Twyford Phil: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
Twyford Phil: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:11493] 
PHIL TWYFORD (Labour) 
: 
 One of the things Aucklanders feel about the process that has taken place over the last 12 months is that they have not had a fair crack from this Government. They feel that the process has been shabby. One of the ways this process has been shabby is that no clear delineation of roles has been made by the Government. We have been subjected to the Associate Minister of Local Government sitting as the chair of the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee which is not unprecedented in parliamentary practice but is highly unorthodox. To have tonight the chair of the select committee sitting as Minister in the chair in the Committee stage is far from acceptable and far from satisfactory and I think it is just another indicator of what a shabby process this Government has run. 
The National Party likes to think of itself as a modern political party one that is ambitious for New Zealand. But with this bill the National Government is taking us back to the 19th century. Through the 19th century as universal franchise extended across the Western World the government of cities shifted from oligarchy to representative democracy. It is a simple idea: all citizens have the right through the vote to an equal say in the running of their city or country. But this Government is bringing oligarchy back to New Zealand through this legislation where powerful commercial interests get to run the city in their own interests. That is what this bill does. The Government is bringing oligarchy back to New Zealand in the 21st century. 
The effect of this bill as Carol Beaumont very ably pointed out is to shift two-thirds or perhaps three-quarters of the operations and assets of local government into stand-alone commercial structures and to remove them from full public accountability. The idea of our system of government is that the citizens have a right to know that they hold their elected representatives accountable through the ballot box and that those representatives are expected to conduct the business of government openly and transparently. The model that this Government is imposing on Auckland because of its own ideology is designed to give local government the right to hive off parts of its operation and run them as commercial structures. 
I make it clear that throughout this debate Labour has not been opposed to the council-controlled organisation model per se. That model was actually invented by the previous Labour Government. Although there is a place for that model the National-ACT Government is imposing the commercial model on Auckland in a way that no other district and no other city in New Zealand have had to put up with. 
I ask why we cannot just wait another 5 months for the elected representatives of Aucklanders to make this decision for themselves. Why not wait 5 months so that the mayor and council can with democratic legitimacy choose whether to corporatise parts of local government? Why? Because the Minister of Local Government cannot wait as long as that. He does not trust the people of Auckland. I ask why we cannot set up the Auckland Transition Agency to have a caretaker arrangement so that the operations of Auckland local government are managed in the interim and then let the new council decide. I ask why we do not set up these business units—whether they be water transport the waterfront development authority investments or any of the other council-controlled organisations that this Government is setting up—as my amendments would do if passed. That proposal would set them up as business units or departments within the council; then in 5 months’ time on 1 November the people of Auckland would decide through their elected representatives. 
I was very touched to hear the Minister of Local Government say tonight that there is a team of officials outside the Chamber beavering away to work through all our Supplementary Order Papers and amendments. I recommend to them the typescript amendment in my name that would add a new clause 45A to give the Auckland Council sole responsibility for determining the structure of all of its activities and its assets. If this Government were serious about listening to Aucklanders that is what it would do. Clearly the Government is not. 
The Minister thinks he is being terribly generous by leaving two vacant seats on the boards of the council-controlled organisations for councils to fill themselves. Well that is very nice of him!