I've got a great deal of pleasure in commending this bill to the House.
I look forward to the discussion we
might have on dogs in
the select committee.
committee. I understand that is a
split call. You have five minutes,
Jamie Strange. Thank you Madam Speaker. It
it's
Strange. Thank you Madam Speaker. It it's R delight to stand and talk
on the Local Government Regulatory
Systems Amendment Bill. I like
to acknowledge the Nanaia Mahuta
who brought this bill to
the House. She's doing
She's doing an excellent job engaging with local government in
her portfolio. I to talk
about the importance of the collaboration
between central and local government. As someone who used to
work at the Gisbon
District Council for four years, I
understand some of the systems that take place in
terms of local government. When we have
local and central government
working together, it really is, it's, I was
going to say it's
a beautiful thing, but it's certainly
a very practical thing and it may be beautiful
as well. But Madam Speaker, this is,
this is fairly standard legislation
here. You know, simply updating some
of the key aspects around the
Local Government Act and this is simply
an example of a
strong, stable government, getting on with the job
of governing. You know,
some parties enjoy a bit more of
style, whatever they do with their time, but
time, but in this government, I mean, we're not into
time, but in this government, I
stuff, we get on with governing. This is basically what we're doing.
And it's really making this bill
fit for purpose. And there's a few
key areas that it focuses on. The
first one I'd like to talk about and
the previous two speakers mentioned it
as well, and that is the aspect
around dog control. Now,
as I said, someone who worked in local
government, I've always
had a high level of respect for
those staff members who work in the
area of dog control.
members who work in the area of dog control. As has been said, it's
been said all politics is local and
certainly local government
outworks a lot of the stuff. It was
once
once sung. Some may say it relates to politicians, but I'm sure
it doesn't, they're thinking of
something different there. The dog
control officers are
an example of wonderful people who are working to
make our community function well and
they need support in terms of
updating legislation and this
specific aspect is around the
disability assist dog. So I'm
delighted that the minister
has taken this into account, in terms
of the Productivity Commission's July
2014 report, and, hence, made
these changes. Another aspect I'd like
to touch on is
the Local Electoral Act 2001. The purpose of the changes
here, to empower councils to improve
representative and substantial
participation in local elections
and to clarify when a successful
candidate in
to clarify when a successful
into office. We've certainly heard quite a few times in this House that
we need more participation
in local body elections
body elections and I acknowledge members of both sides of
the House who have been councillors before.
who have been councillors before. And the fact is, we're generally
around
And the fact is, we're generally
that certainly is a problem. We've got people who aren't engaged in our
electoral system. I'm very
pleased that the wording of this legislation
says,
that the wording of this legislation
improve representative and substantial
improve representative and
councils may look at electronic means. I know the Hamilton City
Council have had discussions around
this. So this is just one example.
What they might do, but
this bill broadens it, so that the councils
can empower, the councils
are empowered to do it
the way they want.
Madam Speaker, to summarise, just an example of a government
getting on with the business of governing and
updating legislation accordingly.
updating legislation accordingly. I call Denise Lee. Thanking
you Madam Speaker. I'm
happy to take this particular call on the first
reading of Local Government
Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill.
Other speakers have covered
several topics that this bill covers,
but I highlight two very