King Annette: Local Government (Council-Controlled Organisations) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
King Annette: Local Government (Council-Controlled Organisations) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 19 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5430. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Labour—Rongotai) 
: 
 You know there are some doctors who make you well and there are some doctors who make you sick. I have to say that Dr Hutchison is one who makes you well. We have just heard from Dr Nick Smith the master of myths the master of shonky figures and egregious examples who has just given us a lofty speech about vital infrastructure in New Zealand and New Zealand going forward. Then he harked back to the 1980s and the Cold War to give us examples of what has happened in the New Zealand ports. Once again he used his list of egregious examples.  
I have to tell you Dr Smith that this is 2012. It is not the 1980s. The way he was describing the operation on the wharves is not the way the wharves and ports are run today. He evoked class war he evoked union bashing and there was plenty of emphasis that if we vote for this bill the Local Government (Council-Controlled Organisations) Amendment Bill it will be the end of exports and a growing economy.  
Well what a load of hogwash. It had absolutely nothing to do with the bill at all and he never once mentioned that ratepayers’ money which goes into that port should be open to transparency and to accountability—transparency and accountability. Where was that in his speech? Where was his emphasis on why in an open economy like New Zealand where we pride ourselves in being No. 1 or No. 2 in Transparency International ratings we would not with what this bill does enable there to be some transparency and openness around the Ports of Auckland? 
 You see there are good local government bills and there are bad local government bills. We have just experienced two bad local government bills one of them at the hands of Dr Smith. He is being done over all around New Zealand on his Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill. Almost any submission of substance has absolutely poured a bucket on his bill. The submitters have told him that it is based on myth. They have said that he has got his facts wrong and that he does not know what he is talking about. The Government is going to end up looking a fool if it passes that bill. That is a bad bill. 
Then there is a second bad bill brought in by the new Minister of Local Government who is way out of his league. They are still laughing about his appearance at the Local Government New Zealand Conference. He spoke for 5 minutes he did not have a clue what he was talking about and they said: “How did he get this job? What have we done to deserve this man?”. So there was a second bad local government bill. What is that one about? It is an anti-democratic bill that takes away the right of Cantabrians to vote for people to make decisions in a local area until 2016—2016. The hidden agenda is of course that the Government is going to amalgamate the councils down there and it just needs time to be able to do it. So there are two bad local government bills. 
But we have also had two good local government bills. One just happens to be one of my own. It was a bill that I thought would be very helpful—very helpful—when it came to the salary of Mr Doug McKay Chief Executive of Auckland Council. He is on a salary of $800000-plus. It might have been a good idea to have an independent group like the State Services Commission or an independent person look at that salary. Of course the National Party voted against that sort of openness and transparency. 
Now we have this Local Government (Council-Controlled Organisations) Amendment Bill from Darien Fenton. Well done Darien Fenton on bringing forward this bill. All it is asking for is some openness and accountability and to provide to the people of Auckland some information about what happens within a port company. You know even a private sector company would provide more information than the Ports of Auckland does. You see it has got a culture of cover-up and covert decision-making. The lack of confidence in Auckland that has come out of that is something that should worry the Government. Has the Government done anything about it? Is it prepared to look at this issue and say: “Come on be more honest with the people in your area.”? No it is not. It put up the straw man Nick Smith to make a stupid speech about the lofty ideals of exports in New Zealand—nothing to do with what happens in the ports today and nothing to do with openness and transparency. I say to this House that this is a great opportunity to support a bill that could make a difference. But will we get support from the party opposite? No we will not. It will be more cover-up and more covert decision-making.