Utikere Tangi; Dean JacquiLOCAL GOVERNMENT (PECUNIARY INTERESTS REGISTER) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingTANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. I move That the Local Government (Pecuniary Interests Register) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Governance and Administration Committee to consider the bill.This bill seeks to amend the Local Government Act 2002 and better align the transparency requirements of local elected members with that of members of Parliament and the Executive Council. Can I firstly acknowledge my colleague the Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan for her work in originally placing this bill into the ballot. As a new member I was very comfortable to take this bill forward and the reason for that is because the purpose of this bill is quite simply to improve transparency but also to strengthen public trust and confidence in the decision-making process of and for local authorities up and down the country. Local democracy is so important and all members in this House will attest to that within their own local communities. Decisions around council tables can vary whether it's about lease arrangements for local facilities whether it's about the particular zoning sale or disposal of land or whether it's about what is a suitable rates rise when councils strike their rates on an annual basis. Local communities expect and deserve to know that all of those decisions and the many other decisions that local councils make are fair and transparent because transparency is also important. In the conversations that I've had with electors over many years they have an expectation that there is transparency: transparency in the process that the process is firstly understood and secondly it's fair; and transparency that those who are involved in the decision-making process declare what relevant interests they may have in making those decisions. And those in my view are not unrealistic expectations of those who make decisions at any level. This bill intends to provide an opportunity to do exactly that. This bill provides a minimum standard of transparency for elected members to abide by. Prior to my election to this Parliament I served as an elected member for just over 10 years as a Palmerston North city councillor and deputy mayor and on an annual basis I was required to file an annual declaration around my assets and interests. In preparation for my contribution tonight I managed to fish out the one that I filed last year and I see that I was required to declare any employment that I was engaged in for any profit or gain; any company trust partnership of which I was a director partner trustee or beneficiary; any land in which I had a beneficial interest within Palmerston North City; and other matters including non-pecuniary relationships such as affiliations with clubs community organisations and others. But I also actually note that I had to include those declarations as they also related to any of my close family members. So I commend the Palmerston North City Council on its high level of transparency in that regard. In addition I was also required to disclose any gifts I'd received over a particular financial threshold. Over those years I simply assumed that these were requirements that were set for all councils in New Zealand. I have subsequently learnt that is not the case. In fact it appears as is the case with Palmerston North City Council that often the requirement to declare certain interests or not rests upon whether councils have provisions that call for it in their internal documents such as a council code of conduct. As it currently stands depending on the council local government representatives can keep their interests private as long as they do not discuss or vote on matters that they have a direct financial interest in. Again this requires mayors chairs councillors and members to voluntarily disclose their interests and stand aside from votes upon matters for which themselves they feel are compromised. This bill will rectify that. It will remove inconsistency in the approaches taken by councils by having a bottom line that captures the pecuniary interests of all local elected members. Turning now to the specifics of the bill: firstly a pecuniary interest" will be defined specifically as "a matter or activity of financial benefit to the member". A new section 42C in clause 4 outlines a number of interests relating to the member's position. They will be required to disclose the name of each company within which the member is either a director or holds or controls more than 5 percent of the voting rights along with a description of the main business activities of the company to ensure that there is clarity and that they can be easily understood by members of the public. They'll be required to disclose any other company or business in which the member has a pecuniary interest; the details of each employer if the member is in employment; the name of each trust in which the member has a beneficial interest; any interests in organisations that receive funding or apply for funding from the local authority. When councils are making decisions around funding opportunities it's often very unclear as to the nature of relationships between those who are sitting around the table making those decisions and the group that is seeking funding. This requirement will avoid any doubt.There is also a requirement around any organisational positions that a member holds by virtue of them being an elected member—for example with a council-controlled organisation such as a trust or a council-controlled trading organisation such as an airport board—along with any real property in which the member has a legal interest. A new section 42D of the Local Government Act in clause 4 of the bill relates to the interests regarding the member's activities around international travel and accommodation gifts and payments. This will introduce a requirement for members of a local authority to disclose information on international travel and accommodation but also the purpose of the travel where those costs have been either partially or fully met by another person. However the bill does provide an exemption where the contribution comes directly from the member themselves or a member of their family. So the requirement to disclose those costs will only capture those contributions from outside the member's own family unit. This bill will also require any gifts that are received to be declared. The threshold will be an estimated market value of more than $500. It will include hospitality and donations but will exclude donations for expenses incurred in an election campaign. And finally there will also be a requirement to publicly disclose any payments for other activities that local members undertake outside of local government salaries or allowances that the council members receive. When looking at this bill members may draw parallels with what is expected in their annual declaration to Parliament's registrar of pecuniary interests but there are some differences and if the bill does proceed to select committee I welcome some scrutiny and feedback in those areas. I am sure that one in particular will be the period for which disclosures must be made. For members of Parliament it relates to interests held as at 31 January each year. This bill proposes that the disclosure period for local government relate to a 12-month window. So I look forward to hearing views on that. Under new section 42E in clause 4 of the bill councils will also be required to appoint a registrar to compile and maintain the pecuniary interests register. However it will not be the responsibility of the registrar to ensure that members file the returns. That will be the responsibility of each elected member and rightly so as this is consistent with the approach taken for members of this House. For someone who fails to comply with the requirement to file an annual return upon conviction they will be liable to a fine not exceeding $5000. I have to say that in my discussions in my community and around the country views on this particular point vary with some calling for harsher penalties including disqualification from office. The select committee may wish to consider submissions on this particular penalty provision. But given that the penalty provision as it currently stands includes a criminal conviction as a result of failing to fulfil legal obligations in their duties as an elected member my tentative view is that that alone would be significant as a deterrent for a publicly elected official. It's also important to note that under a new section 42A in clause 4 the bill also introduces a requirement for the register to be made publicly available which would be on an annual basis. Let me be clear: in promoting this bill I am not suggesting that there has been any wrongdoing but I am suggesting that there is currently an anomaly with the level of disclosure and transparency expected of members of Parliament and the level of disclosure and transparency expected of those in local government. And I don't believe that there should be a difference. Electors deserve to know what could influence their representatives in the decisions they make whether they be local councillors regional chairs deputy mayors mayors members of local boards or members of Parliament. This bill provides another layer of transparency and will ensure the rules of open disclosure are consistently applied across all levels of government. I seek the support of this House for the Local Government (Pecuniary Interests Register) Amendment Bill in my name. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to."