Upston Louise: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Upston Louise: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10710] 
LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupo) 
: 
 I am delighted to rise to speak in support of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill. As my very able chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee Mr Auchinvole said: “Good local government is essential for our communities our economy and our environment.” As Mr Auchinvole very ably led the Local Government and Environment Committee I am very proud to follow him in supporting this local government amendment bill. 
The bill of course amends the 2002 principal Act and the three principles that members will hear again in this speech will be “improving transparency” “accountability” and “financial management”. The previous Labour speaker Phil Twyford did say that Labour was supportive of those three principles so I am very pleased about that. 
The National Government values an honest and open working relationship with the local government sector. We recognise that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to local government. We understand that communities up and down New Zealand are different; even within an electorate they are different. I will demonstrate this for a moment by talking about the Taupo electorate. 
When we look at the case of the Waipa District Council we see that this year it is hosting the World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro in November. This event will be the biggest sporting event in New Zealand since the 1990 Commonwealth Games. The council will be significantly involved. Last week the South Waikato District Council signed a $3.4 million contract for the New Zealand Cycle Trail project in respect of the Waikato River Trail. It will ensure that the last 41 kilometres of the cycleway is completed in time for the World Rowing Championships. 
The Taupo District Council—a very different council again—has recently been awarded accreditation as an International Safe Community. The World Health Organisation has examined Taupo and its commitment to safer communities. Taupo is known as a wonderful tourist destination and the accreditation will boost our image. The Government the Minister of Local Government Rodney Hide and the Associate Minister of Local Government John Carter understand that there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach to local government. We keep the “local” in local government. 
I remind members that this bill is about transparency accountability and financial management. The Local Government and Environment Committee worked incredibly well together last year on simplifying and streamlining legislation in the reform of the Resource Management Act. It is fair to say that we work well together at simplifying and streamlining things and this bill is another example of that. I know that we will be working together to reduce costs and waste in local government. 
This bill works on two different levels. First on a strategic level the bill aims to change the way that local authorities set their direction and the way this can be influenced and assessed by their communities. There are several provisions in the bill. I will not cover all of them and I defiantly will not dedicate 90 percent of this speech to issues to do with water. Some members of the Opposition seem to have forgotten the main issue of strategic changes which this bill will reform. One change that I think is really important is the introduction of a pre-election report which will encourage and inform the debate during the elections. It means that voters will have better information on which they can base their decisions. It will introduce a financial strategy to the long-term council community plan and it will help local communities and authorities debate and resolve the key financial and service delivery trade-offs that they have to make. 
At the second level are the operational reforms. The bill aims to simplify decision-making processes. A couple of these changes include the removal of unnecessary auditing. If members talk to local councillors up and down the country they will find that that is an area of financial waste that they would rather do without. The bill will remove unnecessary auditing by taking a number of operational policies out of the long-term council community plan. It will also level the playing field to better enable the private sector to deliver local authority services. 
Local government is essential for our communities our economy and our environment. We on this side of the House recognise that there is not one size that will fit all. We recognise the differences in our councils up and down the country. I have given examples of three different councils in the Taupo electorate and things that are important to them. This bill is about improving transparency accountability and financial management. Ultimately it will make councils nationwide far more accountable for their actions. That is what ratepayers want what local politicians want and what the National Government wants.