Speech to the Rotary Club of Epsom

Good evening to you all. I would like to speak initially as the MP for Epsom, and ACT Party Leader, and then I will put on my Minister of Local Government hat, and talk about my policy program in that portfolio.

As you will know, we have had something of an upheaval in the ACT Party through the past week or two, leading to a change in the deputy leadership.

How the ACT Party manages such changes is not just important to ACT, it potentially has consequences for the stability of the government.

That’s why I want to take you through how I have handled these developments in respect of the commitment we have to ensuring stable centre-right government.

I am under no illusions about the nature of political support in Epsom.  Epsom voters have supported me as their electorate MP, but those same voters have also been strong supporters of the National Party in the Party vote.

After the last election, ACT entered into a confidence and supply arrangement with the National Party.

That agreement ensures that we have a stable centre-right government.  That is what both National and ACT voters want.

ACT is committed to that support on confidence and supply.

And my handshake with John Key on that deal is one that I absolutely will stick by.

ACT’s internal issues were resolved last week in a vote for the deputy leadership, and John Boscawen was supported by Caucus as the new deputy leader.   

He is an outstanding campaigner, a forceful speaker, is well regarded in the ACT Party, and is leading the fight against the Emissions Trading Scheme.

I have no doubt that John is the best candidate for the position of deputy, and I am looking forward to working closely with him and with the rest of our team of MPs and staff.

After the vote I took the opportunity to reshuffle the portfolios the ACT Party holds.  John Boscawen became Minister of Consumer Affairs.  This is an excellent portfolio for him because he has been a tireless campaigner against some of the rorts that have been exposed in the collapse of finance companies in recent years.  He also takes my Associate Commerce Portfolio.

I have taken the Associate Education portfolio, which I can assure you should be taken as a signal of ACT’s commitment to Education as a crucial issue for the economic and social future of our country.

We have relinquished the Associate Defence portfolio.  

National didn’t ask for it back.  Rather, I decided that we needed to focus our limited resources on areas that are of most importance to the ACT Party, and where we could make a difference.

I am saddened by what has happened to Heather Roy, in particular by the leaking of material, much of it malicious and designed to cause maximum harm to the Party.  The developments have now been well covered in the media, so I want to move on from them.

What I want to do is to explain to you how I managed the upheaval in the ACT Party in respect of our commitment to stable centre-right government.

You deserve an explanation.

As soon as a challenge for the deputy leadership was lodged on August 5, for the vote to be held 12 days later at the caucus on August 17, we informed the PM.

We let the National Party know that this was an internal matter, that there was no threat at all to the confidence and supply agreement.

With a change in deputy likely, I considered the implications for portfolio positions, and through that 12 day period indicated to the Prime Minister that following a change in the deputy leadership position it was likely I would be seeking a reshuffle of portfolios.

I informed the PM of the changes I wished to make, and he indicated he would have no problem with any of them.

He regarded these as matters for the ACT Party to decide.

On the morning of Tuesday August 17 the ACT Caucus voted John Boscawen to the deputy leadership.

The ACT Board approved this change in a meeting at midday.

Heather Roy resigned her portfolios, and I spoke with the Prime Minister to agree the amendments to our Confidence and Supply agreement in respect of portfolios, including our wish to drop the Associate Defence portfolio entirely.

These changes were announced at a press conference at 1.15pm that day.

The media have had some fun attacking me for not giving reasons for the deputy leadership and portfolio changes, other than that their was a challenge for the deputy position and John won the vote.

As has been revealed since, I did have some serious concerns about some aspects of the Associate Defence portfolio, and about a senior ministerial advisor to Heather Roy.  These concerns were shared by caucus.

But the brute fact of politics is that you need the support of the caucus, and in the end Heather did not have that support.  

All the various reasons – the track record of performance, the teamwork, and the specific issues that may arise – all these matters that contribute to such a decision get debated at caucus, but crucially also within the privacy of caucus.

Caucus weighed it up and made a decision.

I also believe it is appropriate that the two top ranked members of caucus hold the portfolios.

Thus the changes.

