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Madam Speaker, I move that the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill be now read a second and a third time.

I would like to thank the members of the Local Government and Environment Select Committee for their careful and thoughtful handling of this Bill.

I would also like to thank other members and parties from across this House, who are supporting this Bill. 

I would like to acknowledge the large amount of work by the organisations promoting this Bill, representatives of whom are present in the House tonight. 

A true sustained team effort over some 4 years which has seen 10 organisations come together to draft and promote this Private Bill for the good of Auckland.

Auckland is New Zealand's biggest international city, and cities of an international standing require, and their residents expect, access to certain facilities and services in the areas of arts, culture and entertainment, as well as public and community facilities such as rescue services. 

The Bill will establish a statutory framework for the secure and sustainable funding of ten important services and organisations that provide services and facilities across the Auckland region.

The Bill will initially provide funding for:

• Auckland Observatory and Planetarium Trust Board;
• Auckland Philharmonia;
• Auckland Regional Rescue Helicopter Trust;
• Auckland Theatre Company Limited;
• Coastguard Northern Region Incorporated;
• New Zealand National Maritime Museum Trust Board;
• New Zealand Opera Limited;
• Surf Life Saving Northern Region Incorporated;
• The Auckland Festival Trust; and
• WaterSafe Auckland Incorporated.

These are organisations contribute to lives of tens of thousands of Aucklanders in terms of jobs, economic benefits and opportunities to be involved in the local community.  And, collectively, they serve hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders and visitors from further afield who use their services each year.

They are part of the essential fabric of Auckland and contribute towards making the region a vibrant and desirable place to live in, to work in, and to visit.

Looking at the work of these organisations, their services, and annual reports and plans, they are amenities that are truly regional in nature.

Independent surveys conducted over the last 12 years have shown that the public perceives them as regional in nature and support the idea of these organisations receiving funding from across all the districts in the region. 

Currently, however, the local government contribution to these organisations funding falls disproportionately on the ratepayers of Auckland City. 

Of the eight councils in the Auckland region, Auckland City Council provided almost 90 per cent of these amenities' local government sector funding in 2006/2007.

These amenities have worked tirelessly over the years to seek alternative funding from all sources, including annual approaches to the other seven territorial authorities in the Auckland region.

Recent economic growth and increases in marketing mean that sponsorship and marketing opportunities for these amenities are at a premium. 

Similarly while New Zealanders and Aucklanders are very generous with giving volunteer time and financial support (New Zealanders contribute 270 million hours of formal, unpaid work for non-profit organisations and over $350million in donations annually), these organisations require a secure base of funding to ensure they can maximise the input of the volunteer time given.

A legislative framework is needed to ensure the long term sustainability of these organisations and remove the uncertainty that surrounds their future funding. 

Without the Bill, there will be a deterioration in the quality of services that the amenities are able to provide.  Some amenities will not be able to introduce planned improvements to their services while others will need to begin cutting current services.  There is a real risk that some may even collapse.

If taxpayers are going to support Auckland initiatives through the Central Government funding provided - this must surely be matched by the support of local ratepayers through the contribution of local authorities.

 

The Bill:

• establishes the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board, which will be the conduit between the organisations and the contributing authorities (via the Territorial Local Authority Electoral College).
• It specifies the particular Amenities that will qualify for funding. It will also sets out a process by which new organisations can be added to the list and includes a mechanism for existing Amenities to be removed from qualifying for funding.
• The Bill will also set out the procedure for the approval and distribution of funding to the Amenities.

This will enable the organisations to:

• focus more on their core businesses;
• reduce the amount of time spent on securing funding;
• improve their ability to perform on a wider regional basis;
• improve accessibility to the organisations' services;
• ensure staffing requirements are adequately met; and
• demonstrate the organisations' future viability so as to assist in attracting and maintaining the volunteers and trustees upon which they depend.

There have been suggestions that this Bill could be delayed because of possible changes to the governance of the Auckland Region arising from recommendations of the Royal Commission.

However, it quickly became evident that the amenities named in the Bill could not wait for several years until the outcome of this process is known. Many of them are already on the point of having to curtail the services they offer because of a lack of funds.

Without doubt, if secure funding does not start to flow to them from July 1 next year, the Auckland Region will be the loser, with fewer life savers on the beaches, reduced educational programmes in schools and limitations on the availability of rescue helicopters.

Delay cannot be countenanced. It may well be, that the Royal Commission will make sweeping recommendations which, if implemented, will at some future date make some provisions of this Bill unworkable.

Perhaps some of the councils named will disappear or have changed responsibilities or a new body may be created which would be a more logical funder.

But this is all supposition at this stage. The truth is that no-one knows what the Royal Commission will recommend, what the Governments over the next 4 years will attempt to put into legislation or when, if at all, any changes will take effect.

 Many other laws may also have to be reviewed and amended if there is significant change in the governance structures in the Auckland region.  That eventuality does not apply just to this Bill.

On the other hand, there may be no changes in Auckland governance that would necessitate changing this legislation at all. What I am saying, Madam Speaker, is that all those associated with this legislation recognise and acknowledge that it may be a temporary measure and have a limited life.

Everyone accepts that there may be a need to amend it, if and when a new governance model is adopted. Whenever there is a need, it will be readily apparent and common sense will have to prevail.

Just as this is a pragmatic, common sense bill - brought forward by a group of Aucklanders who see this as a practical solution to real present problems that Auckland organisations have with funding and service delivery.   We should not attempt to set a time limit on this legislation, or establishing a date for review. We simply cannot see into the future to determine whether a change will be necessary, or when.

I believe there is no need to provide for a review in legislation and there is no benefit in attempting to do so. In the circumstances, I believe the sensible way forward is to enact this legislation now and acknowledge that, should circumstances change in the future, it may need to be amended. This is an eventuality that applies to any legislation.

This Bill will secure the future of Auckland's important amenities through funding that is sourced proportionately from all territorial authorities in the region, under current governance structures.

Further, it will allow these amenities to continue to provide and grow world-class services and facilities that the residents of the Auckland region expect.

It gives me great pleasure to commend this Bill to the House. 

 

 

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