Tremain Chris: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill(No 2) — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTremain Chris: Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill(No 2) — Third Reading[Sitting date: 15 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:13891. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CHRIS TREMAIN (Minister of Local Government): I moveThat the Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a third time. The purpose of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 2) is to amend the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act of 2009 to provide powers to local boards to delegate responsibilities allocated to them under the Act.Phil Twyford: What a good Minister.Hon CHRIS TREMAIN: Thank you. I want to acknowledge the work of the Local Government and Environment Committee of which that member is a fine member. I also wish to thank the Auckland Council for its supporting submission on the bill. Can I acknowledge the member Phil Twyford across the House who is a member of that committee and also particularly Nicky Wagner who chairs the committee. I acknowledge her work and the work of the wider committee on the bill. The bill has received unanimous support through its parliamentary stages and I look forward to it receiving the same level of support as we wind into the end of this debate.There are 21 local boards throughout the Auckland region. They have a significant and wide-ranging role which spans most local government services and activities. They service areas of significant population. In fact only two of Auckland’s 21 local boards have populations of fewer than 45000 people. Elected bodies need flexibility in how they structure their decision making. They need to be able to create committees and subcommittees and to delegate appropriate responsibilities to them. This need was recognised through the Government’s Auckland reforms policy package and local board delegation powers were provided for through transitional regulations.These regulations will expire on 31 October of this year. The transitional regulations were always recognised as an interim solution. They allowed time for the development of a more robust understanding of local board operations and associated delegation needs. The understanding could then be reflected in a future amendment to the Act with the opportunity to adjust the provisions should local board experiences deem it necessary to do so. Well the fact is that there has been no need for change. These delegations have been well executed. There is good experience and now this bill rolls out the legislation exactly as the regulations were originally drafted and provided for.Auckland’s local boards are working well. They are contributing effectively to the governance of the whole region and to the communities within it. The local board model has proven so successful that as a result this Government has made it available in a modified form to other parts of New Zealand. In fact the Hon Nick Smith in last year’s Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act allowed for the Auckland two-tier model of governance to be copied in some circumstances—that is where a proposed metropolitan unitary authority has a population of more than 400000—but it did not at that point enable it for smaller populations.Further amendments to the Local Government Act to be introduced later this year under a new local government amendment bill will provide the ability for local boards to be established more widely where unitary authorities are established through reorganisation or through amalgamation. This initiative will deliver on requests from local government and it recognises that authorities and their communities need a broad range of reorganisation options to enable the more effective and efficient provision of local government services and facilities. I think that this will be an excellent initiative and once again I look forward to it receiving the support of the wider House as we roll out that local board opportunity to other communities throughout New Zealand. It isimportant to understand that it will still be up to the Local Government Commission in consultation with those communities that are proposing to undertake reorganisation to determine when the establishment of local boards is justified and is in fact desirable.The effectiveness of local board delegation powers and the local board model as a whole are just two examples of the success of the Auckland governance reforms. The reforms were instigated by central government in 2009 and 2010 under the leadership of Rodney Hide the Minister of Local Government at that point in time and also of the Hon John Carter who was his Associate Minister at that point in time.Phil Twyford: And we’ll come to Rodney Hide.Hon CHRIS TREMAIN: The changes were necessary because of longstanding problems with Auckland which Mr Twyford across the House has acknowledged in a number of speeches. The eight councils lacked a collective sense of purpose and did not have the constitutional ability to effectively address the region’s wider issues. Local issues and parochial attitudes created an insurmountable barrier to regional progress and integrated development. But I am pleased to say that since the creation of the new Auckland Council the Auckland region has for the first time a unified single goal—that is to make Auckland the world’s mostlivable city.Significant progress has been made in working towards achieving this goal. I will not go into the full detail of that but I will just mention a couple of the key achievements: firstly the launch of the Auckland Plan which is a 30-year strategy to guide the region’s development to 2041. Auckland has adopted the City CentreMasterplan the Waterfront Plan and the Economic Development Strategy. Just imagine if that had been in place when the opportunity was there to put a stadium on the Auckland waterfront. Auckland hosted significant portions of the Rugby World Cup in 2011. It has unified its entire library group. It is now the largest in Australasia providing outstanding services to the citizens of Auckland. Also what we have seen is the development of a world-class public transport system which is excellent. As part of that there is the purchase of a new fleet of modern electric trains. There is a working partnership with central government to progress major roading projects such as the Auckland-Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative; the East West Link; the secondWaitematā Harbour crossing which is in the mix coming forward over to Maggie Barry’s fine part of town; and also the City Rail Link. These have all come together under this Government working together with the Auckland Council.The reorganisation of local government in Auckland also provided the opportunity to release significant efficiency gains. For the financial year of 2011-12 the Auckland Council achieved an $81 million efficiency savings gain and over the next 10 years we are looking to see $1.7 billion worth of savings. This is an outstanding result. Rodney Hide can take a bow for this achievement going forward. These savings represent the reduced costs of delivering the same service levels planned by the legacy councils. It results in lower rates overall than what were planned. In fact I understand they are lower than expected at 3.94 percent and the council expects to be able to cap rates increases at 4.9 percent over the next 10 years. This is a huge achievement.Due to its size uniqueness and economic influence a successful Auckland is crucial to the success of New Zealand as a whole. The Auckland Council as created by the Government’s Auckland governance reform package is providing for a successful Auckland. Part of that success is in ensuring the efficient and effective management of local boards’ responsibilities and the delegation of the responsibilities allocated to them. Can I thank members of the House again for their wider support of this bill. This bill’s time has come. I commend the bill to the House.