Coddington Deborah: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Coddington Deborah: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:616;Page:12469] 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT) 
: 
 The ACT party opposes this Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill but before I get into the reasons why I would like to correct that member’s total ignorance about the Ports of Auckland and Westhaven Marina. He said that nobody in Auckland supports the sale of it. The myth and ignorance surrounding the sale of Westhaven Marina is absolutely breathtaking. The fact that it would even request a Minister of the Crown to interfere in the sale of an asset owned by a company listed on the Stock Exchange is outrageous. To this Minister’s credit he has acknowledged in this House that he will not interfere in the sale. But not only that public access to the area that surrounds the marina is guaranteed. If Westhaven Marina were sold there would be absolutely no difference at all in terms of public access to that. It is protected through a number of planning controls. All the land that is up for sale is zoned public open space under the Auckland district plan and it rests with the Auckland City Council. There is also a conservation covenant around the perimeter of the marina that fully protects pedestrian access to the waterfront. Changes to the covenant require the permission of the Minister of Conservation. 
The marina itself as anyone who has been down there knows is not a public facility. It is already privately owned by the 700 berth holders who own berths there and who pay rent on them. The public do not have access to those berths already. For this Green MP to stand up and say that that area is under threat of being built out and of excluding the public is absolutely ignorant nonsense. He talked about scaremongering; that is scaremongering. 
But to get back to this bill this is another example of this Government’s patronising attitude to Aucklanders. This Government is destroying what is a great city with its immigration policies which have allowed people to flood to Auckland without doing anything to address the transport situation and the stormwater situation and the sewerage situation. That is a disgrace. This lazy Government had the chance to address the situation with the Land Transport Management Bill—the bill of lost opportunities that went to a select committee; but because this Government had to keep sweet with the Greens it lost the opportunity of that. What is the Government doing now? It has brought in this legislation to try to correct the situation and it will just not happen. 
We could have improved the situation and fixed Auckland’s roads with the Land Transport Management Bill. Submitters came before the select committee with very good suggestions on how that could happen with public-private partnerships with tolling with ring roads and with all the solutions very carefully thought out—plans that have been on the board for 30 years. However this Government decided not to listen to the overwhelming number of submitters who had good suggestions for improving Auckland traffic. 
So what are we to do? We have a Government that will now say to Aucklanders what they can do with their own money. This money belongs to Aucklanders. It is not the place of the Government in Wellington to dictate to them what they can and cannot do with that money. We will see this $1.18 billion which has already been set aside for transport and stormwater now directed through the Auckland Regional Council. The Auckland Regional Council will be able to suck out 15 percent of that to use for—I have got the exact words that the Government used in its facts sheet where it explains the change—“The need for greater expenditure on transport and stormwater infrastructure is a clear priority for the region. In recognition of this the Government requires the Auckland Regional Council to expend a minimum of 85 percent of funds received from Auckland Regional Holdings for these purposes. However the Government does recognise that there are other regional priorities that may need extra funding. The Auckland Regional Council in consultation with its electors will have the flexibility to determine how any remaining funds can be spent. This will be reviewed in 2008.” 
In other words if Aucklanders are good then this Government—if it is still here in 2008—will come back and look at what it can do with their own money. Look what the Auckland Regional Council has done in consultation with its electors. Look at the recent rates debacle when we had the Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues—“Her Madness” as she is often known. She today proved that she is actually alive which is a good thing. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The member will withdraw and apologise. 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON 
: I withdraw and apologise. When we debated the raising of rates by the Auckland Regional Council the Minister said that if people in the area could not afford them they would simply have to sell their houses and move away. The best thing this Minister could do for Auckland would be to move permanently to Wellington. When the eastern corridor was discussed a couple of years ago this Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues said: “Why should we hurry that through just so that people out in Pakuranga can have an extra half-hour in bed each morning?”. I have got news for this Government and for the Greens. The people of Auckland want to get to work on time. They do not want to be herded on to trains. They do not want to be herded on to buses. Yes the usage has gone up but it is not commensurate with the population growth in Auckland. In fact it is lagging behind the rise in population growth. One would have expected more use of public transport if what this Government and what the Greens are saying is true. 
They talk about one person in each car. They forget that most people in Auckland do not just go to work and come back each day. There are people who pick up their children from school take their children to soccer go to the supermarket pick up some other children and then go back to work. They cannot do that on a train or a bus. This Government cannot tell Aucklanders how they should run their lives. 
 This Government is using this legislation to swipe money from Auckland people—the money that they have built up through their assets and by paying their rates—and use it to fund transport. This Government should have been funding transport in Auckland with its estimated $6 billion surplus yet it is going to raise petrol taxes by 5.6c a litre next April. When the Government has paid for this transport strategy will it lower the petrol tax? I do not think so because this Government uses any excuse to raise taxes. 
We already have throughout this country a feeling of resentment towards Aucklanders by other New Zealanders. I can see why they have that feeling of resentment. Because they perceive that Aucklanders are always moaning about wanting their roads fixed. Yes I can see that as I travel around. This legislation will increase that resentment because all New Zealanders will be paying an extra 5.6c a litre for petrol. There is a token amount that this Government is setting aside for the rest of the country but most of the money raised will be spent on Aucklanders. I agree with the radio station in Christchurch that ran a tongue in cheek but none the less very apt metaphor competition or joke when it said that all coffee sold throughout Auckland should be taxed to pay for cafes throughout the rest of the country. That is what this Government is doing by making the rest of the country pay more for petrol to pay for the roads in Auckland when with the Land Transport Management Bill they did not need to do that. That is why we are opposing this legislation.