Cunliffe David: Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill — First Reading 
Cunliffe David: Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:642;Page:12052] 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 I commend the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill to the House and seek the House’s support for its referral to the select committee. 
While many talk about the need for the kind of cultural amenities that this bill specifies I think we owe it to Judith Tizard to commend her for the initiative she has taken in putting this bill together and getting the support required to get it to the House. The bill addresses as our colleague Dr Worth has said some of the fundamental issues that must be considered in any attempt to fund regional institutions. I would not demur too much at the shopping list of issues he has put forward to the House. 
The first issue is whether it is appropriate to have regional funding for regional bodies. I think there is a fair degree of consensus in the House that it is appropriate that regional institutions receive regional funding. It is also appropriate as he has intimated that people understand the gap—which is required to be filled—between the revenue streams that are currently available for those regional institutions that are needed and the funding that is required to be able to provide them and that the gap might need to be closed by other means. That is a perfectly fair question to ask. The second issue is not just who should be on the list of members of the funding board but how the list should be put together and amended over time and what governance arrangements are appropriate. That of course bears upon questions of consultation which other members have raised and which will be important to members from the Auckland region and important to members from around the country as they seek to get a sense of whether the bill has any value as a precedent for other parts of the country. 
Auckland is to some degree at least a special case. It is our only super-city. It has a number of subsidiary full-scale cities and there is a need for coordination between them. Its future is important to all of New Zealand. We know from international research that an appropriate cultural setting is essential in order to locate the talented internationally mobile creative people who drive innovation and economic transformation as well as build our national identity. So we need to do this in some form. 
Without wanting to pre-empt the work of the select committee I say that this bill is a good start in terms of the criteria that are espoused in it and in terms of the mechanism involving the electoral college and the other bodies that will administer who is on the list and who comes off it. I know that the select committee will consider a wide range of input. That is perfectly appropriate and I think the Hon Judith Tizard would support consideration being given to whether the starting list is the final list or whether the criteria need fine-tuning. That is a job for the select committee and I look forward to the select committee’s report. 
I commend this bill to the House. I hope that some west Auckland views will be expressed at the select committee and we look forward to seeing how they are handled as well. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: Where is west Auckland? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: Just west of central Auckland I say to the Minister from Christchurch—not a city that requires much of a compass bearing but a lovely city none the less. I have said quite enough; I commend this bill to the House.