Hipkins Chris: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Hipkins Chris: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
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CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) 
: 
 We have just seen from this National Government one of the most outrageous attempts to shut down debate on a very significant bill the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill. After only 1½ hours of debate the Government wants to shut down the debate. This is a huge bill and it will not be referred to a select committee yet the Government wants to shut down the debate because it is so embarrassed by it. It is absolutely disgraceful. 
I want to talk about one of the amendments put forward by my colleague George Hawkins to amend clause 3 by inserting a new—  
Hon Darren Hughes 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I am sorry to interrupt my colleague the member for Rimutaka but the Minister in charge of the bill the Hon Rodney Hide is present in the Chamber so he should be sitting in the chair. The bill is in his name. Mr Chairperson he should be sitting in the chair alongside you so that the amendments can be debated. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I did not notice the Minister come into the Chamber. We will effect that. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I thank the Hon Darren Hughes for that contribution. I wonder whether he could indicate whether any other members might need to move seats at the present time given that he seems to be interesting himself in such important details. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Sorry I missed what that was about. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. That is a constant state for all of us in regard to Mr Brownlee. I point out that it is expressly stated in the Standing Orders that if the Minister in charge of a bill is present he or she must sit in the chair during the Committee of the whole House stage. That is “Standing Orders 101”—by which I mean a course in the Standing Orders. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: We will now move on. 
CHRIS HIPKINS 
: The amendment that I intend to speak to would insert a new paragraph under clause 3(7)(a) to remove the right of Aucklanders to vote on any reorganisation of Auckland local government which is currently provided for in the Local Government Act 2002. This is very important because we should be transparent about this bill. It effectively removes the right of Aucklanders to have a say in the reorganisation of their local government so we should put a provision in the bill to be very transparent about the fact that this bill does exactly that. 
As my colleague Clayton Cosgrove pointed out people up and down the country will be wondering who is next. I tell members that we have already heard rumours around the Hutt Valley that Paul Quinn the member who was not elected to represent the Hutt Valley but claims to do so has been going up and down saying that he supports a merger of the Upper Hutt and the Lower Hutt city councils. We know that this bill is part of the National Government’s wider agenda to merge local authorities around the country to create super-councils all over the country. We should be very clear that this bill establishes a precedent that says that local people should not get a say on local authority reorganisation because that is exactly what this bill does. 
Hone Harawira talked a few moments ago about the fact that this bill affects 50 percent of the Maori population. That is a good point and I am very pleased that the Maori Party is opposing this bill. But I am a little confused because the Maori Party voted in favour of the urgency motion to push this bill through all of its stages without it being referred to a select committee. So I am a little bit confused about the Maori Party’s position. 
A few other comments have been made about this bill. It is a sad day for democracy that this bill is being rammed through the House and already the National Government is trying to shut down debate on it. That comes after the outrageous abuse of parliamentary process that we saw from the National Government yesterday over the Waterview Connection in Mt Albert. 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: Shameful! 
CHRIS HIPKINS 
: It was absolutely shameful. The Government deliberately released the announcement on the Waterview Connection seconds after the Speaker had ruled that an urgent debate was out of the question. It was a matter of seconds. The Government deliberately timed the release of that information to avoid any parliamentary scrutiny. Now it is trying to shut down parliamentary scrutiny of the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill and I think it is absolutely outrageous. 
I return to my comments on the Hutt Valley and the fact that Government member Paul Quinn appears to be in favour of the merger of the two local authorities in the Hutt Valley. It is part of the National Government’s wider agenda to do away with local representation local community organisations and local government agencies within the Hutt Valley. The Government is trying to merge the Upper Hutt Police District and the Lower Hutt Police District. That does not require legislation so the Commissioner of Police is allowed to go ahead and try to merge those districts without any transparency. In spite of National’s claim prior to the election that it was going to concentrate on front-line police resourcing it is trying to strip senior police resources out of the Hutt Valley. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. This bill has nothing to do with the rearrangement of police services. Mr Hipkins has spent at least 3 minutes discussing that particular issue. It is very hard to see how the debate can continue if such extraordinarily extraneous matters are being brought into it. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I am sorry. My focus has been on putting the amendments in order so I have not been paying the degree of attention that I should have been. I apologise to the Committee. Members know that in the debate on a part of a bill they are required to speak to that part. It is not a wide-ranging debate. I ask the member to continue and to refer his comments to the part under debate. 
CHRIS HIPKINS 
: Speaking to the point of order. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I have already dealt with the point of order. 
CHRIS HIPKINS 
: I will continue my speech. I clarify that I was referring specifically to the amendment put forward in the name of George Hawkins to amend clause 3(7) by inserting a new provision in the Local Government Act. I was making brief reference to the National Government’s proposal to merge the Upper Hutt Police District and the Lower Hutt Police District to illustrate the point that this Government is interested in merging things in local areas without giving the people a chance to have their say. The Government should be transparent about that and should not try to hide behind a procedure that allows it to shut down debate as it has been trying to do today. But that is another example of the born-to-rule Tory arrogance that we see from the National Government. Government members have stood up and said that the people of Auckland had a chance to have their say in November last year they elected a National Government and therefore National can do whatever it likes.