Hodgson Pete:  
Hodgson Pete:  
[Volume:654;Page:67] 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Labour—Dunedin North) 
: 
 The last time we had a reorganisation of anything resembling this size and speed was 18 years ago when the then National Government decided to introduce urgent legislation during the post-Budget period to redo the health system without sending off the legislation to the people of New Zealand through the select committee process. The then Government took out all of the area health boards just like this Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill takes out eight local government councils. 
That Government said a small number of people would be arranged to manage the transition period and it put in commissioners—usually one commissioner per area health board. Then the Government moved to a more corporate model which went down badly. It meant that in the course of the 9 years that followed the National Government got through five health Ministers seven associate health Ministers and three Crown health enterprise Ministers. That is how serious that reorganisation was. That is how much it backfired. 
I will be very clear to the Committee that there are two reasons why Labour members with assistance from the Greens the Maori Party and other parties are determinedly making sure that this legislation is delayed for as long as we are able to delay it. The first reason is that the legislation was not sent to a select committee. This legislation could have been sent to a select committee because it does not come into force until November. It is not as if there is any urgency to pass the legislation. It is not as if there is some sort of pandemic or war arriving. This legislation does not come into force until November 2009. We are in May 2009 and the Government has decided not to put out the legislation for consultation via the standard select committee process. 
The second reason is that this legislation does not put in place the recommendations of the royal commission that was established to answer the question of what is best for Auckland. The royal commission was consultative—there were hundreds indeed thousands of submissions—and it came to a considered view. If the Government had done one of two things then we would not be here tonight. If the Government had decided that the legislation as suggested by the royal commission was to be put through the House then the consultation would already have taken place. The Government could have decided that it was going to change its mind—it has radically changed the structure from what the royal commission suggested and has certainly changed the balance of power from what it suggested—and decided that it thought the royal commission got it wrong. If the Government had decided that it wanted to do it some other way and had put the legislation out for consultation in the select committee process then we would not be here tonight. 
But the Government has done neither of those things. It has said that the royal commission is wrong that the Government is right and that it will not consult on the legislation. That is an outrage. It is an outrage that is rarely seen in this Chamber. It is rarely seen for a Government to move in such a blitzkrieg manner. That is what we are dealing with: a blitzkrieg set of tactics that are not needed and that destroy confidence in this House and I am sorry to say in the Government. The reason I am sorry to say that is that Auckland will suffer as a result of the lack of confidence in the National Government as the disquiet grows as the discontent mounts as the transition procedures are seen to be less than people had hoped they might be and as we move to the triennial elections and we see people touting for the position of lord mayor of Auckland. As we see all that playing out Aucklanders will be reflecting on the fact that they are losing something valuable that is being replaced by something that was forced upon them in the dead of night by a Government that is too arrogant to say that it might be able to learn from the public or if not too arrogant then perhaps too scared of going into the public arena and testing its ideas. 
The Government did not test its ideas. It said that the royal commission was wrong. It decided to use urgency to pass the legislation and therefore the Opposition on this side of the Chamber will be unrelenting. It has to be unrelenting. As Clayton Cosgrove said yesterday this debate is the last line of defence for a third of New Zealanders. They need to have a say. They might agree with the contents of this legislation. They might think it is wildly helpful. That is fair enough but let us ask them.