Baldock Larry: Local Government Law Reform Bill (No 3) — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Baldock Larry: Local Government Law Reform Bill (No 3) — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:618;Page:14127] 
LARRY BALDOCK (United Future) 
: 
 I just have a couple of comments with regard to the long-term council community plan and the comments made by the member speaking before me. I just hope that when that analysis of costs is done it takes a bit of a long view because I think there will be some initial costs for councils. However I believe that the real savings of having done a long-term council community plan will be realised as we go through that 10-year period. 
One of the things that costs councils a lot of money is the change of direction that occurs every 3 years when newly elected members come in with their new ideas and projects and old projects are ditched after a lot of work has been done on them. I think the concept of a long-term council community plan is to try to smooth that process out and allow the community to have some certainty about where it is going. 
I will make a few comments about the restoration of the casting vote which I touched on in my second reading speech. It is welcome news that the Minister and the Government have agreed to restore the status quo for councils. After the end of the committee’s deliberations United Future was really not prepared to accept the limited restoration of the casting vote and we were working to develop a Supplementary Order Paper to at least expand it to include new bylaws. It is important that after going through the process of a draft bylaw and consultation with the community councils do not end up in a situation whereby a tied vote means that nothing happens and there is no status quo to fall back on. All that effort would be wasted if there were no opportunity for the mayor or chair to put in a casting vote. 
One of the reasons for the opposition to councils having a casting vote is of course that here in the Chamber we do not have a casting vote. It is often said that there should be equity between the two forms of government but there are clearly differences between local government and central government. I remember that when I was first elected to local government in 2001 I had a concept that the real evil down here in Parliament was party politics and that we really ought to have 120 independent elected MPs who would make up their minds not on the basis of party policy but on the merits of each case. Given a local council with 14 independently minded councillors it did not take me very long to realise that such a system would be a nightmare down here. We would go round and round in circles as some councils tend to do when there is no willingness to get together and form a consensus on various council directions. So some things are different. 
The Government never introduces legislation into this Chamber unless it is fairly sure it has a majority so it is never left in a situation where it would need to rely on a casting vote—except when we have conscience votes and then a casting vote exercised by the Speaker would be unfair because every member has an equal right to vote. That is the only time we get anywhere near to what councils go through every time councillors have to vote on issues. It is important that councils can make decisions and move forward the plans they have made for the community. If a vote is tied at council level it is defeated and then the council has to go through a process before the vote can be brought back. One cannot just nip out to the back room have a little discussion and bring it straight back on to the agenda. 
We are very wise to restore the status quo on that issue and I commend the Minister and the Government for listening to the heavy lobbying from Local Government New Zealand. I do not think there is anything wrong with the fact that that organisation has lobbied hard because it passionately believes in what it is trying to achieve on behalf of councils. I will be pleased to vote for the amendments the Minister is putting forward in his Supplementary Order Paper.