Hide Rodney: Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill — Procedure Second Reading Third Reading 
Hide Rodney: Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill — Procedure Second Reading Third Reading 
[Volume:649;Page:18039] 
RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of the ACT party to also support the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill but I have to say that we are very disappointed that New Zealand First is not supporting it. I believe it is the only party in the House not to support this bill. It is true that if we took the Spencer Trust and rolled that into these amenities we would not need this bill; there would be enough money there to fund all these facilities. But without New Zealand First doing that I am afraid that that is not possible. 
I ask those people who object to this bill to ask themselves what it is they want to close. Is it the Auckland Observatory and Planetarium the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust the Auckland Theatre Company the New Zealand National Maritime Museum the Coastguard Northern Region the Opera New Zealand or perhaps the Surf Life Saving Northern Region? Perhaps it is the Auckland Festival Trust or WaterSafe Auckland. They are the organisations that are to be funded by this bill and if people say that they do not want those organisations to fall over then they have to ask themselves what an equitable funding mechanism is. Is New Zealand First saying “Oh well we want to keep all those but the only fair way of doing it is to tax and rate just those in Auckland City.”? But as I read through the list I think that everyone—I guess everyone bar Dail Jones—can see that these are regional facilities. And if they are regional facilities is it not fair and equitable that they be funded regionally? I know that Dail Jones might think that it is quite clever given he is from New Zealand First to live on the North Shore and travel across the bridge to enjoy everything for free while other people pay—which seems to be a New Zealand First sort of habit—but I think that it is fair and equitable that the region pays for these regional facilities and this is what this bill allows. 
So yes it is a difficult one. But I just make this observation too: I do not think that it is right to put this bill under a review. I think that that is too tough for the organisations concerned because how can they plan if in 3 4 5 years looming over them is a potential change to the mechanism by which they are funded? 
Mark Blumsky 
: It’s the mechanism not the funding. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Well the mechanism is the funding. That is how we get the money. What we do have is a royal commission into the organisation at the local government level of Auckland and I suspect from that will flow a different approach. But just to say that we will have a review of this puts these organisations back on to tenterhooks which is what we are trying to get away from. 
I would also say that it is hard to imagine Dail Jones wanting to fund himself as an MP in the way that he expects say Surf Life Saving Northern Region in Auckland to be funded which would mean that Mr Dail Jones would have to fund his MP activities from the good people of North Shore only. I think that Dail Jones would rather tax everyone he serves—right through New Zealand God forbid! It is also very hard to imagine Dail Jones not actually having some certainty about his funding as an MP. 
John Hayes 
: There’s no certainty about his future. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Well he has no certainty about his future; that is true. But do members see my point? What we are talking about with regard to these organisations is some certainty and some secure funding on an equitable basis. 
I will close by saying that it is good to see that we have such agreement in this House—and the bit of disagreement that we have will not be here after the election so it will not be a problem. I would like to thank the many many people who have worked for many many years to get this bill here. That work is the unsung work of people who support organisations that we all enjoy and that we all benefit from and I do not think that those people get sufficient recognition. I would like to place that on record on behalf of the whole House because we all live in communities where people give up their time and make sacrifices for the things we enjoy. In particular I would single out Mr Don Trott who I know has put such an enormous amount of time and energy into this bill. I know on behalf of Auckland that he will be very very proud today to see this bill becoming an Act of Parliament. Thank you.