Coddington Deborah: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Coddington Deborah: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:618;Page:14022] 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT) 
: 
 The Minister said “We have contributed $1.8 billion”— 
Hon Chris Carter 
: $1.6 billion. 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON 
: It is $1.6 billion. I ask the Minister whose money it is. Is that not telling! They think it is their money. It is actually other people’s money. I hate to bring it to the Minister’s attention but it is not his money. 
I will address Part 2 and in particular clause 8. We see in clause 8(1A) why this legislation will never ever work. As Maurice Williamson said this legislation does not even mention the dirty word “roads”. It does not even talk about roads. It is a “land transport system” and now we can see why. Clause 8(1A) states that the Auckland Regional Transport Authority the new bureaucracy that will be set up in meeting its objectives “must exhibit a sense of social and environmental responsibility”. That is such a nebulous term. What on earth does that mean? The clause goes on: “avoiding to the extent reasonable in the circumstances”. That could mean whatever an Environment Court judge could take it to mean. It could mean whatever a Resource Management Act consultant could take it to mean. 
In relation to “adverse effects on the environment” a road cannot be built without there being adverse effects on the environment. It is impossible to do so. With the dire circumstances in Auckland the costs and benefits have to be weighed up. It would be lovely for Auckland to be in the same sort of pristine state the Marlborough Sounds are in. However nobody in Auckland would ever be able to make a living. It would be absolutely impossible. 
The Auckland Regional Transport Authority has to ensure “to the extent practicable” that the views of affected communities are taken into account. We will just go back down the kind of road we had with the highway being built through the Waikato through Long Swamp and Meremere where we saw in New Zealand the beginning of corruption; where anyone can say that “This affects the cultural sensibilities of my community. There is a taniwha under this bend. There is a Billy Goat Gruff under this bridge. To make it go away to get this transport network pay over some money and it will go away.” This is what we will see more and more when stupid clauses like clause 8 are put into legislation. 
Clause 8(1A)(b)(ii) states that “land transport options and alternatives are given early and full consideration in a manner that contributes” blah blah blah. As Maurice Williamson said this is just a sop to the Greens. How can the Minister seriously think—and he is an MP from west Auckland he knows what it is like getting from west Auckland to the Auckland airport or anywhere. One has to go into the city and out again unless one goes around through Hillsborough. Whichever way one goes it is a nightmare; it is frustrating. It affects the quality of life. It does not affect just the economy of the area. It affects people’s quality of life. They hate it. I talked to a woman the other day whose daughter was a professional woman in Auckland doing very well and earning a good salary. She has left and gone to live in Sydney because she just could not stand the transport problems any more. Sydney with 12 million people has got it right. 
Dail Jones 
: Four million. 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON 
: I think it is six. We should settle on six million. Sydney has got it right because it went for the boot system. It went for public-private partnerships and has solved its transport system. We will never ever solve Auckland’s problem especially with legislation like this when clauses are put in that are a sop to people who live in the Coromandel and Nelson who have a generic hatred of cars and motor vehicles and who would love to see them all banned and the roads dug up. Those people do not realise that people in Auckland are suffering. This legislation will do nothing. I ask the Minister to take another call to explain exactly what the meaning of the words is in that clause.