Smith Nick: Local Government Law Reform Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
Smith Nick: Local Government Law Reform Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
[Volume:616;Page:12480] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 This bill should be called the “Chris Carter Fix Up the Botch-up Bill” because it is all about fixing legislation that the Minister was responsible for that has subsequently been found to be seriously in error. I have to say we told him so. Members on this side of the House told the Minister time and time again that when he forced through changes under urgency in many cases and always in a rush it was inevitable that there would be mistakes and so it has proved to be. 
But not only did the Minister botch once he has botched again. Only last year there was new dog control legislation and here is Parliament less than a year later having to patch up his mess. One would think he would learn eventually but today the Minister introduced two more bills that he wants passed with a far more rapid timetable. I say to the Minister that members accept he can make a mistake once but they also expect him to learn from his mistakes and to stop this process of throwing bills before the House rushing them through and making more and more mistakes. 
I will go through some of those specific mistakes in some detail but I also want to point out what should be in this bill but is not. The biggest issue for ratepayers and councils throughout New Zealand is increased costs that this Government is dumping on ratepayers and councils all over New Zealand. There have been the prostitution laws the gambling laws the dog control laws the buildings laws and today there have been announcements about the foreshore and seabed—new laws that will again dump costs on councils and ratepayers. 
I want to draw this fact to members’ attention: in this past year rates and council expenditure grew by 9.3 percent. That is six times the inflation rate. I say to the Minister that that is a disgrace. It is a direct consequence of the sort of legislation this Government has rammed through Parliament and sent the bill for to the ratepayer. What those figures show is that rating costs and expenditure by councils has increased by six times the rate of inflation. Six times the rate of inflation is the cost that is being imposed on New Zealand families and businesses because of the sort of legislation being advanced by Chris Carter as the Minister of Local Government. There is increased bureaucracy increased numbers of bureaucrats and increased costs and this Minister and Government simply do not care. 
I will now go through quite specifically the botches made in previous legislation that members are now being expected to repair. The first of those issues is in respect of local government elections. There is a problem that the Minister has known about for all of the last 12 months. Councils drew to his attention the problem of mayors and council candidates not being able to stand for both positions; yet Parliament is being asked to rush through those changes. There are problems in the Electoral Act with scrutiny of the rolls. There are problems with the bill that was passed by this Government in respect of STV voting. This Government rushed through Parliament changes involving STV and mucked up the detail and without this bill our local government elections in October would be a mess. 
Do members know how many changes there are in local government legislation that have to be patched up by this bill? There are not one not two not three but eight changes that Parliament now has to make to the Local Government Act 2002 that was rushed through prior to Christmas. How many times does it take for this Government to learn that rushing through legislation in the pre-Christmas period inevitably ends up with mistakes that end up costing? There are problems for port companies that have to be fixed problems in respect of annual report requirements problems with the casting vote problems with voting in councils problems with trade waste by-laws problems in respect of quorums— 
Hon John Tamihere 
: You talk about the problems. What about the solutions? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Well Mr Tamihere why did this Government not get the legislation right the first time? 
Hon John Tamihere 
: Don’t know. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Mr Tamihere does not know. He is paid a ministerial salary. The Minister of Local Government should have got it right the first time. He was one of the members who voted for urgency and for the Local Government Act to be rushed through with all of those mistakes. There are mistakes with long-term community plans and local government decision-making requirements. There are even mistakes with dealing with disaster relief; an area that I would suggest is critical for us to get correct. There are mistakes in respect of the information that is required for council-controlled organisations. 
Then there is the other legislation that was rushed through by the Hon Chris Carter. I do not know of any legislation passed by Chris Carter that Parliament has not had to go back and fix within 12 months. There was the Local Government (Rating) Act which was also passed under that Minister. There is a botch-up in respect of information from rating records. New Zealanders thought they could get information from their councils about rating records but the Minister botched it up caused huge costs and huge inconvenience to New Zealanders and now the House is being asked to fix it up in a rush. There is a botch-up in respect of postponed rates that members have to fix up and then there is the dog control legislation. Members will all remember that—it was not even 12 months ago. Members on this side of the House—I also credit the ACT party and the New Zealand First Party—said to the Minister: “Look you are rushing it. You are going to make mistakes.” The Minister assured the House: “No trust us. It is all OK.” It has not been 12 months and I say to the Minister that there is not just one mistake there are five mistakes in the dog control legislation that he was responsible for bringing through this House less than 12 months ago. 
There are problems with probationary owners and infringement notices. And how about this one? If somebody manages to get his or her dog out of a pound there are not even the enforcement powers to return those dogs back to the pound such are the deficiencies in the law for which Mr Chris Carter was responsible. 
The Minister could not get the Local Government Act 2002 the Local Electoral Act the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act the Local Government (Rating) Act or the Dog Control Act right all of which he was responsible for administering. In five out of five Acts there are mistakes that he wants the House to patch up in a rush. The Minister owes the House an apology. Members on this side of the House pointed out to the Minister at the time that he was rushing legislation and making mistakes and inevitably we were proved correct. I ask the Prime Minister how long she can maintain a ministerial warrant for a Minister of Local Government who did not just get it wrong once but twice three four and five times. There has to be a time when the Minister’s warrant is up. 
I ask the Minister why having made those mistakes on that rushed legislation he introduced earlier today new important legislation that he also expects to rush. I will bet the very best bottle of Nelson wine that the Minister will have to admit and concede that he erred and stuffed up again and the House will again be asked to fix up his mistakes. On behalf of Parliament I say to the Minister that it is not good enough and that he should learn from his mistakes. This bill is an absolute embarrassment to him and his colleagues. He owes it to Parliament to get his legislation right and not to continuously expect ratepayers to pick up the bill for his botch-ups.