Goldsmith Paul: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Goldsmith Paul: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 12 June 2012. Volume:680;Page:2862. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) 
: 
 I rise to support this bill the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill. It is interesting hearing the other side talk of manufacturing a crisis. I think Mr Parker will struggle in Epsom next time if he turns up and says that there is no crisis in local government. People are a little concerned that their rates are going to be going up 30 percent over the next 3 years thanks to the efforts of the left-wing mayor Len Brown and his council.  
This is a timely bill. Local government is important. We have heard the figures: 4 percent of the economy spending about $7.5 billion annually controlling $100 billion— 
Hon David Parker 
: I seek leave to table the audit accounts for Auckland City Council showing that John Banks when last— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Order! We are not going to interrupt a speech for tabling. Any tabling is done— 
Hon David Parker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am within my rights under Standing Orders to take a point of order seeking to table a document. What Standing Order are you relying upon to tell me that I am out of order?  
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I am telling the member that it is the convention of the House that we do not interrupt speeches to table documents and I will uphold that convention.  
Hon David Parker 
: Speaking to the point of order— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: No I have already ruled on it. The member will resume his seat.  
Hon David Parker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.  
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Is this a separate point of order?  
Hon David Parker 
: I am very rare in my intervention in the course of a speech to table a document but I do have the ability to do it under the Standing Orders. I do not abuse that privilege and I am within the Standing Orders. I suggest— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Order! The member will resume his seat. I have ruled quite clearly that if the member wants to do that he can do that after the member has concluded his speech. He will not interrupt a member and that is the convention of this House.  
Andrew Williams 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Just in relation to this— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: No look I have ruled on this matter. The member will resume his seat.  
Andrew Williams 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.  
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I will hear the member but if he is pressuring me he may well leave the Chamber.  
Andrew Williams 
: No I am not pressuring you. What I am saying is that the honourable member on the other side of the House made comments in reference to the current Auckland Council that were misleading— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Order! That is not a point of order. It is a debating point. You cannot debate an issue through a point of order.  
PAUL GOLDSMITH 
: There was nothing misleading about talking about 30 percent increases in rates and I am continuing in my speech. We need a local government sector that is productive and efficient and the effects are much broader than the 4 percent of the economy. It impacts on the costs of housing the effectiveness of transport and the ease of doing business in a city or a region.  
Local government can absolutely be a force of good. My neighbourhood is well served by good footpaths roads and libraries and the Auckland Art Gallery makes a wonderful contribution to this city—yes but local government like everything else has to fit with the times. Like central government we need to deliver excellent services to New Zealanders within tight financial constraints. This Government has just now brought through its second zero Budget. Households all around this country are looking for ways to look for savings asking questions like “Do we absolutely need to be doing this?” and sorting out their finances.  
But the message has not filtered through to local government yet. In fact it has been on steroids since 2002 when the council roles were expanded to promoting these four well-beings that we hear so much about: social economic environmental and cultural. Since 2002 we have seen council debt quadruple from $2 billion to $8 billion. At the same time council rates have gone up on average 7 percent per year far outstripping inflation. In Auckland we have seen huge growth in this particular new council’s budget; the new rates are expected to increase by nearly 15 percent over the next 3 years.  
I mean if ever members of the House wanted a case in point on this when this document arrived I thought it was a fancy art book from Germany but indeed it turned out to be the Auckland Plan—a wonderful very expensive-looking document. Then you look through at what this council is going to be doing in this comprehensive plan. Look at some of the sorts of things we are going to be doing: we are going to be ensuring that by 2017 all preschool children receive all Well Child checks including a B4 School check and are up to date with child immunisation. That is crucial for local government! We are going to reduce the rate of total criminal offences per 10000 and there are going to be no gaps between the life expectancy of European Maori Pacific and Asian ethnicities by 2014. Thank goodness my rates are going to focus on that! Then if we look over here at strategic direction No. 9 we are going to “Reduce the proportion of people living in households requiring at least one extra bedroom from 15.7% in 2006 to 10% by 2040.” Well that is a marvellous piece of work from the council. Finally if we look here we find that health services and facilities of all care types will be aligned across all Auckland and will ensure that all Auckland children can access primary schools within 30 minutes. There are all sorts of things that this council is focused on that in this Government’s estimation are far beyond what we should be focusing on in local government and they are things that are dealt with by this enormous collection of taxes that central government has. That is where we need to be focusing on what central government does and let local government focus on the essentials of what local government does.  
Through this bill the councils’ core values and roles are to be focused on local infrastructure regulatory functions and public services. If we look at the legislation and the new purpose local government is required “to meet the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure local public services and performance of regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses.” That I believe will be very important in sending a message about the kind of attitude to how local governments go about their business which is about being cost-effective.  
Finally I just want to make the point before we go on at great length that this is the first part in a longer programme of reform. The second part will be looking at the Local Government Efficiency Taskforce work which is just getting under way at the moment and it will be developing an interface. We will also be looking at the use of development contributions which I think have got somewhat out of control in the last decade as well.  
There is a lot of work to be done in local government. It is a very important part of the government sector and of the New Zealand economy. It can be more efficient it needs to be more productive and I think that this is evidence of how the sector has lost its way a little bit in my perception. This bill will go some way to rectifying that and getting it into a more streamlined sector of the economy. I support this bill. Thank you.