Carter John: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Carter John: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6570] 
Hon JOHN CARTER (Associate Minister of Local Government) 
: 
 I want to take a call to respond to the speeches made by George Hawkins and Sue Kedgley and to comment that I had expected this morning given that we have about half an hour left for this debate that the Opposition would want finally to set out its thoughts on directions and plans for how Auckland might work. Unfortunately Mr Hawkins’ speech was all about asking why this or that person has not spoken. 
For a start I say we are in the Committee of the whole House. The second thing is that there is a report of the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee to Parliament about what happened so it is appropriate that the majority of the speeches from Government members are made by members who attended the select committee. It is the select committee’s report to Parliament. To suggest that for some reason the Government the executive is dodging its responsibilities is silly. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Too busy chairing select committees. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: Exactly. I certainly did chair the select committee and I was pleased to do so. I was pleased about the cooperation we had from every member of the committee. It was a very good select committee which did a lot of very hard work. It is just silly to suggest that for some reason it is wrong for members of the select committee to be taking the majority of the calls in the Committee on this bill. 
I had thought that this discussion would be about setting the pace and setting the future direction by talking about how Auckland will actually look as we move forward. So in the absence of anything in that regard from the Opposition I ask members to allow me to take a few moments to explain to Parliament the changes the select committee recommended to the legislation. Primarily the issue was this: we were looking to ensure that there is an overarching regional structure that will look after the things that matter to Auckland. The neat thing about that is that the Opposition members absolutely agree with that. They are supportive of it and I say to them it is to their credit that they have added to the strength of that. They need to be recognised for their involvement as we moved forward and made this bill a better bill at the select committee. I recognise the contribution made by the members of the Opposition along with that of the members of the Government. It was a good team in that regard. 
The second issue and the biggest issue of concern to the people of Auckland—and I know that one or two members have already commented on this—was the issue of the local boards. I listened to the address by Sue Kedgley who has blinkers on with regard to the functions of those boards and other issues relating to them. Again I say the Labour Opposition members along with members of the Government worked very constructively to make sure we got this bit right. They recognised as we did that the most important thing we could do after we got the overarching structure right was to make sure that the local voice—local democracy; the heartbeat of Auckland—was given the opportunity to express itself. So again I commend the Opposition for working with the Government to make sure we made the bill a better one. I think that generally we can all stand in this Chamber and say we made the bill a better bill and as a consequence we will make Auckland a better place. 
I think it is a great disappointment that Sue Kedgley still has doubts. I can understand why she may have them but she should have taken the advice of her colleague Sue Bradford who was actually one of the most strident voices in the select committee and the member who inquired most often about how this arrangement will work. Members of the Opposition and members of the Government would agree with me about that. Sue Bradford repeatedly questioned the officials on how the arrangement will work. She came away from the select committee satisfied that we have got it generally right. No one is suggesting we have got it absolutely perfect. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: That’s true. 
Hon JOHN CARTER 
: Absolutely—I am the first to say that but let us remember that this arrangement is a work in progress. We have a third Auckland bill coming up and it will allow us to adjust those things that we find need to be reconsidered. We are prepared to do that. That is what this Government is about. We do not just put something in place and tell people that is it so they must take it or leave it. We are prepared to work with people and with Parliament to make Auckland a better place so the legislation is a work in progress in that regard. It is silly for Sue Kedgley to suggest that there is something fatally flawed in the work we have done with regard to the local boards.