Pillay Lynne: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
Pillay Lynne: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:11483] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to stand with my colleagues and bad-mouth this Government for this lousy bill. It is appalling. Let us look at the council-controlled organisations. How many Auckland members opposite have spoken on this bill? I know we have had the member for Tauranga and some others but we have had very few speeches certainly very few impassioned speeches or speeches from members who know that what they are saying about this bill is right. I am ever-hopeful that this lousy Government will see the error of its ways and accept that this bill should not progress. Why should it not progress? It should not progress because it does not have the support of the people. This bill does not have the support of the people. Why does it not have the support of the people? Because the poor sods never even got to have a say on this bill; most of it was rushed through. This is the one occasion when there have been submissions and these submissions have been overwhelmingly opposed to this bill. 
I will talk about council-controlled organisations. Currently there are 34 council-controlled organisations operating under the Auckland City Council. Many of them are very small but they are in touch. They are in touch with the grass roots they are accountable they are accountable to the public and the system is working—by and large. Is there room for improvement? Certainly there is. Labour members of the House have always said there is always room for improvement. 
What does this bill seek to do? It seeks to cut down those 34 council-controlled organisations to seven which will be appointed. They will be council-controlled and have no accountability to the public. And what responsibility will those council-controlled organisations have? They will be responsible—and let us be really clear on this—for spending $650 million per year of ratepayers’ money. That is more than half the total rates bill on everything: from roads to public transport to fixing footpaths—to all of the things that happen within this greater city that will be created. Where is the accountability in that process? Where is the accountability in that power going to seven council-controlled organisations? Where is the accountability? Where is the link back to the public? Phil Goff said when he spoke at the packed meeting on the future of Auckland City— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How many people? 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: Thousands of people took time off from work and felt passionate enough on it. Tau was there lurking around the corner. Tau Henare had a supporters’ meeting in the local telephone booth and he had a bit of time left over so he went to our meeting. [ 
Interruption 
] No no no; he has lost weight he is trimming down he would have fitted. But at that meeting one of the points Phil Goff made was very very telling. He said Labour was about communities not corporates and I think that is what sums up this bill. This bill is not about communities; it is about a corporate model—a corporate model that is offensive. It is offensive to every level of people not just in Auckland but throughout New Zealand. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: And your mates in the unions. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: Is the member banging on about unions again? What does he have to say? Speaking of unions let us just look at those council-controlled organisations. The Minister of Local Government—who is not listening at the moment and I think he should; he is too busy talking—has said that if the council-controlled organisations do not work we can just sack their members. He may think that the 90-day Act of Kate Wilkinson and National applies to the council-controlled organisations but there is news for them: one does not get rid of directors as fast as that.