Cunliffe David: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — First Reading 
Cunliffe David: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — First Reading 
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Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) 
: 
 I begin tonight by thanking the parliamentary staff who have stayed with us right through the proceedings of the last week. I would like to recognise the messengers our security staff those who have looked after us and those who have fed us. We have had a few long hours because this is an issue we all care about. [ 
Interruption 
] Members opposite may laugh. 
I will give a little geography lesson about Auckland. There is a road called Dominion Road—Crowded House wrote a song about it—and it runs pretty much right down the middle of the isthmus south of Queen Street. To the east of that road as the eye turns to the east—past the bronze statue on Manukau Road of Rodney Hide on his charger— and out to the valleys and dales of Remuera and Glendowie where Don Brash used to live it votes blue. It votes blue out in those hills. That is where the old money lives but I say to Gerry Brownlee that he would not know about that. We turn our eyes to the west and that is where the real people live. They vote Labour more often than not. Those people are pretty damn angry at the moment. 
This bill is not about us—it is not about members in this House. It is not about the tag wrestle it is not about the pet names—[ 
Interruption 
]—and it is not about the members who have come back to the House tired and emotional I say to Mr Quinn. It is about the thousands of Aucklanders who are watching tonight and wondering why this is happening. The people have in their gut a strong feeling that something has been taken away from them this week—some sense of history some sense of identity be it as residents of Waitakere or of the proud North Shore like its mayor or of Manukau City. We might laugh and call each other names but at the end of the day we know that the people will have the last say. 
It is true that the Government has stolen the cities of Auckland. It did not need to do it. We needed an integrated regional body and the royal commission delivered it. But the royal commission did not ask us to steal the cities. It said we should preserve the cities but make them work leaner and better. The Government could have done that but it chose not to. What it did say was that it would consult Aucklanders but it did not. The Government did not consult Aucklanders on the royal commission it did not consult them on the bill and it has not been back to Auckland. 
The Government says that this bill is going to a select committee. That would make a change! I wonder whether the Government will give the submissioners more time than they gave the submissioners on the changes to the Resource Management Act. There is a lot of quiet anger out in New Zealand about that process too. 
The Government has stacked the deck to keep its mates in power. That is the part I cannot get over. There are eight at-large councillors. If people do not have quarter of a million dollars for a mail drop they should not apply. It is only for the rich and famous. Nineteen out of 20 councillors historically have been white men from Remuera with a lot of money to spend. That will go down in west Auckland like the proverbial bucket of sick because westies will not stand for it. Sam Lotu-Iiga and I am using his proper name thinks it is funny for now but there is a little clause in the other bill that guarantees he can have a quiet retirement from Auckland City without calling a by-election. That is an outrage—while we are on the subject. 
There will be eight at-large councillors and by my reckoning that means Waitakere City will get two. So 200000 people will be represented by two councillors. That area is twice the size of a general electorate in a general election. That is not democracy as Aucklanders know it it is not democracy as they care about it and it is not democracy as they will vote to exercise it. 
The next issue is the cost. If the Minister of Local Government is so confident that this is in the interests of Aucklanders why does he not come clean and tell ratepayers how much it will cost them? We had to go to Auckland University for independent analysis and the cost—I say to the ladies and gentlemen out there—is $750 extra per ratepayer on average. That is what it will cost to fund the transition to make Rodney Hide the “Emperor of Auckland” with his mate John Banks. At $750 each and with four people in most households the cost to each household will be $3000 extra. Ratepayers might get it back over 20 years but right now they are paying for the political escapades of Rodney Hide and John Banks. We are not enjoying it; nor will they. 
Here we are after a week of pretty heavy going in the House. We have had some fun too and members may have noticed that our team has enjoyed itself. We are seeing National at its bulldozing worst. it is bulldozing the democratic institutions of Auckland. 
