER (Associate Minister of Local Government) 
: 
 One of the interesting things about this debate and the debates that will follow is the air of disappointment from the Opposition at what this Government is doing. That is because when the royal commission submitted its findings to the Government and then the Government responded some 10 days later the first things we heard were that the Government was ramming things through with no consultation and that this dreadful Government would pass these bills in the dead of night rough riding all over democracy and the people of Auckland. All of a sudden much to their dismay the opponents of this bill—the likes of the Green Party the Labour Party and others who have made a fist of opposing it—are suddenly finding that that is not what this Government is doing at all. In fact all we are doing today with this first bill is starting the process. The legislation merely says a couple of things. It says there will be one unitary authority for Auckland and there will be a transition committee to ensure that there is smooth progress towards the 2010 election and beyond. Other than that the first bill actually does little else. Although Sue Kedgley has exaggerated—as unfortunately those who oppose bills tend to do—the power of the transition committee the committee will have the opportunity to oversee the decisions of the local authorities that are currently in Auckland but it will not interfere unless the local authorities do something outside of the norm. 
As long as the local authorities have provided for the proposals they are to undertake under the long-term community council plans then they will be entitled to continue with that. The only time the transition committee would have a view is if it was something that was going to be detrimental and if it was an extraordinary decision made by the local authorities. The second bill gives a whole lot of opportunities to people in Auckland and across the country if they wish to make comment and submissions to the Government on how Auckland should look. That is why we are setting up a special select committee today. I put these facts into this debate: no matter what we had done no matter what the Prime Minister had done and no matter what the Minister of Local Government Rodney Hide had done we would have been criticised for it. If we had said that we accepted the royal commission’s report but we will not make any decisions for 3 or 4 years while we consider it or if we had said we would not make any decisions for 12 months while we consider it we would have been criticised by the Labour Party and by the Greens for not acting fast enough. If we had said that we would refer the matter to the Local Government and Environment Committee we would have been criticised and those members would have said that we need a special select committee. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Ruining representation! 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: We think this is such an important matter that even people like Shane Jones should be pleased that we will have a special select committee. Of course what worries those members is that this Government is finally allowing democracy to take place. We will allow the people of Auckland to make their point of view known. [ 
Interruption 
] I say to those members who are interjecting that there are a number of things that need to be considered. Most of the views of the people in Auckland that are useful can be accommodated. 
I know that the next speaker from Labour will stand up and say a whole lot of things are not in the bill and a whole lot of things might happen. That is exactly the very point of having a select committee. That is why the bill is in the shape it is. It allows for the people of Auckland to have an input and for us to consider those things. I am certain that during the time of the select committee hearings on the second and third bills this Government will be able to accommodate a lot of those things. 
Let me give an example of the sort of thing that might happen because I know that George Hawkins will be interested in this comment—even if his colleagues who are interjecting do not care. One of the things we are interested to learn from the public of Auckland is what they think the functions of the local board should be. I will explain the difference between a community board and a local board. We will prescribe in legislation the functions of local boards. We will not leave it up to the unitary authority to delegate. Although the authority will have the right to do so we will prescribe in legislation the functions that those boards can undertake. Therefore it is likely that the people of Waiheke who will have a local board may well have a different need or view on what its functions should be as opposed to the people from for example Howick or Waitakere. We need to consider how to accommodate that. For example we may—but it is yet to be decided—say: “Here is a whole list of functions that are prescribed in the legislation that the local board could do.” but at the end of the day the boards will make that choice. For example if out on Waiheke we put that one of the functions prescribed is— 
Hon Shane Jones 
: They won’t have any money. Who will fund it? 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: I wonder whether the member might just listen to this because it is actually quite important. He is not used to listening or worrying about things that are important. Let us say that one of the important things that is prescribed is swimming pools. One community may not have a swimming pool or a local board may not have a swimming pool in its area. It would not want that as a function so it would negotiate with the unitary authority as to what functions are relevant to it. Therefore we will end up with boards carrying out functions that their people want at a local level. That is the point with this exercise. We will put the “local” back into local government. One of the people who asked for that to be done is none other than the member who is about to speak George Hawkins. He said that we must put the “local” back into local government and he is dead right. The Prime Minister supports that the Minister of Local Government Rodney Hide supports that I certainly support that and I know that this Government supports that. We are having this select committee to allow the public of Auckland to make their point of view known to allow their local views to be represented and to allow them to have a say in the local issues that are important them. 
It is very easy for Opposition members to yell a lot and make a lot of silly comments but they are not making any constructive comments. This Government is taking this matter very seriously. We intend to ensure that the voice of Auckland is heard and it will be. There is a second bill that will go to the select committee and people will have the right to have an input on it. There is a third bill that people will again have a right to make submissions on alongside the Local Government Commission which will be carrying out its work. People will be able to make submissions. 
The silly thing is that those Opposition members are saying that we should have a referendum. I ask them what the wording would be. What would it be if we said: “Maybe we should ask Aucklanders whether they want better local government?” I wonder what the answer to that would be. I imagine the referendum would be overwhelmingly in support of that but the criticism would be that we got the wording wrong. That is the point with a referendum—what would the question be? If we did not get it right then the people would not be engaged in it. It is a far better system to have a special select committee that allows the public of Auckland to have their voice. I am confident that we will be able to accommodate most of the sensible suggestions put forward by the people of Auckland. 
I am looking forward to the next few months as we make progress on this matter in the face of those Opposition members who have nothing better to do than oppose oppose oppose. That is unfortunate.