Williamson Maurice: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Williamson Maurice: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:618;Page:14019] 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (National—Pakuranga) 
: 
 I want to just pick up on— 
Dail Jones 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. The call should go to Jim Peters. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Could the member be seated. I am well aware of that Mr Jones. I am looking at proportionality in the Parliament and as long as proportionality takes place— 
Dail Jones 
: But you have to alternate. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Not in Committee. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: I want to pick up on some of those points that John Key was making—an Auckland member of Parliament. I do so in the knowledge that I will still be addressing the drive time audience in Auckland because it will be at least another hour while they are trying to work their way home. They listen to Parliament for at least 4 hours at night on their way home. 
I went and found the Minister’s press release—here it is in all its glorious crimson colour—on the web. I thought I would see whether my memory served me right and I typed in the word “road” and hit “find”. Low and behold it found the word “road” once and I thought: “Oh he did—I got it wrong.” But no it was not—along the bottom of the website it says “Home Ministers Portfolios Initiatives Newsletters Broadcast”—and the word “road” is in the word “broadcast”! That is the only place Chris Carter mentions “roads”. I have got it here. I am happy to table it. 
John Key 
: Surely not! Is he on the right bill? 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: No no! This was the big announcement on 12 December and it says: “Single governing organisation for Auckland transport”. That is the heading. It sounds good. It sounds really good. This is what Mr Carter the Minister in the chair says: “I think everyone agrees that present governance arrangements for Auckland’s transport are confused inefficient and ineffectual. The Government believes these arrangements must be clarified so extra transport funding earmarked for Auckland can be used in the best possible way”. That is what Mr Carter said. “The Government proposes that responsibility for Auckland transport issues such as” —and members should listen to this— 
Simon Power 
: We’re listening. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: No this is really important; members have to listen carefully: “Auckland transport issues such as rail bus ferry pedestrian and cycle transport reside with one organisation”. Where is the word “roads”? It is not mentioned. I will read it again: it states that the Government believes that the “responsibility for Auckland transport issues such as rail bus ferry pedestrian and cycle transport”— 
Simon Power 
: No cars in that one. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: Well now we have worked out what the Albany to Puhoi realignment B2 (ALPURT B2) is going to be. It is going to have a little wee circular station and there will be walking buses from thereon north. People will get out of their cars and they will just trundle on with their walking bus. But let me get to the last bit of his press release. He says then: “reside with one organisation to be called the Auckland Regional Transport Authority”. That sounds good. So the responsibility for all of Auckland’s transport is going to lie with one authority. 
Now the problem in the past was—and I made this point in the second reading—that there was a plethora of organisations. There were 18 of them. I have got the list I have got the graph I have got the printout. There were 18 of them from the Auckland Regional Transport Network to TrackCo to Transit to the seven territorial authorities to the regional council to Infrastructure Auckland. God knows it was most complicated. The press release stated that it was going to be one. When I saw that I thought “Boy I reckon these guys might have got it. They are going to move”— 
Simon Power 
: No. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: No I did actually. Now I know that it was a foolish thing to have thought because what we are passing tonight is legislation that does quite the opposite. It does not bring it all under one organisation at all. Now I thought that Chris Carter has a bias he is a local government Minister he will not be into this. So I read the press release ofJudith Tizard who says she is the Associate Minister of Transport. Here it is. I have it here. Well I will find the word “road”—and guess what? “Road” is used in her press release—once. Just once. 
Simon Power 
: Just once? 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: But no no when I finally read the sentence it states: “Transit New Zealand has just announced that it expects to begin work next month on the North Shore’s $35 million Esmonde Road Bus Interchange.” So the only place “road” appears is in the mention of the bus interchange. So Judith Tizard does not believe in roads. Minister Carter does not believe in roads. 
So I thought well I will go to the top. I thought that the Prime Minister Helen Clark would not be as stupid as that; she would have this fixed. She talks about there being a need. She says: “The structure involves a single body responsible for Auckland transport under the auspices of the Auckland Regional Council.” Well it does not does it? And the Minister has not told us in this Chamber about all these other bodies. 
Let us ask one simple question just one. There are lots of questions but I will ask just one and see whether I can get an answer. Why is Transit staying out doing its own thing if these press releases are true? Because if there were just one body Transit would be dragged into it. 
JIM PETERS (NZ First) 
: 
 First I want to draw the attention of the Committee to clause 8 just to pick up some of the modes of thinking that we have already heard in the last few minutes. The first thing is that the members on my right speak with great confidence about roads in Auckland. In Northland we are affected as one member has already said very much by what happens in Auckland. I am speaking on behalf of New Zealand First. We have no great interest in what the National Party the Labour Party or any other party thinks. We are guided by the fact that recently I heard a would-be voter in the United States interviewed about whether he would vote for Mr Kerry. His answer was very interesting. He said: “I will vote for anyone who is positive and I will vote for anyone who promises me that they can fix it.” 
This bill is not one that fixes it completely as my colleague has already said. But there are a number of elements in the bill—and I particularly want to draw the attention of the Committee to clause 28—that we in New Zealand First believe need to be expanded and developed. In relation to the development of clause 28 and other like provisions the need to have clarity in regard to the Auckland Regional Land Transport Committee and a strategy has been clarified. Therefore New Zealand First will withdraw its Supplementary Order Paper and give strong support to the Government in that regard. The Auckland local authorities are not more numerous. In fact the seven planning programmes are now reduced to two with one more major funding agency. The issue here is not the record of the past it is whether this Committee believes that in this bill the Auckland local authorities have the ability as in clause 7 to plan fund and develop the Auckland regional land transport system in a way that can be integrated safe responsible and sustainable. That is a very laudable objective. We know that it is but the beginning but New Zealand First strongly supports it. It is a positive move that aims to fix a decades-long problem. 
As I said in the second reading this is a beginning and New Zealand First supports a beginning. We believe that the clarity that was not there in regard to the local authorities’ ability to plan and the broad framework that is now the land transport strategy is there now. That will ensure that the Auckland Regional Transport Authority can get on with the massive operational job that it has to do. 
The last point is that the Minister has the ability under the 2003 Act to issue general directions. That guidance is there and one would hope therefore it will be guidance that will come with an understanding of the funding needs step by step. As we know nothing prevents the ways that funding can be achieved. It is the job of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority to get out there do the job find the money and get it done. We strongly support this part. We will withdraw our proposed amendment and support that which is submitted by the Government.