Twyford Phil: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Twyford Phil: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6525] 
PHIL TWYFORD (Labour) 
: 
 The Social Issues Board is the issue I will talk about. It is one of the issues that I think has been neglected by this National-ACT Government over the last 5 months. It has ignored the recommendations and the findings of the royal commission in relation to the Social Issues Board and it deserves serious consideration. The royal commission pointed out quite accurately that Auckland as a city has some entrenched problems that are more difficult and more complicated than other parts of the country have. One of those problems is the level of income inequality and poverty. The commission makes the point that the social infrastructure and the social well-being of a city are just as important as the physical infrastructure. Can we be a world-class city if too many children are dying before they reach the age of 5? Can we be a world-class city if a young couple cannot afford to buy their own home? Can we be a world-class city if there is no decent public transport to get from home to work? 
The royal commission made the point very well that for too long local government in Auckland has abdicated its responsibility. Even though the four well-beings set out in the Local Government Act—economic social cultural and environmental—are spelt out clearly as a mandate for local government too many councils too many mayors and too many councillors have washed their hands of the responsibility for social well-being. They have said it is central government’s responsibility; it is not their job. The sell-off of pensioner housing by Auckland City a few years ago is a classic example of that kind of behaviour. For those reasons I am promoting a Supplementary Order Paper this evening that would establish a Social Issues Board in line with the recommendations of the royal commission. It would set up a board that provides high-level political and official leadership for a social well-being strategy plan and budget for the region. 
The royal commission pointed out that $12 billion a year is spent in Auckland by central and local government on social development purposes. But it rightly identified that too much of that funding is not targeted and deployed as accurately as it could be. There is enormous potential for central government and local government to work together in a way that is more creative and more innovative to tackle the whole problem of social well-being. This evening we intend to put forward this amendment to set up a Social Issues Board. It would be supported by an advisory group of officials from the different councils so that the analysis and the data collection would be done to inform good work in this area. The royal commission also identified the need for a committee of councillors on the Auckland Council to feed into this strategy. 
These recommendations have basically been ignored by the Government. All we got—and I say this to the member for Auckland Central—was Paula Bennett the Minister for Social Development and Employment announcing a pathetic social issues forum of people who would meet every couple of months. It is a token effort; it is a fig leaf. It is typical of the kind of importance that this Government attaches to social well-being. 
All of this will count for nothing I say to members if Rodney Hide has his way with the review of the Local Government Act. The very mandate that allows councils to work on social well-being will be stripped out of the Local Government Act because of the Minister’s core services agenda. I challenge the Minister to take a call and tell us tonight what those core services are. We asked him on television the other night and he would not say. He could not say or would not say. Will pensioner housing be considered a core service? Will libraries be considered an acceptable area of endeavour for local government? Will community development be considered? I do not know. What about childcare? What about early childhood education? Will they be part of the core services? These questions are making Aucklanders mistrustful and anxious about what kind of a super-city we will end up with because of the extremist agenda this Minister is running.