Williams Andrew: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 29 November 2012. Volume:686;Page:6965. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
: 
 I rise to take a call on behalf of New Zealand First on the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill and to give the members on the other side of the House the members of the National Party perhaps a small history lesson. I hope they have got their pens ready and I hope they are ready to take notes so that when they go back to their National caucus next week they can perhaps recite some of these quotes. 
The first quote I have is from the Local Government New Zealand conference of 16 July 2012. It was the Rt Hon John Key Prime Minister of New Zealand who said: “the relationship between central and local government is incredibly important. There are many areas where we work together productively. You are also responsible for administering many of the laws we write such as the Resource Management Act.” He then went on to say: “New Zealand’s 78 councils make up 4 per cent of GDP spending $7.5 billion of public money each year.”—so we know where Maurice Williamson got his speech from—“And they manage $100 billion worth of assets.” He then said: “They also perform a huge range of regulatory functions that affect households and businesses—from granting resource and building consents to issuing dog registrations. Councils have a role to play in creating an environment that is conducive to sustained economic growth—just as central government does.” That was this year. 
I then jump back 1 year to 11 July 2011—the same Rt Hon John Key Prime Minister of New Zealand and former money trader of Merrill Lynch in New York but now Prime Minister of New Zealand. He said on 11 July 2011 to the Local Government New Zealand conference: “Local government already makes a valuable contribution to our economy. You contribute four per cent to New Zealand’s GDP. You have infrastructural assets worth $89 billion. And you employ more than 22800 people. Our”—listen to this the Hon Nick Smith—“joint commitment to economic growth is crucial for New Zealand’s success. Together we are an enabling force for the private sector to generate jobs and economic growth. New Zealand needs a more competitive economy to grow.” So there was the deal—the partnership between central and local government. That is 2 years in a row. 
Let us go back a year to 26 July 2010 when the same Rt Hon John Key the Prime Minister of New Zealand and former Merrill Lynch trader from New York said: “You in local government can also contribute significantly to economic growth. As we look to improve infrastructure and go for growth we’re conscious of the role that local government also has to play. … I know that the actions”—this is what he said—“of central government have a direct impact on local government. Sometimes that can mean increased costs as we’ve seen in the past.” So there he was in 2010 admitting that local government is taking on increased costs from central government. 
We go back a year earlier to 27 July 2009 at the Local Government New Zealand conference—same person same John Key the same money trader from New York. He said: “We appreciate the challenges you face. Both central and local government need to keep improving”—need to keep improving—“the services we provide to our constituents at a cost that is affordable. I’d like to thank Local Government New Zealand for the constructive work you are putting into this review. I am confident that with your help we can make some real progress. Infrastructure is another area where we can achieve a lot together. Boosting infrastructure investment is a priority for the government.” That is what he said: boosting infrastructure investment is a priority for this Government. 
He said: “Meanwhile councils expect to spend somewhere around $30 billion over the next decade on roads water services and other assets. By working together we can maximise the return our communities get from these investments.” Then he went on to say: “The Government knows that councils face”—[ 
Interruption 
] Hang on listen to this. Listen to this. This is a good one. He went on to say: “The Government knows that councils face a big spike in costs over the next decade in infrastructure investment. And some of this will quite rightly be financed by debt.” Oh! Is that not incredible? 
So in 2009 the Rt Hon John Key said: “My goodness some of this joint thing between central and local government is going to have to be financed by debt.” But what did we hear from the Hon Nick Smith just a short while ago? He was criticising local government for going from $2 billion to $8 billion of debt. Boy I think you need to go and speak to your Prime Minister your leader and say: “Excuse me leader—excuse me leader—but I went down and actually sort of stabbed you in the back a bit by criticising your comments from these conferences because I said that debt is bad.” 
Anyway let us go back a year earlier to 26 July 2008 when he was not the Rt Hon John Key. He was just John Key Leader of the Opposition and former Merrill Lynch trader from New York. So he was pretty fresh off the block then. He was the Leader of the Opposition and trying to become the Prime Minister. He said: “In particular central and local government face the challenge of investing in infrastructure to secure New Zealand’s long-term sustainable growth. We have to get this right because if we want to enjoy living in a First World country we need to have First World infrastructure. Right now we have a serious backlog in infrastructure investment.” Are you listening to this Dr Smith? He said: “Right now we have a serious backlog in infrastructure investment. Much of our infrastructure needs upgrading or replacing. Some is at the end of its expected lifespan. Low-quality infrastructure has become a bottleneck to a growing economy. Local authorities have identified in their Long Term Council Community Plans a required investment of around $30 billion over the next 10 years. Most of this”—this is John Key who was the Leader of the Opposition at the time and who was wanting to become the Prime Minister—“goes to pay for roading and the so-called ‘three waters’: drinking water waste water and storm water. Central government is also facing an infrastructure spend of about the same magnitude over the next decade. This makes infrastructure a $60 billion issue and we have to have the right approach to dealing with it. It’s my view that central government has much to learn from local government when it comes to infrastructure planning investment and management.” 
Is that not interesting? Over 5 consecutive years—5 consecutive years—you have got the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition absolutely begging local government to respond to help economic growth to grow jobs to grow opportunities in the country to improve our standing and to bring us back into First World status and it does—it responds. It tries to leverage its lazy balance sheets as I recall and it responds. And what happens? This National Government just kicks it in the teeth and puts it down. The former local government Minister Nick Smith—who is going to be the future local government Minister as soon as Dr Lockwood Smith goes off to London and David Carter the current Minister goes and takes up the chair with the sheepskin up there—will be back and he will have his hand so far up the back of Lawrence Yule and all the other mayors of New Zealand and all the councils. He will be so far in there he will be you know doggy deep—doggy deep—in local government and he will be telling them and he will be putting in his Crown managers his Crown spies his Crown advisers and you name it and half of them will be from Federated Farmers because it was really only Federated Farmers and Business New Zealand that came along and supported the bill. Of the 775 submissions that came along to the Local Government and Environment Committee only the chamber of commerce Federated Farmers Business New Zealand and a few other National Party shonkies came along to support it. The vast majority opposed it. 
What I am saying is this bill is going to go through—it is going to go through—but rest assured the communities of New Zealand need to be aware that they are not going to be hung out to dry. The minute the Hon Nick Smith becomes the local government Minister we are going to be watching him like a hawk. If he tries to interfere and pull the puppet strings of local government and if he thinks that we are going to an Eastern bloc regime where central government basically controls every little local town and authority in New Zealand then he has got another think coming and we will constantly remind him that his leader—his leader—for more than 5 years set the challenge. Local government picked up the challenge and it will continue doing that. 
I can in closing just say well done to all the councils of New Zealand. You are doing a very good job and if you keep going the way you are going—and of course we always look for efficiencies and economies wherever we can and all councils do that—then New Zealand can perhaps get back to a First World country and be a great place to live. But it certainly will not be if we are going to have some sort of Stalinist central government that is absolutely going to control everything from the office of Nick Smith.