Williams Andrew: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 27 November 2012. Volume:686;Page:6779. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
: 
 I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First on the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill. I was one of members of the Local Government and Environment Committee which considered this bill. There were 775 written submissions and 186 oral submissions. It was most interesting—these submissions came from all over New Zealand; the committee sat in Auckland Hamilton Wellington and Christchurch—that the vast majority the overwhelming majority opposed this amendment bill. These submitters were organisations councils community groups individuals and people from all over the country saying that this was not healthy for our important second tier of local government in New Zealand. 
But it was interesting to note the organisations that did support it. Again it was the organisations who are the mates of the National Government—the likes of Business New Zealand the likes of Federated Farmers and the likes of the chamber of commerce. They are all the ones who stand to gain the most from a monetary point of view from the paybacks for sidling up to the National Government—all of those ones you know the Federated Farmers and all these sorts of people who could gain from having yet another go at our local councils throughout New Zealand which are the important glue that keeps our communities our towns our cities and our districts working as a country. 
It was most disappointing to hear some of the comments on what the effects of this bill would be and in particular the reference to the four well-beings. Ian McKelvie a former Mayor of the Rangitikei District is sitting over there. He will know full well how important it is for a community to work in terms of the four well-beings to bring the social the cultural the economic and the environmental considerations into the decision making of a council because you do not do these things in isolation. You do not do it for just an economic reason and you do not do it for just an environmental reason. You do not do it for just a social reason and you do not do it for just a cultural reason. You do it as a combined effect of the four well-beings for any part of society. 
 By removing that from the Local Government Act 2002 we are basically undermining the society in New Zealand and being able to provide good quality local communities. That was the concern that echoed through so many of the submissions—that what will happen is this will open up all the local authorities and local councils to a whole lot of litigation from vexatious litigants who will say if they are from the chamber of commerce that they do not agree with something because it is not to do with economics and businesses in this district so they will oppose it because it has really got only good social or cultural outcomes. On the other hand you might have a particular green or environmental group who opposes something because it has got only good economic considerations; the council is not thinking of the environmental effects of it. What it opens up is that every council will end up having to fight lots and lots of battles against lots and lots of groups because the Government is taking away in this bill the right of those councils to consider those four well-beings in tandem to see what is the outcome for the community that it represents. I have been in local government for 9 years and I know how important it is to have those four considerations— 
Maggie Barry 
: Before you were thrown out. 
ANDREW WILLIAMS 
: The new member for North Shore might think she has been here a long time in Government but she has actually been here only 5 minutes and she does not know much about it. Perhaps when she has spent 9 years in local government rather than being in the back garden plucking weeds—perhaps when she has spent 9 years in local government—she might realise what it is about. It is about making balanced decisions. It is about making balanced decisions across a community and not taking a decision on the basis of just certain factors. 
In this particular case we heard a lot of false truths from the Government as well. It reeled out all those old stories that Rodney Hide used to reel out in this Parliament. It mentions things like: “Oh local authorities have bought things like lotto stores in Bluff. How dare it buy a lotto store.” We heard from the likes of Nick Smith that a local authority had bought a lotto store in Bluff. We had a submission from the Southland District Council that said it bought a complex in the Bluff township where in one corner of the store there happened to be a lotto outlet. This whole store was up for sale it was on the block and the council needed to acquire it for a redevelopment of this area in Bluff. 
Hon Member 
: Typical. 
ANDREW WILLIAMS 
: But typical of this Government the headlines are “Council buys lotto store”. 
Another lie it put out was about another council in Hawera. The South Taranaki District Council I think it was bought a picture theatre and how dare it buy a picture theatre! What a ridiculous council to spend money on it! Again this is to try to back up the falsehoods the Government puts out about local government. Again a submission came along I think from the South Taranaki District Council that said—and actually again the Government is wrong—“We bought this complex because it had closed down. It was not viable in the township. It was part of the centre of town for providing social entertainment for the town which was going to die.” The council said the nearest place for the young people of Hawera to go to was New Plymouth something like 50 or 60 miles away and the township decided it did not want its young people driving in cars to New Plymouth on a Friday or Saturday night and coming back at midnight on dangerous country roads. They as a community decided they wanted to keep this thing open they wanted to put some community funding into supporting that. And they did. Their decision—a good decision. But under this bill there will be so many challenges along those lines because that was a good decision based on the social cultural and also economic effects in that particular township and that district and they wanted to do it. Again this National Government trumpeted it as being another failure of a council buying a cinema. Well for that community it worked. For that community it was a good outcome. 
Is it not a shame that the Minister of Local Government was not here to take a call? We all know that the Minister is already moving out to become the next Speaker of this Parliament to make way for Nick Smith to come back in to take over local government again. So New Zealanders listening to this telecast today be very afraid. Be very afraid because the Minister of Local Government who was kicked out 6 months ago who started most of this who is behind most of this and who also had Rodney Hide’s hand up his back for most of this is going to be back probably soon after Christmas when the big reshuffle comes. When the big reshuffle comes Nick Smith will be back at the helm. David Carter will be sitting up there in the Speaker’s thing. Lockwood Smith will be off to London to the high commissioner’s residence. We all know this is going to happen. And Nick Smith will be back there. 
The thing that we heard also from the Labour speaker earlier is that Nick Smith will finally get his way in Tasman and Nelson. He wanted an amalgamation there. He will push for that. He will want more amalgamations around New Zealand and he will create the environment to do that. One of the ways of creating the environment to do that is this business of giving all the mayors all these additional powers. You will end up with mayors against their own councils. Their own councils will be fighting with their mayors because the Government is giving virtually executive powers to the mayors a bit like the Auckland mayor. 
What happens there—this is what the Hon Nick Smith will want—is that you get the council fighting with the mayor and the mayor fighting with the council. It becomes all disjointed a bit like Bob Parker and his council down in Christchurch and suddenly what do we get? The Minister says: “This council is dysfunctional. Let us send in a commissioner or let us send in a Crown manager. As Minister I am going to do it.” Mark my words New Zealand—mark my words. If this Government gets away with this within the next 2 years and very soon after the next local body elections mark my words that after the 2013 elections there will be lots of Crown managers being appointed around New Zealand. The Minister—the Hon Nick Smith who will be the next Minister of Local Government—will decide that he does not like this particular council. He does not like the way it is running its business. He does not like what is happening. Then once again the Nats will go in there. They will go in there on the basis of what Federated Farmers have said or on the basis of what Business New Zealand has said or on the basis of what some other National Government mates’ group has said and that is what they will do. 
What we are seeing in this country is a breakdown of local democracy. The important second tier of government in New Zealand is our local authorities. We are seeing the undermining of this. It is symptomatic of this Government’s modus operandi of putting up combative forms of governance throughout New Zealand and then basically destroying the fabric of our society. This is not good legislation. New Zealanders deserve better. When you look at the walls around this Parliament and you look at Passchendaele you look at Messines you look at Gallipoli and you look at all the names of the people who went away to fight for this country for democracy and for decency this not the way in undermining our second important tier of local government.