Kedgley Sue: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Kedgley Sue: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6423] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 First of all I would like to correct some misleading comments that National members John Carter and Jackie Blue made when they said the report of the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee on the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill was unanimous and no one had voted against sections of it. They know that is completely untrue and I clarified that with John Carter yesterday. I reminded him that the Green Party had voted against every part of the bill. I know that because I was there doing the voting so I would like to correct that. 
The second thing is that I pointed out yesterday that the local boards would have no right to hire staff no independent source of revenue and no clearly defined powers and that they would be completely subservient to the Auckland Council. John Carter said no that was not true so I asked him to point out to me which provision in the bill set out the autonomous powers of the local boards. Let us remember that is what we are replacing here. We have had six well-functioning autonomous city councils and they will be replaced by these four to nine - member boards which have no autonomy. I asked John Carter to point out to me where autonomy is provided for in the bill. He could not point out to me the relevant clause. He suggested that I go and talk to the officials instead. So off I went to the officials and asked them to point out to me the provision in the bill that states unequivocally the powers of the local boards. They pointed me back to clause 13D. 
I would highly recommend that Aucklanders have a good look at clause 13D. It says the council can delegate to the local boards but the council can also override or veto a local board and it spells out four ways in which the council can do that. The council may do so if it thinks the effects of an activity could be felt beyond a board’s area. Well almost anything would be. The council may do so if the activity needs to be aligned with other council decisions. Well surely everything would have to be aligned with other council decisions. The council may also do so if the benefits of taking a consistent or coordinated approach outweigh the benefits to and the needs and preferences of a local area or if the activity is one where decision making on an Auckland-wide basis would better promote the well-being of the communities. In that clause which John Carter reckoned spelt out the powers of the local boards and which officials pointed to me as being the relevant clause four huge reasons are given for the council to override every decision of any local board. So I think we can put that claim by John Carter to rest as that clause makes it clear that the local boards are completely subservient to the Auckland Council which is called the governing body. They have no autonomy and no powers of their own. 
The second thing I want to do is to introduce the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 55 in my name to the powers of the mayor. We are basically seeking to amend clause 9 so that the powers of the Mayor of Auckland are the same as the powers of the mayor of every other council. We cannot understand why the Mayor of Auckland should have excessive powers that are given to no other mayor in New Zealand. No justification has ever been given for this. Interestingly just before I introduced this amendment I happened to hear on the radio this morning—it was very interesting; I think it was Radio Live—John Banks doing an interview. This was very very interesting. He was talking about the super-city. He said he had a campaign staff of 600 people. I think everyone needs to know this. He said on the radio he had a campaign staff of 600 people and he would need a huge budget because he pointed out that it would cost $130000 just to send a letter to the 800000 voters of Auckland. This will be one of the largest local bodies in the world representing 800000 people. Is that local government? I do not think so—that is State government. Anyway why would John Banks have a campaign staff of 600 people and vast amounts of money? Why is he so excited about this super-city? He knows that if he makes it into the mayoralty he will have huge and excessive powers under this bill unless my amendment goes through.