Kedgley Sue: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee 
Kedgley Sue: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6349] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 We have heard a lot of talk about the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill how it has been improved by the consideration of the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee and how local boards have been given more powers under this bill. But if Aucklanders take the trouble to look at the fine print of this bill—and I sincerely hope that many will—they will quickly realise that in the way the super-city has been set up the Auckland Council remains the all-powerful governing body run by an all-powerful mayor and the 20 or 30 tiny local boards will be totally subservient to the Auckland Council with no real decision-making power no autonomy no staff and no funding of their own. With only four to nine members local boards will simply be too tiny and too fragmented to have any real influence or power. As Bob Harvey points out unless the local boards are given additional powers during the Committee stage of this bill which is unlikely they will be little more than sewing circle meetings. 
The bill concentrates power in the hands of the mayor—academics call it the “strong mayor” model—and it gives the mayor powers that no other mayor in New Zealand has. Why is this? The mayor will be able to control the council by selecting his—and I use the words “he” and “his” advisedly—inner cabal. He will be able to push through his agenda on to the city and veto any decision that any local board makes that he does not like. Under this bill he can even appoint himself as head of any committee that he likes and of course he is the one who develops the budget and the strategic plan. He even gets to decide whether the council will consult Aucklanders. One of the provisions in the bill says that he and he alone will determine the “processes and mechanisms … to engage with the people of Auckland.” I ask members to look in the bill. What if a future mayor—say Mayor Banks—decided that he did not really want to consult Aucklanders particularly about contentious issues such as the sale of Auckland assets? The chairs and deputy mayors will be appointed by the mayor and will be beholden to the mayor and I know from 8 years of experience as a Wellington city councillor that once the mayor controls his inner cabal he will effectively control the agenda of the council and other councillors outside of this inner cabal will have very little say or influence. 
The 20 or 30 local boards will have no staff of their own. All the advisers will be appointed by the chief executive of the council and they will not have clearly defined powers. The Auckland Council which is described in the bill as the “governing body” not only will hold the purse strings but will decide what responsibilities it is prepared to delegate to the new boards and it will retain the power of veto. So a local board can for example develop a local by-law but it will have to be approved by the Auckland Council and it can be vetoed by the Auckland Council. The  
New Zealand Herald  
pointed out in its editorial that the commentary on this bill says it is intended to ensure that “The council and boards would have ‘distinct roles rather than operate in a hierarchical relationship’. But anyone looking for the ‘distinct roles’ to be specified in the law will look in vain.” 
The key clauses in the bill which set out the principles are totally confusing: they hold out the prospect of decision making but then they basically set out a whole lot of vetoes that the Auckland Council will be able to have over the local boards. If for example a progressive person was elected mayor perhaps that person could interpret the provisions of the bill liberally delegate powers to local boards and make the local boards work. But I ask members to be aware that if John Banks were elected Mayor of Auckland under this bill he would have powers that are totally Draconian— 
Hon John Carter 
: It’s so silly! 
SUE KEDGLEY 
: The powers are Draconian whatever John Carter protests. We will point out the powers to listeners paragraph by paragraph in the Committee stage. If John Banks were elected he would have Draconian powers; he would inevitably become a sort of tsar of Auckland able to exercise total control of the Auckland Council and the local boards and decide whatever consultation he might have with Aucklanders. 
Local government works best when it is genuinely local but this super-city will be probably the largest organisation in New Zealand with $28 billion of assets and up to 6000 staff. What is actually being set up here is not a local government but a form of State government.