Blue Jackie: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
Blue Jackie: Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:657;Page:6421] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I think we need to remind ourselves why we are here. How did we come to discuss the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill today? There has been 50 years of concern over Auckland governance and that is really why we are here today. It was clear that the governance was not working. There was red tape. There was stifling bureaucracy. Transport in Auckland was grinding to a halt. Businesses were suffering. There were turf disputes. There was a lot of duplication. That is really why we are here. The last Government got the royal commission to look at the issue of Auckland governance. The commission consulted widely. It took about 20 months and it produced a very comprehensive report. That is why we are here. The commission felt there was only very superficial appeal for a referendum and it felt after its wide consultation that there was consensus for one Auckland Council. It said even more: that it was very urgent that we had to get on with it and that we had to get moving. It stressed the high cost of doing nothing. So this Government has acted decisively and that is why we are here debating the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill today. 
Importantly I think we have taken on board the local board representation that the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance noted in its report. Indeed we have strengthened some of those recommendations. The boards are really one of the most critical pieces of this legislation. Certainly when we were going around Auckland talking to the different communities—we went to the communities; they did not come to us; we made sure that we went to them—their concern was that they would lose their identity that they would be smothered by the one Auckland Council that they would not have representation and that it would all be fairly meaningless. Well we listened and there have been significant changes to arrive at the current bill that is before us. It was a democratic process. The process was started by the former Government and we are completing it. We will have it on track ready for the local body government elections next year which will be very critical. 
The local boards are quite new; they are not the local community boards we have now and they are not the city councils we have now. They are new entities with new powers and with a status all of their own. They are legitimate. The powers they will have will be backed by the legislation we are debating today. They will have dedicated budgets to provide local services and they will have money to plan for their areas. To do that the Auckland Council will need to devolve a policy of funding so that it can pass on money to the new local boards. We listened and we consulted. The local boards will be empowered to listen to their communities to consult with their communities and to write up a plan. Importantly the one super-council will have to listen to those local boards. It cannot take them simply as lip-service; it has to take note of what the local boards are saying. The boards will have a special status at the council table. 
The local boards will need to take a holistic view of their community so that they can promote the social economic environmental and cultural well-being of their communities. I think that that is really quite a nice flavour of what they have to do for their communities. It encompasses what they are charged to do for their communities. Of course the Local Government Commission will have the final say on the number of local boards their boundaries and also the number of members on each of those boards. The number will be somewhere between four and nine people. The local boards will even be able to pass by-laws which must be adopted if they are truly local and comply with all plans and laws. If appropriate by-laws can even be enforced by the local boards. 
John Carter made a very good point last night that all parties in the Chamber actually agreed with the concept of the new local board. No one dissented. Everyone agreed that we got it right. Everyone supported it. There were no negative comments in any of the minority reports about the local boards. 
The Local Government Commission will have to look at the number of local boards as set out in the bill—anywhere between 20 and 30. It is proposed that those local boards should include Rodney Franklin Waiheke and Great Barrier. The Local Government Commission will determine the final boundaries of the local boards. The local boards will not be toothless entities; they will have power they will have teeth and they will bring back the “local” into local government. This bill is about empowering local boards so that they can represent Auckland’s diverse communities.