Kaye Nikki: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Kaye Nikki: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6567] 
NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) 
: 
 The Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill was to be historic legislation for Auckland offering tremendous opportunity not just for the people of Auckland but also for the people of New Zealand. The Auckland Governance Legislation Committee did not hear just from Aucklanders. The members of the committee had a day in Wellington to hear from people there and we heard people from other parts of New Zealand. Although we are here to deliver a strong regional entity for the people of Auckland which they have never had in the last 50 years and although we are here to deliver strong units of local representation we are also here to be able to put a model in place that we can stand up and say with our hands on our hearts could work in other parts of New Zealand. That is not to say it is up to us to make that decision; it is up to people in other parts of New Zealand to decide whether they want to have change in their areas. I am proud to stand to support legislation that is supported by the Opposition in terms of providing for one unitary authority that is supported by the Opposition in terms of providing for local boards and that is supported by the Opposition in terms of providing for the funding of those local boards in order to give them decent functions and powers. 
But the debate that we have had has not been about this historic day for Auckland it has not been about the public transport system that we want to fix it has not been about Auckland’s urban design that desperately needs to be better and it has not been about the lost opportunities to attract major events which we will finally maybe get. There has been a whole lot of scaremongering from members on the other side of the Chamber. We have seen this in the provisions around the protection of the sale of assets for which there is a clear provision within the Local Government Act 2002 in section 97. We have seen this in the amendments that Opposition members have put up about a Social Issues Board when know that Paula Bennett has already established one. We have seen this when the Opposition talked about mammoth costs which they have absolutely no evidence of. The point I would make about that relates to the cost of delay. Aucklanders have been waiting for this step. The previous Labour Government set up the royal commission because it did not want to make a decision. Aucklanders have been waiting for this for not just 10 years; they have been waiting for this for over 50 years. Finally we have had 18 months of a royal commission looking at the issue with 3500 submissions made to it and we have had a select committee process in which 2500 submissions were made. What exactly would the Labour Opposition want to see happen? 
We have had over 2½ years of consultation but now it is time to make a decision and sometimes decisions can be hard. But I am confident and I know the Labour Party agrees with me on this that we will finally deliver a strong regional entity to the people of Auckland we will finally deliver some local boards that will have real functions and powers and we will finally deliver to those communities a real say over local issues. I am proud to support this legislation. I am proud to be in this Chamber on a historic day for Auckland talking about the opportunities that have been lost and the opportunities that Aucklanders will be able to take in the future. It is sad that we are looking at Opposition members on the other side of the Chamber unable to stand up and say they actually agree with us on those issues. There are areas where we disagree but actually a lot of those areas are not in this legislation. I am proud to stand here to support this legislation which provides for one regional entity for Auckland and a system of strong local representation. This is a historic day for Auckland. Thank you.