Williamson Maurice: General Debate 
Williamson Maurice: General Debate 
[Volume:653;Page:2720] 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Minister for Building and Construction) 
: 
 I am delighted to take the last call in this general debate. As an Auckland member I tell the previous speaker Lynne Pillay that she was wrong when she said that every community in Auckland is outraged. I tell that member that my electorate Pakuranga has two major blocks of communities. There is the community of Pakuranga and the community of Howick. Those people are delighted at the general direction that this reform is recommending. They have some concerns about the very minor detail. I understand that and so does the Government. The Government is working through that. The reform will go to a select committee and it is likely that the minor details around the fringes still have some work to be done but the general principle of this reform is the best thing that could happen to Auckland. It can be summarised in one sentence: the big stuff is going up and the small stuff is going down. By that I mean that the big network issues like roads electricity and waste water will be run by one city council. Currently it is a joke. 
I used to make fun of the fact that we had 32 councils in Auckland. There was a Mount Roskill borough council a Mount Eden borough council and an Onehunga council. I used to make jokes that we were really lucky that our roads even joined up. Someone pointed out to me that there is a road just behind Eden Park called Burnley Terrace that runs from Dominion Road through to Sandringham Road. It does not actually join up. It has a little dog-leg in the middle because half of it was in the Mount Albert borough council area and half of it was in the Mount Eden borough council area and they could not even agree on the alignment of the street. 
What will be really good about this is those huge big issues will be run by one council. They include network and infrastructure issues and in my portfolio things like building consents. At the moment a builder in Auckland put in a consent to the Manukau City Council and got it through. He put the same consent into the Waitakere City Council and had it rejected. That is sheer madness. In return for that we also recognise that down at the smaller community level those people want some more say in the things that are relevant to them and I agree with that. The people of Howick want some say over their library or what colour the swimming pool is or whether there is disabled parking in front of the shopping centre. That is exactly what this reform is about. 
This reform is about putting the big stuff up to one big council and putting the local stuff back down to local people for them to decide. I do not know anybody in my electorate who is against this other than a couple of disaffected local body politicians and boy are they squealing like stuck pigs because they are going to lose their jobs. If anything in Auckland we are so over-governed by a huge regional council by the seven territorial authorities and then by all the community boards. This reform is a fantastic outcome. Let me ask some questions of members in the Chamber. Who set up the royal commission? 
Paul Quinn 
: Labour! 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: There we go; Paul Quinn is on to it. He has the answer. Who set the terms of reference? 
Hon Members 
: Labour! 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: Labour did. Who appointed the people to the royal commission? 
Hon Members 
: Labour! 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: Right. So when the report came out recommending a super-city with one executive mayor who were the ones bleating? 
Hon Members 
: Labour! 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: Exactly. Su’a William Sio has said that it is a disgrace that we are going to get rid of Manukau. I tell the people of Manukau right now that we are not getting rid of them; they will still be there. In fact they will have more democracy. The people of Mangere for example whom Su’a William Sio says he represents will get some more say about those things that relate to Mangere. The people of Howick will get some more say about those things that relate to Howick. But what will happen is the stupid internecine war the squabbling and the multiple sets of standards that have existed across roading construction infrastructure and a whole range of other things will go and I think it is overdue. 
I want to pay tribute to Labour. Let me do that right now openly and honestly. I pay tribute to Labour for what it did in 1989 with the first tranche of local government reform. Labour took Auckland’s 32 boroughs and councils and turned them into seven. I thought it should have gone further at the time but it did not. But I say good on Michael Bassett and good on Labour for not listening to the “wailing wall”. Listen to this—and I have the quote if anyone wants to see it—back then the Mayor of Newmarket said that if Newmarket was forced to join with Auckland City then Newmarket would not exist within 10 years. That is what he said. Now where is the bustling thriving heart of Auckland City? It is in Newmarket. That is exactly where it is. The bleating and the “wailing wall” that we are hearing is just from those who are affected. The councillors are saying that they do not like this because they might not have a job. I am delighted that Rodney Hide is leading this reform. I agree that there is some stuff around the edges about the representation about how many boards and so on but it is a great outcome for Auckland. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.