Hughes Darren: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Hughes Darren: Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:3628] 
Hon DARREN HUGHES (Labour) 
: 
 Thank you for the chance to take a call on new Part 11 in the name of my colleague the Hon George Hawkins. There are two great questions in politics—only two. The first is: how on earth did Gerry Brownlee get that job? How on earth was Gerry Brownlee given that job? And the second great question is: who guards the guardians? 
This morning considering the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill in urgency we have to ask ourselves some questions about the basics of politics—some of the great questions about how it is handled for citizens and by citizens. This new part considers the question in this particular way: it appoints a review commission to oversee the work of the Auckland Transition Agency. 
I draw members’ attention to new clause 52 which sets out the powers of the commission that George Hawkins is recommending in this new part. It states: “The Commission shall have the ability to direct the Transition Agency to reconsider a decision taken.” That is a very important point. I am not sure members opposite understand just how much power Parliament is devolving in urgency at the moment. They have been briefed at caucus that this is a simple bill but it is not a simple bill. This bill shifts power in New Zealand not to more people but to fewer people. And those fewer people are not elected; those fewer people are appointed. They are not appointed by the lead party in the Government the National Party; they are appointed by a Minister from a party that enjoys about 3 percent of the party vote in our country. 
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga 
: And a fine Minister at that. 
Hon DARREN HUGHES 
: Well Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga is very easily impressed through his community board meetings his council meetings his district drainage board meetings his annual plan meetings and his draft long-term council community plan meetings. He is very easily influenced by power; he tries to collect every job that is going. Goodness knows whom he is invoicing for today for his being here but I hope it is not the people of Auckland. 
The point here about new clause 52 is that under the bill as it stands Mr Hide gets to appoint an authority whose actions cannot be reviewed by anybody. Mr Grant Robertson will talk about the process by which the review commission will do its work and there is an important part around hearings. But my point is that the powers of this commission are important safeguards for our Parliament. We are trying to decide who will guard the guardians. One-third of our people will be governed by the transitional authority—one in three New Zealanders’ lives will be affected directly by a bill that members opposite do not want to debate. 
After 15 minutes’ consideration of a commission that could review and be a backstop to this agency National members want to move closure on it. They are shutting down debate on a topic that affects the lives of over 1 million New Zealanders. Over 1 million people’s lives change as this bill goes through yet National members are not interested in that. They think it is no problem. They trust Mr Hide. Mr Hide has been doing over the National Party since 1996 but they are too stupid to even realise it. Rodney Hide runs rings around these people and he will find ways of getting his people into the agency. He even smartly put up a new amendment yesterday to give the transition agency five people not four so that he could appoint another of his people to run all this. That is how smart the Minister of Local Government is. The Leader of the House is so stupid he cannot work that out. 
There are two great questions in politics. First how the hell did Gerry Brownlee get that job? And second who guards the guardians? The Labour Opposition through proposed new clause 52 gives an answer to the question of who guards the guardians. 
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga 
: Wasting taxpayers’ money. 
Hon DARREN HUGHES 
: Sam Lotu-Iiga has the cheek to talk about wasting taxpayers’ money. He is so good at wasting money that he wastes not only taxpayers’ money but ratepayers’ money as well. That is efficiency! It is machine-like efficiency to in the same hour and on the same day waste both taxpayers’ money and ratepayers’ money! I do not know any other member in this Committee who can do that. Do members know the sad and terrible thing about it? Although he is getting money off both sides both sides are getting poor value for money. I wish Sam Lotu-Iiga wore a big receipt on his chest so that we could rip if off him and get our money back. The Minister of Consumer Affairs is from the ACT Party. We know that the ACT Party is running rings around the National Party so why does the Minister of Consumer Affairs not get our money back from Sam Lotu-Iiga? That is the question we want answered here this morning. 
I am in favour of new clause 52. It will be good for the decisions of this transition authority to be able to be reviewed by the commission which will be set up to check these things. You know after the one term that Paul Quinn is getting in Parliament maybe he could be on this commission because every commission needs a secretary. Everybody needs somebody who is useless and he could be the person to make sure things are going well in that particular regard.