Roche Denise: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill(No 2) — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill(No 2) — Third Reading[Sitting date: 15 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:13898. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENISE ROCHE (Green): I rise to take a call for the Greens on the Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 2) in this third reading. We will be supporting this bill. I guess you could call this just-in-time legislation decision-making really given that the elections were held on Saturday and within the next 2 weeks local boards across Auckland will be sworn in in their first inaugural meetings. In order for them to be sworn in they do need to have their delegations enshrined in legislation.I would like to start by congratulating all those people who have been elected to local boards in Auckland and that includes the Assistant Speaker Ross Robertson. I particularly want to congratulate VernonTava Deborah YatesShirin Brown SteveTollestrup and Saffron Toms who are all Green Party members who were elected to three different local boards in Auckland. Local boards are where democracy happens and from our point of view they are a place for good green change as well so we are thrilled that we have got competent fabulous people in those roles in Auckland.This legislation is about the decision-making powers and the delegation powers of those local boards. It is kind of a bit worrying to know that local board members as well as our mayor and our councillors were voted in with a very low turnout in these elections. It was around about 35 percent. It seems to me that there is a growing disconnect between communities and their governance but it is interesting to note that in smaller communities there was a higher voter turnout. This time on Waiheke we had a 55 percent turnout which is actually 9 percent down from last time and Great Barrier Island had a 67 percent turnout. But that was out of 750 voters basically. I also note that Rodney had the next-highest turnout with 44 percent and there are roughly about 14000 voters there.I think that what I am saying is that the closer people are to their elected representatives the more engaged they are and the more likely they are to participate in their civil society and that includes their responsibility of choosing their democratically elected representatives. Where I live we share a councillor with theWaitematā Local Board and that had the lowest turnout. That was about 33 percent but that local board has the highest number of voters in that area—47000 voters in theWaitematā Local Board area. But the population is around about 80000 so when you are looking at it as a ward you are looking at an incredibly large area. If you look at what councillors and local boards have you see that they do not have the same types of resources that MPs have. I wonder sometimes whether that is one of the reasons why there is a lower turnout for local government elections.The role of local boards is to maintain democracy and to advocate for their communities. I disagreed with the Minister of Local Government when he said that it might be a good thing to roll local boards out to other places in the country because if that is about replacing councils and their decision-making powers then we are entering a time of reducing local decision-making not increasing it. In my community we were opposed to the super-city amalgamation. We fought hard to get our own local board and we got it because we rallied round it. We were going to have one member on theWaitematā Local Board. That was going to be our local representation until we fought against it. And to reduce the number of people who represent our communities by introducing local boards and getting rid of councils I think does everyone a great disservice.What we have in Auckland is a co-governance arrangement and I do get really cross with people calling local boards community boards because they are not. I know because I was on two community boards and I was on a local board as well so I know the difference. This legislation that we have for local boards ensures that local boards can delegate some of their decision-making abilities. They can delegate them to staff and they can delegate them to members of their board or subcommittees of their board in order to get work done. I am assured that the governing body is now looking at delegating more powers to local boards as well. Local boards are able to advocate for their communities even on regulatory matters. They do not have the decision-making power but they certainly can advocate and that is what our communities want.I guess that is why I have got really really cross sometimes with the local board that we have had on Waiheke which has been one of those boards that has not been as effective as others. It has not been doing what theMaungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board has been doing in terms of addressing the issues in our community. It has said that quite frankly it would sit on its hands rather than get involved in negotiating and facilitating discussion around a proposal for a marine reserve on our island. It would rather sit on its hands—that is a direct quote. The chair FayeStorer has also said that it was not her role to advocate on regulatory matters over the biggest development to happen on our island in the last decade which is the proposal for a marina at our gateway inMatiātia. I suspect that it was her decision as the planning spokesperson not to give a view from the board on that issue because of her role as the hearings commissioner and the potential for her not to be called for hearings commissioner duties as a result if she were to comment.What we have now though is a new board that has been elected so I want to congratulate those people. They are Paul WaldenBecs Ballard Beatle Treadwell JohnMeeuwsen andShirin Brown—a clean sweep of new blood into our community as our community leaders. They have already proven that they can engage with the people in our community. They have been listening. They have been picking up ideas. I feel quite confident that they will also be able to harness the creativity and expertise that we have in our community to deliver really good decisions that will keep us going forward on Waiheke. I am also pretty sure that they will be good negotiators and that is the partnership between local boards and the governing body that makes up the council. It is a negotiation about not just delegating powers but also budgets and plans. I am really really thrilled that we now have some talented people who will be able to negotiate for us and I think they will do it effectively as well. I am also really pleased because this is the first time we have had somebody under the age of 40 on the local board for about a decade. In fact when I was on the local board I was the youngest which is a bit scary when you think about it. So congratulations toBecs Ballard.Local boards are important. I am pleased that we are supporting this legislation through the House. I do not believe that local boards are the cure-all for local government throughout New Zealand but I am glad we have got them in Auckland and I am glad that we are going to see a change on Waiheke where our local board is working for us. Thank you.