Bridges Simon: Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Amendment Bill Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Bill — Third Readings 
Bridges Simon: Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Amendment Bill Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:663;Page:11636] 
SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga) 
: 
 Talofa lava Mr Deputy Speaker. The previous speech from Su’a William Sio was heartfelt. I thought it was thoughtful. I say seriously that I enjoyed and was touched by the Samoan quotations. I thought that in many ways it was a good speech from the member. It was genuine. But I have to say that although I agree that change is coming— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Ha ha! He thinks he’s Obama. 
SIMON BRIDGES 
: —I say to the member Darren Hughes that it is change we can believe in. Far from it being a cold wind it is a warm wind of change. It is a positive thing that we are doing for Auckland. 
Before I finish talking about Su’a William Sio’s speech although substantively I did not agree with what he said I think the members who were on the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee can all agree despite our disagreements that it was quite a harmonious committee. I thank all the members for that. The committee was in good humour nearly all of the time. I thank the officials. I thank the Auckland Transition Agency or ATA for what it has done in getting us to the point where we are now and we will be much further ahead by October-November of this year. 
But I would suggest that the legislation that we are dealing with now and have already dealt with to bring us to the reformation of local government in Auckland are really about a dichotomy if you like between the regional and the local and empowering both. I think that is excellent. Someone else said of this legislation that at the regional level we cannot have a waka with the various rowers on it all going in different directions. We need the rowers on the waka going in the same direction. I think that is an apt metaphor for what we have done at the regional level. We have empowered the region to get over the differences that the various councils have at the moment so that it can come together on regional projects like having a fantastic first-class waterfront and big-ticket items for the cultural and the sporting success of what is a very good city now but could be a first-class great city. I do not think that what we are doing at the regional level can be underrated or undervalued. It is not possible to overstate the importance of that point. In his book  
The Rise of the Creative Class 
 
Richard Florida talks about how very important place is at the regional level. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: What a joke! 
SIMON BRIDGES 
: The member can verify that; I read it on the plane. What we are doing is very much in the spirit of that book—one city and one vision for that city. 
The paradox of course is that as the regional level becomes more and more significant so too does the local level and so does the need to preserve it and to give it flavour because it is where people live day in day out. The local level is as important as ever or maybe even more important and the local boards will do a good job of empowering local communities in villages like Devonport; like Avondale; like Te Atatu peninsula where I grew up; like Birkenhead. They will flourish I believe under what we are putting in place and what the Auckland Transition Agency is doing. What we are doing at a regional level could not be more significant and what we are doing at a local level could not be more significant. 
This is a significant day for Auckland City the biggest city in this country. It is a good city but I think that with what we are doing it stands every prospect of being a first-class great city. This is a proud day for this House.