Huo Raymond: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Huo Raymond: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:3677] 
RAYMOND HUO (Labour) 
: 
 I feel obliged to take a call on new Part 5 which contains Subpart 1 and Subpart 2 in the name of the Hon Shane Jones. This part is important. We are proposing this part to ensure that the representation of Maori Pacific and ethnic groups in the reorganisation of Auckland City is protected. Earlier in this Chamber I cited what North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams said on this bill and the other related bill. He said: “These Bills effectively shut down elected local government in greater Auckland and hand the region’s governance over to a small bunch of hand-picked unelected super-bureaucrats to run for the next 18 months until the deeply flawed super city takes over.” We have to introduce this part because this bill amongst other things will remove the right of Aucklanders to vote on the reorganisation of Auckland. Labour thinks that the National Government’s complete failure to consult on this plan is wrong and that Aucklanders deserve a say in the future of their city. 
Auckland is home to many Asian Kiwis and I am one of them. Statistics New Zealand predicts that about one-third of its residents will be of Asian ethnicity by 2016 up from 20 percent in 2001. But it is sad that in response to such important legislation—which has created the biggest challenge Auckland has faced in its entire history—National’s Asian MPs are systematically silent on the issues. Mr Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi was here last night smiling to himself and he was here this morning as well. But where is the Hon Pansy Wong? Where is the honourable Melissa Lee? I saw her on television on  
Close Up 
 busy apologising for the comments she had made the night before. But what about the interests of thousands upon thousands of Asian Aucklanders whom those MPs at least claim to represent? Under National’s plan in future the people of South Auckland and west Auckland in particular are unlikely to be entitled to influence local government in Auckland. I think the small but growing number of elected community board members and councillors of Asian ethnicity will be denied any real ability to influence the future of local government in Auckland. I am not blaming National Asian MPs. The 800-page of the report of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance took 18 months to prepare it cost millions of dollars and it received 3537 submissions. The National Government’s sham version of a super-city that is being forced on Auckland was thrown together in just 3 days. 
We are introducing new parts and further amendments. At this Committee stage it is very important for me to reiterate that I oppose this bill for three main reasons. The bill is procedurally unfair because as Part 3 shows existing local authorities will have their powers stripped from them and 1.4 million people in Auckland are not able to have a say about that.  
Goodbye Pork Pie 
? I do not think Aucklanders are impressed. Clause 49 of schedule 3 of the Local Government Act 2002 requires a referendum on reorganisation proposals. This bill will override those provisions. In a broad constitutional sense this bill is flawed. The bill also creates huge uncertainty. Both Mr John Key and Mr Rodney Hide have admitted in this Chamber that they have no idea how much their sham version of the super-city is going to cost.