Hide Rodney: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — First Reading Second Reading 
Hide Rodney: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — First Reading Second Reading 
[Advance Copy - Subject to minor change before inclusion in Bound Volume.] 
Hon RODNEY HIDE (Minister of Local Government) 
: 
 I move  
That the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill be now read a first time. 
 This bill is the first of three I intend to bring to Parliament to resolve the decades-old problems with Auckland’s local governance. Together the bills answer the calls for action to allow Auckland to develop into a world-class city supported by effective local government. Time is of the essence; we need to get the process of change under way. We therefore need to deal with this bill which is largely mechanical as quickly as possible. I will recommend that the later bills go before a select committee for public input especially on the critical issue of local representation. 
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Auckland Governance found that the Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities lacked the collective sense of purpose constitutional ability and momentum to address issues effectively for the overall good of Auckland. The royal commission recommended a single Auckland council headed by a mayor with governance powers to replace the eight existing councils. It recommended action now to allow the changes to be in place by the 2010 local government elections. The Government agreed with the royal commission about the identified problems and the need to act now. 
Fifty years ago the problems of conflict between regional and local issues were identified and for 50 years Auckland has struggled to find a solution. The former Auckland Regional Authority which later became the Auckland Regional Council was established in an attempt to resolve these issues. In the late 1980s many local councils were amalgamated. These moves were in the right direction but did not go far enough. They did not go far enough because they did not recognise the reality that the many communities of Auckland together are one region. They have common interests and needs around transport recreation development water infrastructure and links to central government. The Government has decided to move now to do what needs to be done. It has decided that after 3500 submissions to the royal commission and 18 months of deliberation the time for action has arrived. The Government does not intend to wait until the elections of 2013 2016 or 2019; it intends to act so that the Auckland Council will be up and working by November next year. 
Auckland as the home of more than a third of all New Zealanders is the engine for the country’s economic growth. New Zealanders will reap the benefits of Auckland becoming a world-class city. This bill is the beginning of the end for the competing leadership duplication of facilities complex and fragmented decision-making processes and weak accountability that have been the recent hallmarks of Auckland local government. Getting Auckland right is critical to Aucklanders and essential for New Zealand. Local government has a significant role in enabling growth and prosperity through its decision-making structure and policies. Good governance enables civic leaders to think regionally plan strategically and act decisively. Governance arrangements affect the ability to solve larger and longer-term challenges effectively. The Auckland region needs decisive leadership robust infrastructure and facilities and services to cater for its people. 
I will now deal with the detail of the Government’s intention with this bill in the context of its wider high-level decisions on Auckland’s governance. The commission recommended the establishment of a single region-wide unitary authority to overcome fragmentation and coordination problems; the Government agrees with that approach. The Government has accepted many of the commission’s recommendations but in some cases it has made significant changes especially in response to concerns about the level of truly local decision-making. The Government’s key high-level decisions are: first one unitary Auckland Council as the first tier of governance; second one mayor for Auckland with governance powers elected at large by the region’s residents and ratepayers; third 20 councillors to sit on the Auckland Council eight elected at large and 12 elected from wards; fourth 20 to 30 local boards across the region as a second tier of governance; and fifth the final number of local boards and the boundaries of the Auckland Council wards and local boards to be determined by the Local Government Commission. 
As I have said the Government intends to put the new structures in place in time for the October 2010 local government elections. Legislation is required to give effect to these decisions to be introduced as three separate bills. This bill along with the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill which will also be introduced into the House this week focuses on the transition period until the Auckland Council and local boards come into being on 1 November 2010. This urgent bill provides the necessary legislative mechanisms for transition to the new Auckland governance arrangements which needs to happen as soon as possible to establish the Auckland Council by 2010. I will propose that the bill proceed through all stages under urgency and without select committee consideration. This bill provides for the establishment of the Auckland Council as a unitary authority governing the Auckland region on and from 1 November 2010; the establishment of the Auckland Transition Agency as the body responsible for the transition to the new core Auckland local government arrangements; the placing of safeguards and constraints on the decision making of existing Auckland local authorities and their subsidiaries; and the disestablishment of existing local authorities on 1 November 2010. 
The second urgent bill the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill establishes the legislative framework for the ongoing governance of Auckland. I will propose that this second bill goes through a compressed select committee process. It will need to be enacted by 24 September 2009 to enable boundaries to be set in time for the 2010 local government elections. This legislative approach balances the need to provide sufficient certainty to enable the design and establishment of the new structures in time for the 2010 local government elections while providing the opportunity for people to submit their views on the Government’s proposals as part of the select committee process. 
These bills enable the reorganisation process to commence but do not yet contain all the legislative provisions that will need to apply to the change on 1 November 2010. Further policy work by officials and investigation and analysis by the Auckland Transition Agency is needed to identify what other provisions will be needed at that time. Additional provisions will therefore be included in a third bill to be introduced around October this year and enacted by May 2010. 
It is imperative that this bill before us be considered and enacted under urgency. That will enable the Auckland Transition Agency to commence its work to establish the new structures so that members of the Auckland Council and local boards can be elected in October 2010. Urgency is also required to ensure that the decisions and actions of existing local authorities take proper account of the changes soon to be made and the role of the transition agency. 
We must work together to create a city that will encourage our children and our grandchildren to build their futures in New Zealand. I agree with the Prime Minister when he said “The price of doing nothing is far too high not just for Auckland but for New Zealand. Let’s make a great place even greater. Let’s make Greater Auckland great.” Thank you.