Garrett David: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Garrett David: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6419] 
DAVID GARRETT (ACT) 
: 
 This is my first speech on this bill and I want to touch on two aspects: firstly the number of councillors and the need for the super-city as a whole; and secondly the topical question of Maori representation. 
I will comment firstly on the matter of the numbers. Just by coincidence I was lobbied—that would be the fair term—by the Rodney District Council some months ago in an attempt to keep that authority as a unitary authority. By coincidence again during the previous week I had had an email from a Kiwi living in Melbourne who informed me that the population of Greater Melbourne—3.8 million—manages quite well thank you very much with seven councillors. The Rodney District Council has 12 councillors plus the mayor. 
Just yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with an American delegation of young up-and-coming political leaders one of whom is a council-woman or commissioner as they are called from Miami-Dade County in Florida. She and the other delegation members were very interested in the super-city proposal. It turns out that for a population of 2.2 million the Miami-Dade council functions perfectly well with 12 councillors. Our city of Auckland has half that population and we are proposing to have 20 councillors and the Labour Party thinks we should have more. It is interesting that our councillors are apparently so poor in quality that they need twice as many in number as compared with Florida. I suspect that is not the case. 
The second major issue is of course the Maori seats. When I visited the Rodney District Council a couple of months ago I had a meeting with the mayor and the deputy mayor whose name I regret I cannot recall—his surname anyway. He is a Maori guy by the name of John and he spoke extremely passionately at the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee hearing which I attended in Silverdale a couple of months ago. He gave probably the most passionate presentation I heard that day and probably the most passionate presentation I have heard in my short time as a member of Parliament and as a member of a select committee. 
He also made the point that there was no self-interest for him because he was not standing again for the council if I recall correctly. The point I am making is probably quite obvious. Here is a Maori guy who is deputy mayor in an area that could fairly be described as a fairly whitey area. There are not many Maori living in the farther reaches of the North Shore Orewa Whangaparaoa and Kaukapakapa where I live but this guy managed to be elected as deputy mayor. 
Down in Gisborne where I come from—I sort of know the Maori name for Gisborne but I cannot remember how to pronounce it properly and I think one should pronounce it properly—Atareta Poananga is a councillor. She is one of those hangovers from the past who still think that we whiteys should be pushed back into the sea. She says we should go back to where we belong but she gets elected. There are enough people who think her crazy mad views hold some credence and she gets elected. So right there just off the top of my head are two examples of Maori being elected to councils. 
There is no place for Maori seats on regional councils on local councils or in Government. I would like to quote two members of the Labour Party. One is a current member Trevor Mallard. He was mocked outside this House for saying that because he is from Wainuiomata he is tangata whenua. He was mocked for it. I recall a speech made by the late great David Lange at Canterbury University 22 years ago. He said that everyone in New Zealand is an immigrant whether they arrived last week last year 150 years ago or 500 years ago. He got a bit of stick for it at the time as well. 
I come from a multiracial family. My wife is Tongan. My daughter is both Tongan and a New Zealander. Interestingly she considers herself a New Zealander. My son although having Tongan heritage is not a Tongan because Tonga has strict rules on citizenship and he was not born there. I envy the members of this House who can speak in te reo—