Hide Rodney: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — Second Reading 
Hide Rodney: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6339] 
Hon RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I move  
That the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill be now read a second time 
. This bill continues Parliament’s work of creating a new Auckland Council. It is the second of three bills that I have brought or am bringing before Parliament. Together they will help to resolve the decades-old problems with Auckland’s local governance. The first bill I introduced is now the Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Act 2009. This second bill continues the process of moving the eight existing councils in the Auckland region into one Auckland Council. The third bill which I will bring to the House later this year will complete the legislative framework for ongoing arrangements in Auckland’s future governance and will finalise the arrangements for moving from the old to the new Greater Auckland. 
The report back by the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee on the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill is a further step towards Auckland becoming a world-class city supported by effective local government with one mayor one council and one plan. I acknowledge the select committee for all its work on the bill especially its chair the Hon John Carter. Under his leadership substantial agreement was achieved on many major points such as the role of the mayor election from wards and the local boards. The committee was supported by Auckland citizens ratepayers and organisations who made some 2500 submissions. As well as thanking the committee for its fine work I thank each person who made a submission. We said we would listen and we have. The bill is much better as a result of that. I would also like to thank the Department of Internal Affairs for its support to the committee and indeed for the Government through this process. I believe the amendments proposed by the select committee will strengthen the bill and further the Government’s goal of creating a prosperous world-class city. 
I want to briefly outline the main amendments. They cover the roles functions and decision-making responsibilities of the councils and local boards; the roles and functions of the council’s governing body made up of the mayor and 20 councillors; the voting system to be used for the first elections in October 2010; the powers and functions of the Local Government Commission in establishing the number of local boards; the boundaries of the city and the region; and the integration of water and wastewater services by Watercare Services Ltd. 
The select committee received a number of submissions on the need to strengthen the role of local boards in the decision-making processes of the new council. The Government has produced and is pleased to support a set of excellent recommendations in this area. Under these recommendations local boards will be responsible for developing a local board plan to reflect the priorities and preferences of their communities for council services and facilities. The boards will use these plans to establish agreements with the governing body. This will cover levels of service and local boards’ funding requirements. The mayor and councillors will be responsible for ensuring the agreement reached with each local board in respect of local services and the facilities is implemented. The boards will control the budgets they need to function appropriately and effectively in their communities. The amendments will provide that the mayor and the councillors and the councils’ local boards will work together and have distinct roles rather than operate in a hierarchical relationship. 
The Government supports the recommendations of the select committee on voting systems. The mayor will be elected by the electors of Auckland as a whole using the first-past-the-post voting system for the first election in 2010. All 20 councillors will be elected from single member or multi-member wards also under first past the post in the first election next year. No councillors will be elected at large. Aucklanders will be able to decide for themselves whether they want to switch to a single transferable vote or retain the first-past-the-post voting system in the following elections. 
The select committee recommends that the mayor and councillors be responsible for making decisions on matters where an Auckland-wide approach will best promote the well-being of communities across Auckland and be most efficient for the administration of council business. This includes the administration and enforcement of the council’s statutory responsibilities for resource management building code requirements and public health and civil defence arrangements across the region. The mayor and councillors will also be responsible for financial and asset management and the staff and resources of the council and maintaining the capacity of the council to provide services and the facilities across the region. 
When preparing strategies policies plans or by-laws the governing body will be required to consult with local boards and to take into account the views expressed by each local board on behalf of its community. All other decision making on services and facilities is the responsibility of local boards. The local boards will have responsibility for decisions on local issues and will be able to reflect the particular character and preferences of their communities. Local boards will be able to propose by-laws specifically for their board areas in order to reflect the particular needs of their communities. 
The Government is pleased that the committee has recommended new provisions that specify and clarify the responsibilities of the mayor the councillors and the local boards. I believe those recommendations will ensure the local boards will be able to represent and advocate strongly for the needs and concerns of local communities and allow those communities to have a say in decisions affecting them. They will have real local authority. The governing body of the mayor and councillors will be responsible for regionally important decisions and the local boards will make decisions for their local communities. There will be one council with two decision-making bodies working side by side each with its own role and responsibilities. 
This bill requires the Local Government Commission to determine the boundaries of Auckland and its wards and local boards by 1 March 2010. The select committee has responded to the large number of submissions around the boundaries of Auckland and the concern that rural areas not be included in the urban Auckland area. The bill provides direction to the commission about the southern boundary of Auckland. The select committee recommended that similar direction be given over the northern boundary. The select committee recommended that the urban and partly urban areas of both the Rodney and Franklin districts should fall within the Auckland boundary. Because of the distance nature and interest of the areas of the Rodney and Franklin districts that will become part of Auckland the committee also recommended that a single-member ward be created for each of the two areas to ensure local representation on the Auckland Council. 
Changes to local government boundaries like other boundary issues are always contentious and every proposal is likely to have vocal opponents. Although there were good reasons for the select committee recommendation to exclude the northern areas of the Rodney district it is clear that there is strong opposition in the district to splitting its communities. The Government has listened to that concern and has responded by acting in the interests of both the local communities and wider regional governance. I will be introducing a Supplementary Order Paper to propose retaining the northern boundary as the current regional boundary. 
Auckland has struggled with a governance system that did not meet its needs effectively for over 50 years. This bill will ensure that the new structures will be in place in time for the October 2010 local government elections and will mean that the Auckland Council will be up and running on 1 November 2010. The Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill is a priority for the Government. It is important that the bill proceeds through its remaining stages as soon as possible so that the Local Government Commission has time to complete its work on boundary ward and local board issues by March next year. Timely passage of the bill will also give the Auckland Transition Agency the necessary direction to complete its work in time for the Auckland Council and its local boards to be up and running on 1 November 2010. This bill will enable the Auckland governance work to progress and is the next step towards an even greater Auckland. I commend this bill to the House.