Goldsmith Paul: Local Government (Salary Moderation) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Goldsmith Paul: Local Government (Salary Moderation) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 15 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4458. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to speak on this bill the Local Government (Salary Moderation) Amendment Bill. To be honest I would be happy to support this bill if it was the “Local Government (Rates Moderation) Amendment Bill”. But that is not what we have got. We have got only the Local Government (Salary Moderation) Amendment Bill. If it was rates moderation I would be very in favour of this bill because that is the biggest issue that we are facing up in Auckland particularly at the moment with rates going through the roof in Epsom—10 percent a year—year upon year upon year. It does not matter so much how much money the chief executive officer is getting in his or her bank but by how much the rates that people face are rising that we are concerned about and that is what this Government is focused upon. 
In Auckland we do have a real issue. The current mayor can blame all sorts of things for that but there are two drivers that are driving rates up to unaffordable levels whereby people—particularly those on fixed incomes in some parts of the city—are finding it difficult to make ends meet. The first of the two drivers is spending—undisciplined continual spending. The Government has got its spending under control and is focused on getting back to surplus. Households around the city and around the country are readjusting their spending habits. They are saving more and responding to the global situation. But unfortunately too many councils in this country have not quite got the message. They continue to go on increasing spending by 10 percent or 15 percent each year as if somehow the households can afford to pay it. So we need to adjust ourselves to the situation. 
The second driver of course—in Auckland particularly—is the way that the rates have been organised with a very very low uniform charge which has put so much emphasis on to property valuations. That has driven huge rate increases into areas such as the North Shore which some members here should be worried about. 
Looking at this bill which is really just a diversion and is not dealing with any of the broad issues in local government that are about controlling spending it is a piece of nonsense that we will not be supporting. I would urge the House—and I would urge Annette King who has a great interest in local government—to pay more attention and focus more on the issue that householders are concerned about which is rates and getting them under control and to focus on some of those basics that we need to focus on there. One of the main areas that we are going to be dealing with over the next few weeks is focusing local government back on some of the core activities and not getting so carried away with the four well-beings which have been a charter for the massive growth in spending in local government over the last decade since the 2002 legislation. So I am looking forward to hearing Annette King explain to us what is going to be happening there. 
Thank you very much. I would so much like to have had the opportunity to show some bipartisan spirit and to have supported Mrs King in her legislation here but unfortunately—like I say if it was the “Local Government (Rates Moderation) Amendment Bill” I would be very supportive. But it is not so I have to stand opposed to it. Thank you.