Peachey Allan: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Peachey Allan: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6553] 
ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 I am very very pleased as an Auckland electorate member of Parliament to take up the invitation of my honourable friend George Hawkins and make a contribution to the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill. The thing that has struck me about Mr Hawkins’ quite ingenuous and very humorous contributions is just how far out of touch he has become with his constituency. Let me tell members what the people of Tamaki—my electorate—are saying on the streets. They are saying that they have one simple message for the Government on Auckland governance: keep it simple and above all else get it right. They will not hold us accountable on little points of ideology and little arguments of detail but they expect us to get it right. We know from National’s record in Government that we will get it right. 
When I pull together the bulk of the Labour members’ speeches during this long day it seems that for hour after hour all Labour members wanted to do was to name members on this side of the Chamber and suggest that they will lose their seats. Well I have bad news for the Labour Party. There are a lot of first-term members in this House for whom this will be their sole term and they are all on the other side. They are all on the other side. 
When I talk to the people of Tamaki I know that they are not really so interested in engaging on the detail of Auckland governance. On Monday they were far more interested in talking to me about Harley Davidsons. At the recent Labour Party conference they did not see a fresh-faced energetic enthusiastic young leader arriving to inspire a conference; they saw a slightly sad  
Midnight Cowboy  
- type figure disappearing into the sunset. He will take the Labour Party with him into the sunset not to be heard of again with the attitudes of that party towards the governance of Auckland. Aucklanders understand that we have to get the city right for the good of the city for the good of the 1.4 million people who live there and for the good of New Zealand. Out there on the streets of my constituency of Tamaki there is very little patience for the Labour Party’s mucking around. People do not get it and I suggest that at least one Labour member get on his or her feet and try to give a coherent logical speech to help the people of Auckland to understand why the Labour Party has become irrelevant to their future. 
Aucklanders like the idea of one mayor. There would be no more hiding behind other mayors or behind the regional council. There would be one mayor responsible and held accountable. They like the idea of 20 councillors. I am very disappointed in Mr Sio’s contribution. It showed just how out of touch he must be with his electorate. They like the idea of 20 councillors elected in wards with which they identify. Aucklanders see that as real genuine democracy at work. They also like the 20 to 30 community boards. For the first time they see some real grassroots democracy in their communities. That is why they find the Labour Party’s attitude so mystifying. There is something else Aucklanders like; they have come to respect and have confidence in the role of Mr John Carter.