Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6516] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 May I start by acknowledging the Hon John Carter who thankfully is the Minister in the chair this evening. I acknowledge him first for his leadership of the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee and secondly for the way he has conducted himself not only here in the Chamber but also across Auckland as he has consulted with various groups and parties. May I also acknowledge the role of the Hon Rodney Hide and the work that he has done in bringing the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill to the Chamber and for bringing his ideas vision and values to Auckland City. I also acknowledge my colleagues who sat on the select committee and listened to the people of Auckland as well as my colleagues from across the aisle and my Green Party and ACT colleagues who also went through the select committee process. 
I will now go back to first principles. Auckland City—that is what this is bill is about. It is about Auckland City and its people. It is about Auckland City and the place it has been in the past the two beautiful harbours that we have and its fertile lands. It is about Auckland City being the prime driver of New Zealand’s economy. It is about a city that is rich in history and in many of the things we value as New Zealanders. 
But Auckland is a city that is underperforming and is bogged down in red tape. It is a city where transport projects have been delayed over a number of years. It is a city where development and social cohesion have been prevented because of the structure and functions of the various councils across Auckland City. The issue is about having multiple agencies having to play a role in one simple consent. It is about having seven long-term capital and community plans. It is about having seven mayors and seven departments that handle resource consents with different rules different applications of by-laws and different by-laws. 
This bill is about bringing Auckland under one banner. It is about having one leader with one vision for the future of this city and this country. Whoever that leader may be—whether it be Mr Banks or Mr Brown—it will be a leader who will have a proven record and credibility for delivering for the people of Auckland City. 
I will now turn to the issue of consultation and to what many here have described as listening to the people of Auckland City. I personally held four meetings with the Hon John Carter across my electorate the electorate of Maungakiekie. The meetings were largely positive where the people of Maungakiekie said that they wanted a united city. They said that they wanted a single vision but they wanted local representation and local boards to achieve what the people want done in their local areas. 
This process is about listening. All the members here have talked about listening yet they do not have a definition for it. I looked it up. “Listen” is defined as to “make an effort to hear something” and “to hark; to attend; to hear; to note”. To listen is not to ignore it is not about scorn and it is not about disregard which is what the Labour Party are talking about. To listen does not mean to bow to the demands of a rabble-rousing minority. It does not mean that. 
We have heard in the Committee the scaremongering that comes from the Labour Party. The fact is that Labour members actually agree with most of this bill but they sit there then they stand and attack. New Zealand and Auckland are fed up with that type of attitude. People are fed up with the negativity. They are fed up with the political games and with people going to Australia to dig up dirt on other politicians. New Zealanders voted last November and they said that they were fed up with Labour. They want a Government that they can trust. They want a Government that they can have confidence in. That Government is a John Key - led Government. 
Let us turn to local boards. The fact that we are having local boards declares that if there is one single clear message then it is about getting the “local” back into the local community. That is why we have responded by saying that we will give local bodies some budgets. We will give them some resources. We will give them some control over what goes on in local communities. 
There has been a lot of talk in the last 24 hours about leadership. We have the Mayor of Auckland the Hon John Banks who has been a Minister of the Crown. He has delivered to the citizens and ratepayers of Auckland City. He has delivered on policies because what he says is what he means. He has delivered on low rates rises that are consistent with inflation. They are not 30 percent rate rises like those proposed in the last city vision that Labour had for local government in Auckland City. The people of Auckland City have said that they were fed up with that. Tax-and-spend liberals—that is what they are fed up with. 
This measure will be about leadership it will be about credibility and it will be about the leadership and vision needed to lead Auckland City into the future. That is why I stand in support of this bill. Thank you.