Pillay Lynne: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Pillay Lynne: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6503] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour) 
: 
 That speech from Nikki Kaye was just appalling. She stood there and said that members on this side of the Chamber have not read the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill and we do not understand it. Yeah right! 
Darien Fenton 
: Arrogant! 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: It is arrogant; I take that point. But also in saying that to us Nikki Kaye was saying it to almost every Aucklander who shares this view. I tell this Committee that there is more common sense on that Table with those Supplementary Order Papers then there is in this bill. There is more proof of listening to the people of Auckland on that Table then there is in this bill. What is on that Table? Are there any Supplementary Order Papers from National? Is there any last-minute document that says “Gosh maybe we are wrong.”? No. National has said that it has given us the trophy; it has said it accepted the at-large issue. It has managed to bring in this legislation and it will give a lot of power to communities by creating 30 small boards with very little. Those boards will be competing as my friend William Sio said not only for funding but also for the ability to run their campaigns. The funding will not be there for all those organisations. As I think David Cunliffe said before me we will get back to the old days of patch protection which will not bring Auckland forward. 
I want to talk about some of the really good submissions to the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee. This council should truly represent Auckland—Greater Auckland’s interest—which we know it does not. Labour looks forward to the Government supporting amendments such as having a Pacific Advisory Board. If I look at my community of Waitakere I see that there is a Pacific advisory board at the Waitakere City Council as well as an ethnic advisory board and a youth council. That progress happens in a city like Waitakere. 
I hope that we do not have John Banks as mayor and I am pretty confident that we will not. Can members imagine a city of the future under John Banks? It would be Gotham City. It would be a shocker. Can members imagine it? It would be terrible. Where would the input of local communities be under a mayor with those supreme powers? 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: I was talking about something that many members on this side of the Chamber are aware of and I think we can see members on the other side are starting to see some merit in it: the ineffectiveness of these local boards under the current proposal. It is not too late for the Government to take heed of what not only members on this side of the Chamber are saying but also what the Greens have said consistently and to ensure that there is real representation. We know that if representation is disjointed or is across a number of boards then it will not be effective. 
As I said before if we look at the myriad of different schemes and innovations that go on across a city— 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Name two! 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: In Waitakere there is EcoMatters Environment Trust Project Twin Streams and Plunket’s Trees for Babies. I could go on and on. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Stop showing off! 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: I know the member does not have those schemes—Christchurch is not quite that innovative—but in Waitakere we certainly do. All of those schemes will be at risk because under a lot of boards that will be competing for the dollar—that is what it will be like—and for services we will not see those really important projects continue to grow and thrive as they have so much in Waitakere City. 
The other thing I touched on and would like to talk about again is having a Pacific Advisory Board an Auckland Youth Council and of course an Asian Advisory Board as part of the council. I commend my colleagues who have tabled Supplementary Order Papers which as I said before are far more constructive than anything I have seen in the bill. Having those boards would mean real democracy at grassroots and would be supported I hope by every member in this Chamber. I know that many of my colleagues have spoken about those boards before. 
Effectively so much is missing from this bill. As we have always said if the topic of this bill had gone to a referendum if the Government had brought Aucklanders with it then it would not have the debacle we see now.