Sio Su'a William: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Sio Su'a William: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6519] 
SU’A WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 I have no doubt that the Hon John Carter believes what he says about the changes in the bill driving efficiencies but I want to reflect to him the experience of local communities. When the National Government says it will drive efficiencies the experience of local communities is that some people will lose their jobs. There is uncertainty about those words and people think that they mean that something will be cut. So far the experience of the public in the Auckland region in the 9 months of having a National Government is that there have been significant cuts in health and education. That is the experience they think of when they hear those particular words. So it is quite important to think of that while we are listening to those comments. 
The other thing I want to say is that the Hon George Hawkins Ross Robertson and I ran a survey in the early months of this year. We asked people what they felt would happen with the Government’s proposal of a super-city. Overwhelmingly the response from the survey or the referendum was that people perceived that there would be increased rates as a result of the super-city structure. That is not hard for people to imagine because local councils struggle year in year out in an effort to maintain rates. It has been the experience of ratepayers throughout the Auckland region that rates go up and up. It has been our experience in Manukau that we have attempted to try to always limit the increases of expenditure to the rate of inflation. But that has been quite difficult because infrastructure such as roads and other social infrastructure does not get recorded in the rate of inflation calculations. 
I also say that Labour has been quite clear from the start. It has always supported the reform of Auckland governance because it has been Labour’s desire. Labour wants to build a strong region. We want a dynamic region. We want an inclusive region. We want strong communities. But the proposal that has been put up by the Government is flawed and undemocratic. That is the way the people of Auckland perceive it. 
I say also to Government Ministers that I know they are irked about the way we have argued about the bill but these are not minor tinkerings around the edges of the local government structure. The changes are significant I say to Mr Hide. They are significant changes that alter the face and the landscape of local government. It has not been done before. If Labour were putting together this proposal we would take our time to make sure that everybody was on board. 
Government members have argued and said that this is a journey and they have talked about the “vehicle”. If the bill is the vehicle to take us into the future then we need to get everybody on board. People are not on board because they do not believe that the Government is doing this for the right reasons or that the structure will strengthen democracy. They believe that it will do the opposite. 
I will talk briefly about the social issues. Members of the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee will have heard from the overwhelming response from submitters in the Auckland region how they have concerns about whether the new structure will be able to maintain and sustain the linkages they currently have with the various city councils in Manukau and elsewhere. Many submitters argued that there has to be a proper structure that is legislated for with sufficient resources to provide ongoing support for the needs projects and community activities that are currently happening for children young people and libraries.