LETTERS: The smell of democracy on fire | Auckland Opinion | Local Voices from Auckland, New Zealand

Residents of the greater Auckland region should cheer your publication's courageous and most unusual action in taking a stand on behalf of your readers.
You are doing what I, thousands of other individuals and numerous community organisations have done in recent days - make a submission to Parliament's Select Committee on Auckland Governance dealing with the third and final bill to create a so-called Super City. The birth of this behemoth is less than nine months away and
surveys show a majority of the public prefer to stick with Auckland's eight regional, city and district councils.
While this may not happen in the end, people are understandably angry about heavy-handed decision making by elected and appointed representatives who have handed down their inflexible pronouncements without seeking input and ideas from those of us who will be most affected. No wonder those who are calling the shots in a vacuum are held in such low regard by all who feel marginalised by such a process.
No single submission can completely cover the complex and convoluted waterfront of this scheme, but we are indebted to the efforts of Editor Ewan McDonald and Chief Reporter Edward Rooney for highlighting, clause by clause, many of the fundamental shortcomings of the Auckland Law Reform Bill. They have taken a bold step beyond their normal "freedom of the press" and "watchdog" reporting roles. Indeed, they have further elevated the debate by their desire to personally present the submission. As a journalist for most of my life, your action makes the stench of "democracy on fire" less noxious.
Tom Mahoney
Titirangi

Thank you for your stance on the super-city and for your submission. It is a step that is unprecedented, to the best of my knowledge, in the media. 
Not only has the whole process been rushed through, it has been placed upon the people of Auckland with minimal, if any, true consultation and dialogue. The timing of the release of the third legislation has been incredible; it was released immediately prior to the holiday period, leaving only a very small window for true reflection and inadequate time for analysis and comment.
Furthermore the proposed changes are extremely confusing and incorporate many hidden changes to other legislation such as the Local Government Act, the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Protection Act. This has caused many people in communities to  give up and not lodge a submission due to the complexity.
Having such a strong voice from your paper has been extremely useful in providing assistance and understanding to the many organisations and people on our networks. I thank you again for this. Kia kaha.
Pam Unkovich
Community Waitakere Trust
Community Coalition for Auckland
www.cc4a.net.nz

If democracy isn't exactly dead in New Zealand it is certainly on its last legs in Auckland.
Local Government reform in the Auckland region has been rammed through with indecent haste and against the wishes of thousands of people - many of whom have marched in the streets and made formal submissions to select committees and so on, all to no avail.
And, as they say, the devil is in the detail. There is one little known clause in the  bill  out for public comment which should alarm anyone with the slightest interest in democracy and open, transparent, government.
The Bill establishes a number of Council-Controlled Organisations whose government-appointed, non-elected, boards will control  spending of the vast bulk of rates money collected from Aucklanders; everything from water and wastewater  to regional facilities such as stadiums and the zoo will be managed by these  organisations.
That's bad enough. But one clause in the Bill with regards to the soon-to-be established Auckland Transport Agency gives a frightening pointer to where things will head in the future.
The Transport Agency will be responsible for billions of dollars of public assets and spending - buses, trains and ferries, roads, footpaths, setting speed limits and so on.
But this hugely influential body is specifically excluded from the current provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. Under the proposals, unless the agency is intending to pass a by-law (for example, changing the speed limit on a local road), there is no requirement for the meetings to be open to the public. Meetings will therefore be held behind closed doors, with no publicly available agenda, no minutes. In short, no opportunity for public input.
And therefore absolutely no accountability back to the people of Auckland for whatever decisions are taken in secret.
And because the CCOs are run by people who are not elected in any way, there is no comeback through the ballot box. So if you want to have a say about a major decision on pushing a new road through your neighbourhood, tough.
The Bill also contains a clause which prohibits the new Auckland Council from selling any assets (valued at over $250,000) prior to 2012. After that, everything that has been built up and paid for by the people of Auckland over years and years can be put on the block.
One only has to look at the ACT Party website (whose leader, Rodney Hide is the minister driving these reforms) to see what is intended: "Roads and piped water will be supplied on a fully commercial basis". Tolls - without any consultation or discussion with the people - could be brought in virtually overnight.
Mr Hide was recently quoted as saying: "The objective of this governance exercise is to enhance citizens' opportunity to participate in the democratic process." Yeah, right!
Penny Hulse
Deputy Mayor
Waitakere City

Could it be that the unseemly rush to push through the so-called "super-city" legislation has a more sinister motive? For example, it provides an opportunity for any corrupt official who possessed insider knowledge of a potential sale to invest in a favoured private enterprise tendering for the purchase of civic assets - e.g. Ports of Auckland - to acquire an interest in tendering company (perhaps through a nominee buyer) in the expectation of future substantial financial gain, especially if a change of government re-nationalised the assets.
Michael Stanton
Waiheke

Here are some further points I think are important.
1. Auckland Transport should not be able to raise bylaws - only elected people should.
2. Disputes between CCOs should be settled by the Auckland Council, not  the District Court.
3. Out-of-locality landlords should not vote for local boards.
4. Repeal of Section 77 of the Local Government Amendment Act 1992 means  the Waitakere Ranges Park will pass into the nation's land bank to become a pawn in treaty settlements, like our southern water supply dams. 
I also believe there are other parts of this bill which will be very damaging to Auckland, and its accumulated assets, that have not been picked up. Even simple things like board members should be older than 18.
Our submissions will probably get a similar response from the minister that he gave 80 per cent of Northern Rodney: "We have made up our minds". He knows he will not hold his Epsom seat and is in "last chance" mode.
Kim Walker
Herne Bay

Thank you so much for clearly showing your courage, directness and moral guts by making the submission on the Auckland Law Reform Bill. I am truly delighted and heartened. Sincere appreciations and virtual hugs to all responsible.You have made my day.
Susie Vincent
Laingholm

I fully endorse your submission. There is far too much haste and Rodney Hide has had far too greater influence and say on the Royal Commission's proposal after their consultation with the wider community.
Helene Willis
Birkenhead

Kia ora. Just wanted to say a huge thank you for making the decision to produce a submission about the Government's third bill on the Governance of Auckland. Brilliant :) I also appreciate the very clear way that you have outlined the concerns that many, many of Auckland's citizens have.
Elisabeth Vaneveld

Good on you for taking the unprecedented step of making a submission on the third Auckland Governance Bill and acting on behalf of Aucklanders in the interests of democracy, equity and justice.
Peta Joyce
Waitakere City

I've just made a submission to the select committee on this. I hope you don't mind, but I just copied and pasted the one that you made and said that I agreed with it - which I do, but at 4.30 on Friday afternoon, I just couldn't muster the the whatever it is that is needed to write one up for myself. Thanks for the push, I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't picked it up.
May Meyer

Count me as one of your readers who supports your submission wholeheartedly. Thank you for taking an uncompromising stand.
A S King
Te Atatu South

We fully support the points submitted by The Aucklander and congratulate them on taken the responsibility in submitting it. We can't all put it into words what we feel the Government is doing to us. Basically we feel we are being rushed into something we are not happy about nor feel it is the best for this city we love. We definitely can't support the Bill as it stands at the moment.
Sharron & Vic Peters
Birkdale

Your submission on the third Bill rocks! You are legends...
Leila Boyle
Councillor
Auckland City Council