Wagner Nicky: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3) — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWagner Nicky: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading[Sitting date: 03 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15152. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]NICKY WAGNER (National—Christchurch Central): I rise to support the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3). I support it because it amends the Local Government Act 2002 and it gives effect to the second phase of National’s Better Local Government changes. New Zealand’s 78 councils make up about 4 percent of New Zealand’s economy. They spend $7.5 billion of public money every year and they manage over $100 billion worth of assets so we really do need to make sure that they are operating as efficiently as possible.This second phase of the Better Local Government changes and reforms will empower local authorities. It will empower them by giving them the tools to provide better services for their local communities. We all have the same aim. We want to deliver better services to New Zealanders under very tight fiscal constraints and to build a more productive and generally more competitive economy all round.I just want to have a look at three or four of the main provisions of this bill. The first one is about extending the local boards model. This is the model that is used in Auckland and has proved to be very successful and other councils have asked for a similar model to be used. Under our first lot of reforms we allowed that model to be used in an urban unitary authority if it had a population of more than 400000 as it was reorganised. This bill will allow local boards to be an option in a proposed reorganisation to any new unitary authority and even as part of existing authorities. That introduction will be determined on a case by case basis—looking at the community seeing what they require—and it will be led in consultation with the Local Government Commission.The bill also focuses on more efficient delivery and governance of local authority services. The idea behind that is that the bill can encourage greater collaboration and more shared services between local authorities. It will do this by providing a range of practical ways to achieve those efficiencies of scale without necessarily amalgamating or creating bigger units. It just gives more flexibility to collaborate and to deliver better cheaper services.The bill also encourages better consultation decision making and planning. It basically gives more flexibility to councils and more clarity about how and when they must consult. The current law allows very little flexibility. Under this bill councils willhave the flexibility to use new techniques and more modern technology when they consult with the public. It does not remove any requirements to consult or affect any provisions about Māori engagement with council decision-making.After an in-depth study about development contributions this bill improves the development contributions regime. It will clarify and show the range of infrastructure that can be financed by development contributions. It also provides new principles and a new purpose for development contributions that will be inserted into the legislation to guide their use and to provide greater transparency.I was interested to hear the Hon Annette King supporting better infrastructure delivery and asset management. This is a very important role of local government and this bill will improve decision making about infrastructure. What will happen is that councils will be required to prepare an infrastructure strategy for at least a 30-year period. We know that the vast majority of council spending is around large infrastructure programmes so they will need to have a plan for 30 years and they will have to incorporate this into their long-term plans after 2015.The bill also adds the principle that asset management planning is part of a council’s prudent stewardship of resources so there will be a greater oversight of that spending. I think it is time for that. I think it was mentioned earlier that we had the report from the Auditor-General about Kaipara District Council and that certainly was an example of where spending was not monitored closely enough. We want to see that all councils have the tools to make sure they spend their ratepayers’ money well.These reforms are a really important part of our programme to build a more productive and competitive economy and to deliver better public services for all communities. We do want to work with local government in these really challenging financial times and make sure that they can deliver in the most efficient and affordable way to their ratepayers and for all Kiwi families. Thank you.