Calder Cam: Rodney District Council Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Calder Cam: Rodney District Council Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 21 July 2010. Volume:665;Page:12549. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr CAM CALDER (National) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to rise and speak on the Rodney District Council Bill which is a local bill. This bill seeks to create the Rodney District Council as a unitary authority and separate it from the Auckland super-city. 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Where’s the passion? 
Dr CAM CALDER 
: I acknowledge that indeed the people of Rodney are extremely passionate about this I tell Mr Robertson. Some are passionate to have a change and some are passionate to stay in the super-city concept. I have here a very recently received email from a western corridor focus group that constitutes a representative forum group with one representative from each of the ratepayers and community associations of Riverhead Coatesville Taupaki Kumeu-Huapai Waimauku Muriwai Helensville Parakai Kaukapakapa and Shelly Beach. These people are not in favour of this bill so I think it is wrong to suggest as we have heard in the House that this bill has unanimous support in Rodney. I acknowledge the contribution from my colleague Tau Henare. It is good to see him back in the House after his somewhat chequered last 30 days. 
One thing we know is that the previous Labour Government called upon a royal commission to investigate the problems occurring in Auckland. That royal commission found after 18 months of consultation 3500 submissions 500 oral submissions and advice from experts that there were huge problems—suffocating red tape transport bottlenecks and lost opportunities for development. The commission said that doing nothing was not an option and that an Auckland super-city was the way forward. The commission found many things holding up Auckland in relation to the way the city was run. In particular it felt there was a lack of leadership and that Auckland required a leader to unify all the district communities and provide a single vision for the greater community. The commission wanted important Auckland-wide matters which were getting tangled up with competing interests of local councils to be dealt with by a single authority. 
The commission did not think to ignore the local communities and the people of Rodney can take some comfort from the fact that the local boards will be the face of local government. They will have an important role to play and the people elected to local boards will play a huge role in the Rodney community. They will be locally elected people who understand their community’s concerns and hopes. Local boards will be required to meet regularly with the communities they represent and they will be required to formally consult their communities when developing their local board plans. They will have a wide-ranging role. They will make decisions on local matters provide local leadership and strengthen and build that local community. Local boards will also provide important local input into region-wide strategies and plans including those of the council-controlled organisations. Auckland needs to move forward together. I think it is for that reason that National has good reason to not support this bill. Thank you.