Ngaro Alfred: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 3) — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 3) — Second Reading[Sitting date: 16 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9856. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National): I rise to take a call on the Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 3) in its second reading. As the sponsor of this private member’s bill it is an honour to be able to speak tonight to its second reading in the House. Can I acknowledge the Local Government and Environment Committee chairperson Scott Simpson—I was about to say the “Hon” Scott Simpson; he is an honourable member—and also his deputy chair Todd Muller who was there as well. Thank you to all the other members of the select committee—Kris Faafoi: Anyone else?ALFRED NGARO: Sorry no you are right there Mr Faafoi. I should read out those members. Yes there was Paul Foster-Bell Matt Doocey Joanne Hayes Nuk Korako Ron Mark Todd Muller. Mr Faafoi you are not on there; I thought you were calling out your name.Kris Faafoi: I’m on the Government Administration Committee.ALFRED NGARO: Ha ha! I do want to acknowledge and thank them for that.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! And we will have a bit less from the other side. We have a slight problem. The member has a duty at the beginning of a speech and that is to move the motion. I suggest the member does it.ALFRED NGARO: Apologies. I move That the Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 3)be now read a second time.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Thank you.Hon Ruth Dyson: But don’t start again.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): No he does not get extra time for fouling up.ALFRED NGARO: Ha ha! I just want to acknowledge that when it came into the select committee there were 17 written submissions on the bill. One of those submissions was actually acknowledged in two parts. Out of that there were 10 submissions that were positively in favour five that were in support with the appeal to make some amendments and only three that were opposed. Those three that were opposed were from those who were currently members of more than one local board.This bill in its intent aims to address a loophole in the current legislation that allows local board members in Auckland to serve on two or more local boards. When a person serves on more than one local board there is a real potential for conflicts of interest. Local boards are important to the democratic process and this bill protects their integrity.In support of that intent I would like to read from the Auckland Council’s submission. In its submission I think it actually addresses this issue quite succinctly. On page 3 of its submission in section 7 paragraph 11 it declares this: “Membership of more than one local board at a time has the potential to create the perception of conflicts of interest as local boards are required to represent local interests in their area. Experience has shown that board members have heavy workloads particularly the full time chairperson role. It is currently possible for a successful candidate to chair one local board and sit as a member of another. Membership of multiple boards potentially reduces the ability of the person concerned to effectively represent the views and preferences of their different local communities.”In that regard we believe that this is important. I do know that the member who is not here the member Phil Twyford also talked about—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order!ALFRED NGARO: Sorry Mr Assistant Speaker. There is a member who did talk about the intent in support of that. He too would like to put forward a bill that addresses this very loophole. I know that he has also been in support of this.Paragraph 12 of the Auckland Council submission—I think that is important too. I just want to quickly summarise the point here: “We suggest that the elected members should be able to sit on one local board only at a time and support the proposed amendments to the LGACA to reflect this. This would ensure full representation in all local boards and areas.”We believe it is important that full representation be available to all communities. I know that currently we have now had two terms of the Auckland Council and those on local boards. What has been encouraging to see is the widespread representation. I want to acknowledge that in the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki ward—in fact we have the councillor Denise Krum who was down here but we also had two friends of mine—Josephine Bartley and also Chris Makoare who had the opportunity to gain representation as elected members of their local boards. I believe that is a good example—that when we ensure that there is an opportunity for others to represent their local communities this becomes important as well.I just want to talk about some of the key provisions that are in the bill. The bill provides that candidates standing for multiple local boards must provide a written notice to the electoral officer specifying the local boards they are seeking election to and the ranking in order of priority that would apply if the candidate was elected to more than one local board. And I think that is important because then that gives a clear indication to voters that though they may be seeking election to different local boards actually their priority would be for a specific area as well. Candidates must also identify their priority in rankings in their candidate profile statements.I believe also that one thing that did come up in discussion on the clause was that we wanted to ensure that once this bill was gazetted and given the assent—we think it is important and it has come up through submissions—there was not a retrospective element to the bill. So those who are currently serving on two or more local boards are not impacted by this. The bill provides that nothing new affects the current membership of any person who is a member of more than one local board as well.My comments are brief at this moment. I think that we have covered a number of the key issues that are inside this. I just want to finish off my comments by talking about the importance of the local boards and the roles that they play in local government. They can negotiate local service standards manage local facilities—parks and local events—draw up local board plans promote local leadership identify and propose local bylaws input into the council-controlled organisations and economic development plans. They have a budget with autonomous decision-making and authority over $1 in every $4 of council’s core budget spent in their local area. So that delegation of authority becomes important to be able to ensure that they spend procure and allocate in the appropriate areas. Certainly I know that in the local boards in our area we have seen that happen.I do commend this bill in its second reading to the House. I look forward to the other comments of other members. My sense is that there is widespread support. It is not a big bill. It is not a controversial bill but it is one that we think is important to at the heart of it allow for greater representation throughout the Auckland area in particular for those in our communities who represent the interests of our local communities as well. I commend this bill to the House.