Hawkins George: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Hawkins George: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6426] 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Labour—Manurewa) 
: 
 I will talk about the participation in the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill by the member for Maungakiekie. 
Dr Ashraf Choudhary 
: Who is he? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: He is Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga and he is one of the strong silent types. He is very silent but he is also on the Auckland City Council. I thought he would have had a big part to play in this debate. He would have seen it from both sides. But no we have not heard from that strong silent type. Some of his colleagues tell me that he has not been in Panmure in months. Carol Beaumont has that all sewn up. 
What we really want to know is what is going on in Maungakiekie. We have someone who is an Auckland City councillor who could contribute so much to this legislation but he has been absolutely silent not only in this Chamber but also in the electorate. It is not surprising. I look around and I see two—no it has gone up by 50 percent—three National MPs in the debating chamber. They are really concerned! This is the sort of contempt that the National Government has for this legislation. When we have a look we see that people made submissions and I think it is very important that when people make submissions their member comes to the Chamber and talks about them. I think that the people are being poorly served. Those people want their local boards to have more power and the select committee has gone some way towards that. We are not sure exactly what those extra powers will be but they will be a wee bit more than getting rid of the local rats and things like that. 
Chris Tremain 
: Which particular rats are you talking about? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: Well when I talk about rats I mean the National Party. I am sorry; I must apologise. National members should be here if they care. Why do those members not come into the Chamber and take a call? Of course they will not. They will not get up and say what will happen with wards or with community committees. I bet that the member for Maungakiekie will not say a thing. I would yield now if he came and asked for a call. 
But of course he will not. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: Are they listening? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: He is not listening. In the end the people of Maungakiekie who voted for him have learnt their lesson. They will not vote for him next time. Carol Beaumont will be the MP for Maungakiekie because she has listened to people. She has found out what her community thinks. The member for Maungakiekie at the moment does not say a thing. He says very little at the Auckland City Council meetings when he bothers to attend them. He has worked out how many meetings he has to go to in order to collect his payment from Auckland City. He does barely the minimum. He comes down to the Chamber hides in the National caucus does nothing and says nothing but collects the money. Some people say he is a double-dipper. 
Here is a very important bill in which most Aucklanders are interested. How many Auckland National MPs are here in the Chamber? I must say that Dr Jackie Blue is here and I think it is really good that she has turned up. I look around for others but I would need binoculars to find them. I cannot see any Auckland National MPs ready to jump up and take a call. They are so arrogant that they are not listening. I ask them what we are going to have for wards.