14 May 2009
Media Statement

National Government’s Urgency Bill spells the end of Manukau City as we know it.

It’s a sad day for New Zealand’s communities when the Prime Minister John Key fails to honour a pre-election promise to consult with Aucklanders once the Royal Commission’s report was out, says Labour’s Associate Local Government Spokesperson and MP for Mangere Su’a William Sio.

“Instead, the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill has been passed under urgency without the voice of the people,” says Su’a William Sio.

“It effectively ends Manukau City Council as we know it.

“The moment the bill was passed, the building of the Supercity has begun with city councils throughout Auckland ceasing to have the complete authority to make any decisions on behalf of their own communities despite being governed by democratically elected councillors.”

“Those powers will now be vested in the hands of a Transition Agency yet we have been given no information on who will make up that agency.”

“We don’t know who is going to be appointed on the Transition Authority, and what kinds of conflicts of interest they’ll have with Mr Hide and Mr Key.”

“The concern is that these people will be appointed to protect the interests of business and the elite only.”

“This is the start of our communities being divided and broken, our community boards will be quashed, our assets will be purloined, and the future costs and services for ordinary hardworking ratepayers throughout Manukau City is extremely uncertain now.”

“The National Government has refused to release costs of the Supercity to the public or Parliament so we don’t know how much the Transition will cost ratepayers throughout the Auckland region.

“The only certainty is that the Transition Authority will spend hundreds of millions to operate, the ongoing costs, and the costs for redundancies, and all of this will be borne by ratepayers.

“While there are two more Bills to come and these will be open to select committee consultation, this first Bill is the key one, as it provides for the most significant fundamental change in local government.”

ENDS

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