I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think you know the song about interjections being rare reasonable and hopefully even witty. I observe that the former Leader of the House is none of those three and it would be good if I could carry on with the speech. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: That is a good point. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Michael Cullen is not actually here. He is the former Leader of the House. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: No; I will rule on this. We are getting near the end of a very hectic 3 days and it has become quite raucous. We have had a very robust debate over the 3 days. But I ask members to give respect to the member on his feet. Cross-interjections should be rare and reasonable. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: Look it is not about me or us; it is about the people of Auckland and they care about this bill. I ask members to think about them as they do this to them. 
We are saying that the arrogance of top-down government does not sit well with New Zealanders. Kiwis are fair and decent people but they are independent people. They got away from being the servants of the British Empire or some foreign Government and they came here for a new life. They came here because they wanted to be able to decide for themselves how to live that new life. They will not appreciate Rodney Hide taking away democracy in Auckland. Although of course the Government can pass this bill just as it passed the other one the people will have the final say. The many people who are watching tonight will remember this. 
Out west we had a little community meeting on a cold wet Monday night and 250 people turned up. That was not by accident. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Where were you? Back in front of the heater in Herne Bay? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: I say to Mr Brownlee that I was there. Two days’ notice was given of a march in Henderson and 1000 people turned up. They do not do that for no reason. A hikoi will bring the kaumatua of the north and the south together in Auckland and I think we need to take notice of that. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: The patronising member from Herne Bay. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: I say to Mr Brownlee that there are some political lessons. One of those is not to leave House procedure to the so-called Leader of the House. Forty-eight hours of debate and thousands of amendments after he had said we would be out of here we finally concluded the other bill. The second lesson— 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I want to know why that lazy Opposition could not take us right through to Budget day as David Cunliffe promised. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: I am getting to that. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: OK. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: I will carry on with my speech because that in fact was my next point. When Gerry Brownlee is in trouble he turns to the cavalry from the north. “Hone Carter” might not look flash but he trotted over the hill just in time to save Gerry’s bacon from a humiliating defeat. Let us hear it for John Carter tonight! He should have been the Leader of the House. 
Of course the most important lesson of the week is the lesson for John Key—amongst others he has probably learnt—and that is not to delegate something as sensitive as this to Rodney Hide and expect that everything will be OK. It is one thing to treat a minor party as expendable and it is one thing to come to politics as though it is a corporation where one can just delegate to someone and if it does not work out one can sack that person but politics does not work like that because Kiwis remember. 
The analysts out there in media-land are saying that John Key has over-delegated this one. He has let Mr Hide run it and Mr Hide has run into a buzz saw of public anger and a buzz saw of opposition in the House which was good-spirited but none the less determined. One hopes that Mr Key has learnt some other lessons this week such as the fact that there is no way he can stop Melissa Lee from putting both feet in her mouth even if he Velcros her to Jonathan Coleman. There are other lessons too. He should not rub his finance Minister’s face in it and still think they can look unified at Budget time and he should not count out an energised Labour - Green - Maori Party coalition because members might be seeing another one in the future and it might be sitting on that side of the House. 
If Mr Hide thinks people are angry he should keep his stumpy little bling-encrusted fingers off our city because we care about Aucklanders and Aucklanders care about Greater Auckland and the cities that make it up. I also advise him not to count his chickens. 
Paul Quinn 
: Hallelujah! 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: There is also a lesson for the member from Wainuiomata Paul Quinn. When he has had a good time it is best to stay out of the House after tea. That is the lesson for the member from Wainuiomata. 
Here is the final lesson for the future. If members have rammed through governance reform like this to make the way clear for Mr Lotu-Iiga to finally have one job when other people are looking for them and if members think they have paved the way for John Banks to ride into the Auckland Council they should remember that Aucklanders make up their own minds. Every Aucklander at that city’s next election poll will identify John Banks with the bill that stole their cities and they will say: “If there is one way we can protest against this bulldozing National Government it is to make sure that ‘Banksie’ is not the mega-mayor.” So this debate does not finish tonight and it does not finish this year. The fight-back starts now.