Carter John: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
Carter John: Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:11546] 
Hon JOHN CARTER (Associate Minister of Local Government) 
: 
 It seems an appropriate time to take a call given that we have heard a number of concerns expressed by the Opposition. I join with the Minister of Local Government in thanking George Hawkins and the Labour Party for putting forward the amendment that the Minister has indicated the Government will support. I need to say to the Opposition that it was not a case of our saying: “Oh that’s a good idea; we’ll accept it.” A lot of hard thinking went on about the amendment that George Hawkins has put forward as the Minister indicated. I want to tell members why. 
One of the criticisms we in the Government have constantly had from Aucklanders—the Minister has had it I have had it and the Government itself has had it—is that they do not want us in Wellington running their city thank you very much. They want us to keep out of it. So when there was a suggestion that we make a direction to the Auckland Council we had to weigh up the impact of what was proposed with the fact that we would be directing Auckland. We weighed it up and we decided that on balance given that the people of Auckland had expressed concerns about the council-controlled organisations or CCOs the benefits to Aucklanders of their being able to access the council-controlled organisations at a minimum of two meetings a year—and actually have input and exchange at those meetings—warranted our giving a direction in this case. But I point out to the Opposition and to the rest of the Committee that in the main our view has been that we should establish a structure on which the council can operate from day one and then we should leave it over to Aucklanders the Auckland Council and the local boards. As I said yesterday it is the voice of Aucklanders that has designed this legislation. 
I have been puzzled by the constant comment by members on the other side of the Chamber that we should direct Auckland to do various things. I have looked at for example the amendments put forward by Mr Twyford. He wants the Local Government Commission to determine the powers of the local boards from 1 November and then he says he wants the Auckland Council to have sole responsibility for determining the structure of its activities and assets. It has occurred to me—I do not know why it has taken me so long to understand this—that we are a permissive Government that actually allows people the opportunity to make their own decisions and I had forgotten that the Labour Opposition members are all control freaks. They want to dominate everything and control everything. Therefore they want to specify everything. That is what is driving them and I had forgotten that. 
I want to make one serious point to the Committee. We are hearing about issues in respect of the local boards so I draw the Committee’s attention to a document that is now on the web and that every person should read. It is called 
 Auckland Transitional Agency: Summary of feedback and actions—Auckland Council local boards. 
 It is on www.discussiondocuments.co.nz. It is worth a read. It sets out the functions of the local boards. Lynne Pillay for example was anxious that they would not have enough power. I draw the member’s attention to this document. Power is certainly given to the local boards. The report specifies their functions. The additions to the functions are yet to be determined but the report makes it very clear that the local boards will sure as heck be pretty busy. 
We have a separation of regional and local government. It was always our intention—and it was always the intention of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance actually—to have that separation. But the one thing that the Opposition seems to have missed and the one thing that the royal commission seems to have missed is that it is pretty important to have in place a structure that can operate from day one. I commend the Minister the Auckland Transition Agency and all the officials who have been involved in setting up a structure that from day one can actually operate. It has been suggested by the Opposition that we allow—