Labour urges protest over supercity

BY DIANA WORTHY

Residents were being urged to make submissions against the supercity bill at a public meeting, last weekend, held by Labour spokesman on Auckland issues Phil Twyford.

Twyford told the gathering of around 30 people at Morra Hall last Sunday that many of the Royal Commission’s recommendations had been rejected in government’s proposed bill.

People wanting a say on the bill, which provides for the structure of the super-city Auckland Council and local boards, have until 26 June to get submissions to parliament.

Twyford said at the meeting that National was pushing through super-city legislation in an undemocratic way.

He said Aucklanders’ rights, under the Local Government Act, to a referendum had been legislated away and people had been given less than a month to make submissions – due to be heard next month by parliament’s local government legislation select committee.

Both Twyford and Auckland Central National MP Nikki Kaye are members of the committee, chaired by Associate Minister for Auckland John Carter.

Twyford said National’s Local Government minister Rodney Hide wanted to privatise and roll back local government so it only focused on roads, water and rubbish.

And he warned island residents they would have no say in how they were being governed as it was unlikely they would be represented at council level or even have a local board with any real power.

He also told the meeting that National had “dumped” Royal Commission recommendations over the special nature of the Gulf Islands.

And he urged residents to unite with other communities across the region to press for proper powers for a say over local governance.

The question over representation by Maori at council level was another issue concerning Labour, Twyford said.

“Maori seats are vital for the wellbeing of our city and health of democracy. We think Maori seats and the roll we have for the parliamentary system is good. We don’t support the proposal of manua whenua tangata whenua allocating a representative to sit round the table. It’s not consistent with one person, one vote,” he said.

“It’s consistent with the treaty, though,” objected resident Pita Rikys.

Twyford said he could see the point but Labour favoured Maori seats based on the Maori roll.

He then moved on to say there were a number of controversial issues surrounding the proposed bill, not least what would happen to public assets.

He said he had produced a private member’s bill asking for a referendum if government intended any sell-offs.

He spoke at some length about the likely loss of public ownership of assets, asking islanders if they were supplied by Metrowater.

“No,” various people at the meeting cried, “We have tanks.”

But long-time resident Julia Meek said people should be aware bore holes on the island would not last for ever and they should have real concerns over the island’s future water supply.

Twyford told the meeting it was important to make submissions relevant to what was in the proposed bill, giving case studies and evidence where possible to make points clear.

He said two copies of the submission should be sent to ALG@parliament.govt.nz or by post to Clerk of the Committee, Auckland Governance Legislation Select Committee, select Committee Office, Freepost Parliament, Wellington to arrive no later than 26 June.

He said people who wanted to speak would probably only get five minutes and they should allow two of those for questions from the committee.

Twyford later told Waiheke Marketplace he would be making more trips to the island and had often visited in the past.