Mallard Trevor:  
Mallard Trevor:  
[Volume:654;Page:70] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) 
: 
 I say to members of the Committee that we are actually now here unnecessarily. I think all can be revealed now to the National Party backbench and to the world. The operative part of the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill does not come in until November this year. There is an offer from the Labour Party for the House to not sit tomorrow Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday or Saturday of next week. 
As members know the Opposition has about 7000 amendments to put on this part so far; that number will come down gradually. The Opposition has further new parts available also. I say that maybe 1000 2000 or 3000 of the 7000 amendments could be knocked out but there are still thousands of amendments to put forward and then we will get to the suggested new parts of this bill. I say without breaking any confidences that I understand that the Greens have about half a dozen new parts; we have roughly that number as well. 
I want to make it clear that we have made an offer to the Government: it does not have to sit all next week until Saturday from 9 a.m. to midnight. We have an alternative and that is to send the bill to a select committee for about 3 weeks and have some hearings in Auckland during House sitting time. I ask the Government to listen to the people and let the people of Auckland have their say. Maybe there could be a week or 3 or 4 days of hearings in Auckland so that the people in Auckland can have their say on this bill. A small group of members could do that and the National Government could then say that it has listened and it has decided not to sit right through the adjournment week from 9 a.m. to midnight—that it has learnt. The Government could say that and we could say we have a minor victory. 
I think the people of Auckland would be able to make this bill better. They would be able to make improvements to the bill. It would be a win for the National Government a win for the Opposition parties and a win for the people of Auckland. But Gerry Brownlee—that master of House matters; the person who is so good—says no. 
This legislation is actually relatively simple. It should be easy to get through and I am sure that if Simon Power were the Leader of the House we would have started urgency on Tuesday. Tonight we would have been—well not snuggled up in bed but at least in the local RSA back in our homes or working hard in our electorates. I say to National members that it is not too late: the offer will last all day tomorrow and they can make the call. 
I say to those members—like the member for Tauranga the one with the hots for Christine Rankin so we are told—that there is an offer to be taken up here and they should take it. I say to the member for Taupo Louise Upston that she should think about this offer very very carefully. Does she want to spend all next week in the Chamber and deny the people of Auckland their opportunity to have a say? I say to Nikki Kaye member for Auckland Central that she will have a real battle with Phil Twyford next election. It would be a major advantage to her—in fact we should just about withdraw the offer—to be able to say that she got Gerry Brownlee to listen on the Auckland issue and have a select committee hearing. I do not think Allan Peachey cares; he likes being here. He likes watching how Anne Tolley is performing and having a bit of a giggle.