Sio William: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill(No 2) — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSio William: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill(No 2) — Second Reading[Sitting date: 19 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13581. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Su’aWILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): My colleague Phil Twyford is absolutely correct. We are here debating this Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 2) to try to fix the muck-up that this Government created when it rushed through the Auckland reorganisation. It rushed it through without proper consultation with the people of Auckland. It collapsed that particular process so that now all we are doing is simply amending something that should have been made permanent from the beginning. If the Government had had the foresight if it had taken the time to keep its word by consulting the people of Auckland after the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance had completed its work we would not be here. But we are as a result of the muck-up that this Government created in its rush—Hon Member: They’re always doing that.Su’aWILLIAM SIO: It is true—to control Auckland. In its rush to seize the assets of that great region of ours it just overlooked some of the simple things. If it had taken the time taken the advice that was given to it and read the royal commission’s submissions I do not believe that we would be here wasting Parliament’s time and wasting the Speaker’s time in adjudicating over this particular debate.Andrew Little: We should be at home.Su’aWILLIAM SIO: That is right—when I should be at home at this particular time. So look—absolutely we have indicated that Labour will support this. It is atechnical bill. It gives local boards the powers to be able to delegate their responsibilities—as they currently have. Without that local boards are going to have to continue going to the council to carry out their functions.But I think that my colleague Phil Twyford was correct that in debating this particular bill it is timely to remind this House about the background context that led us to all this. Some in this House will remember that this is also an example of National breaking its pre-election promise. I do not know whether you will recall that during the general election campaign in 2008 Mr Key promised the people of Auckland that if National was in power what it would do was receive the royal commission’s inquiry once it was completed receive the options for consideration by the royal commission and then it would comprehensively consult with the people of Auckland in accordance with the Local Government Act.That was the promise made. What happened? The minute that National was in power it refused to consult. It collapsed the process and would not even give proper time to those who wanted to air their submissions. Again we saw there that once National had the reins of power once it was the Government it did not care one iota about that promise that was made. It did not care one iota about the royal commission and did not care one iota about the concerns of the people of Auckland. Instead National imposed the structure on Auckland ratepayers. It was a structure that we believe was flawed. As my colleague Phil Twyford says the jury is still out. It was a structure that was designed to corporatise the Auckland region. It was a structure designed to corporatise local government generally. That was perhaps one of the first shots National fired in this experiment in attacking local government and local democracy. We have seen since then many many other examples. Just to name a few—the override provisions in the housing accord which the Government recently forced Auckland Council to sign up to. If the council did not sign up this Government would ride roughshod over Auckland Council.Phil Twyford: They threatened them.Su’aWILLIAM SIO: That is exactly right. The Government threatened the people of Auckland.Andrew Little: Oh you’re joking—they didn’t!Su’aWILLIAM SIO: Absolutely it did. It dared to threaten the duly elected representatives of the Auckland region. That is what this Government did.Another example is—people will recall—the suspension of elections in Environment Canterbury. Another example of the way that this Government is behaving towards local government is the way that it is gutting the Resource Management Act—gutting the Resource Management Act—to reduce environmental protections and to prevent the consultation process that enables the New Zealand public to have a say about whether it is important to protect the environment or whether we side with the Government and just go all the way for economic development irrespective of what we do to the environment and to the future of New Zealand.It is just a travesty that these guys—this Government—would turn up and give these speeches as if it was doing Auckland a favour when in reality we are helping it to fix a mistake and fix the wrong and the muck-up that they have made. So I would hope that this House will recall—I know that certainly the people of Auckland will—that this Government broke its pre-election promise. I believe that many in this House would have witnessed that the people of Auckland retaliated. Thousands and thousands took to the streets of Auckland and they marched—men women children church groups trade unions community organisationsMāori Pasifika the many nations of the ethnic community teachers cleaners professionals walking side by side.I do not think that the Government remembers the protest of Aucklanders against this Government imposing its flawed structure upon them. This Government could not care less. It went ahead with it. It could not care a damn about the people of Auckland. It went ahead with the restructure and installed the corporate structure. But guess what? The people of Auckland retaliated again. They kicked out the Government’s favourite Mr John Banks and installed instead the people’s mayor His Worship Mayor Len Brown. They kicked out that fella John Banks.Le’aufa’amuliaAsenati Lole-Taylor: And Rodney Hide.Su’aWILLIAM SIO: That is right. Well we remember this. The people of Auckland remember this but I do not think John Banks remembers it because it is the same John Banks who could not remember that he had a ride in Kim Dotcom’s helicopter. He could not remember that he received a campaign donation from him. He could not remember that it came from him in the first place. We the people remember Aucklanders remember but John Banks does not remember and certainly this Government here does not remember that it kicked Auckland in the guts.I would say that the only reason these guys flip-flopped around the City Rail Link is that they noted in National’s polling that the people of Auckland were sick and tired of the Government bullying its way through—Simon O’Connor: Sick and tired of 20 percent rate increases.Su’aWILLIAM SIO: —sick and tired of the Government trying to bully its way through treating them with disrespect. That is the only reason why the Government flip-flopped. It is because it saw the writing on the wall. Aucklanders are going to show this Government in 2014 that they have had a gutsful of its bullying tactics that they do not want this Government to be in power. I would not be shouting from that side if I was that young man there.Phil Twyford: What’s his name?Su’aWILLIAM SIO: I cannot remember what his name is. I suspect that many in Auckland are not going to remember what his name is either.Andrew Little: He’s the member forTāmaki.Su’aWILLIAM SIO: Oh well—Phil Twyford: That’s Rob Muldoon isn’t it?Su’aWILLIAM SIO: I thought that was Robert Muldoon too. The member forTāmaki—a fine member he is. I am saying “the member forTāmaki” because I suspect that many Aucklanders will not remember his name at all.Phil Twyford: Rob Muldoon was better.Su’aWILLIAM SIO: That is right. To come to the point we are here because of the muck-up this Government created. We are supporting the bill because we should not be here debating this. It is a bill that should have been absolutely formalised right from the beginning. If the Government had done its homework about it if it had taken the time to consult the people of Auckland the people of Auckland would have told it what to do. Many of them did but the Government never listens.I think that come 2014 the people of Auckland are going to retaliate. They are going to retaliate. I know that many members sitting on that particular side are going to be worried come 2014 because the people of Auckland are sick and tired of this Government playing its silly games and bullying its representatives its duly elected representatives. And the fine group of people who are standing for Auckland particularly that mayor that young manTaua’aletoa Len Brown—he is not as handsome as some of us here tonight but nevertheless he is going to be the next mayor because he is the people’s mayor. They trust him more than they trust that lot over there. So he is going to be re-elected this year. I am not so sure about that lot come 2014.