Sio Su'a William: Local Government (Protection of Auckland Assets) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Sio Su'a William: Local Government (Protection of Auckland Assets) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:656;Page:5721] 
SU’A WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 I gained no sense at all that the previous speaker Jackie Blue believed a single word of her speech in opposition to the Local Government (Protection of Auckland Assets) Amendment Bill. That member would have heard from the people of the Greater Auckland region from young people from Maori Pacific and Asian communities and from organisations that they do not want their assets to be sold. This bill unmasks the true intention of this Government. 
About 2 years ago  
Reader’s Digest 
 published a list of who New Zealanders currently trust in New Zealand covering the most trusted people brands charities and professions. Top of the list of 75 of New Zealand’s most trusted people was the name of the late Sir Edmund Hillary a name respected by New Zealanders and even revered in some parts of the world. At the top of the list of 25 most trusted brands was Cadbury’s chocolate followed by Tip Top and Sanitarium. That is reflected in the size of some of the MPs in this House. At the top of the list of New Zealand’s most trusted charities was the Cancer Society of New Zealand followed by the SPCA and the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. At the top of the list of 40 of New Zealand’s most trusted professions were firefighters ambulance officers and pilots. Sadly as professions go politicians were at the very bottom of the list of the 40 most trusted professions. 
The feedback I have received from my constituents from members of the Manukau community and indeed from throughout the Auckland region is that National in its 9 months of being in Government has contributed to increasing the number of people who hold the perception that they cannot trust politicians. Although some MPs come to this House with good intentions and are genuine in their desire to serve the public good from time to time some MPs make mistakes. Those MPs who commit big mistakes pay dearly and ultimately suffer the demise reserved for unwanted politicians: they are sent from this place and never return. I note there is an exception in this House but nevertheless bad behaviour contributes to the public perceptions about politicians. Perhaps the biggest contributor to the public perception that politicians are not trustworthy is when politicians or political parties say one thing and then do something else without owning up to their changed position. Alternatively they may say one thing today and then say something else tomorrow. The public have a difficult time understanding what their real position is. 
In the past several months people have had a difficult time accepting what has been said by members of this Government. The public have begun to keep a running count of the broken promises made by this Government. National promised to maintain and build New Zealand’s asset base by not selling Kiwibank or any other State-owned asset. Then Mr Key said that he had never said he was philosophically opposed to the sale of State-owned assets in some form and that it was never off the agenda for ever. The first thing he did was appoint “Mr Privatisation” himself the Hon Rodney Hide to be the Minister of Local Government in order to start the bidding process for the selling off of Auckland’s valuable assets. The Minister of Local Government rammed the Auckland reorganisation bill through this House setting in motion the devolution of democracy removing power from elected councillors and giving it to a handful of unelected ministerial appointees. 
The Government super-city wraps up $28 billion worth of Auckland assets under one organisation instead of eight councils. It makes privatisation that much easier to be attempted. We know that business has a keen interest in getting hold of these assets. Their interest should send a clear message to the Government that these assets are worth protecting. We know that when key infrastructure assets have been sold in the past they have mostly ended up in the hands of foreign owners with the resulting profits going offshore. The Minister of Local Government is a big fan of privatisation. He said on  
Campbell Live 
 that he personally favoured privatisation and that he makes no secret of that. He said that he would like to make the case for the people of Auckland to privatise Ports of Auckland. On  
Q+A 
 on 19 July Mr Hide said: “Of course I’m in favour of privatisation … I love privatisation …”. 
Aucklanders should be concerned that their assets are at risk. I am aware that one or two National MPs share this concern and I invite those MPs to vote in support of this bill. The reality is that even the limited provisions currently in the Local Government Act 2002 that protect some assets are in danger of being reduced and dismantled. We know that the Minister of Local Government will introduce changes to the Local Government Act and he has signalled that he believes there are too many consultation requirements over potential privatisation.