Sometimes it really is that simple.

But the other reason for not giving much background about the change of deputy leader is that I was giving Heather the chance to put this behind us, and move on as a team.

As Nick Smith showed when he lost the deputy leadership of the National Party in late 2003, it is possible to accept the verdict of caucus, move on and re-establish yourself.  

The next day Heather agreed to accept that olive branch, and we gave two joint interviews.  

But during that day we discovered that the document which, in part, had been the basis of her case for retaining the deputy leadership, had been leaked to the media and some bloggers.

Cameron Slater of the Whaleoil blog identified the source of these documents, showing that they came from Heather’s ministerial advisor, who by the weekend had admitted leaking them.

It is a sad and in many ways a pathetic saga.

Various commentators have dusted off their old commentaries, and decided for the 15th year running that ACT is finished.

Well, its not, and that is because the ACT Party is based on ideals and values.  And you don’t work away in the ACT Party unless utterly committed to them.

We aren’t here because of any individual, or because of a powerful party machine.  

What unites ACT is an inspiring political ideal and timeless values. 

The ideal that people should be free.  The ideal that our government exists to uphold our rights as free citizens, not to hold us hostage to political whim and fancy.

The belief that human dignity comes from self-reliance, and that a free person should be, wants to be, responsible for his or her decisions.

As a Party we champion values that encourage self-reliance, not dependency.

We favour choice, not compulsion.

Competition, not government monopoly.

One law for all. 

These are the ideals and values that hold ACT together. 

These aren’t just handy slogans.  We are absolutely committed to them.

I put my job on the line for the principle of one person, one vote, in Auckland local government.

We embrace the world of free markets, of competition, entrepreneurship and profit.  Unashamedly.

We embrace the world of private enterprise, of hard work, new ideas, exciting innovation.

We applaud those who want to see a more successful, wealthier, higher income country.

It is the values and principles and policies of a Party that people vote for.

As a Party, we have achieved much, and have much to achieve.

New Zealand is now enjoying stable centre-right government.  That’s something we haven’t had since the start of MMP. 

And you can put that down to ACT.

It’s a promise ACT made. It’s a promise ACT has kept, and will continue to keep.

The ACT Party promised stable government.  

But we made serious policy promises too.

To give New Zealand the safeguard of a Regulatory Responsibility Bill;  a Productivity Commission; a 2025 Taskforce to show the way to lift New Zealand incomes;  RMA reform;  a review of the climate change policy;  an Inter-Party Working Group on school choice;  local government reform.

And a Three-Strikes policy to get repeat violent offenders off our streets.

Promises made.  Promises kept.

We have our differences with the National Government, but we manage them.

We can agree to disagree and make our case forcefully – as we do on the ETS.

In other areas the ACT Party continues to prod the government to move faster, to tackle problems now rather than later.  

We have pushed to start opening up the ACC work account to competition.

We pushed to extend the 90 day trial period to all firms.

And we will keep pushing and prodding the government to deal with issues now, not leave them to the future.  

But while doing that, the Prime Minister has my absolute assurance that his government will not have to worry about confidence and supply.

Nor will he have to worry about ACT support for any of the many policy changes that you would expect from a centre-right Party, but which would not be supported by the Maori Party.

Because without ACT, National would be stalled, dependent on getting Maori Party support for any change it needed to make, and thus be able to make very little useful change.

That is why we need the ACT Party in parliament.  And that is why I have no doubt that we will continue to see ACT well represented, better represented, in parliament in the future.

Let me move on, and discuss some of the issues I am facing as Minister of Local Government.

As Local Government Minister I am leading the reorganisation of local government in Auckland. We will have the new arrangements in place in time for the 2010 local body elections and we are moving fast and effectively to achieve that goal. 

The new unified council for Auckland will be lean and focused on customer service.  My hope is that it will boost Auckland’s performance and that of the country.

On November 1, the Auckland Council, under a single council and mayor will produce strong regional governance, integrated decision-making, greater community engagement and improved value for money.  It will streamline operations and reduce bureaucracy, through consistently delivered policies, lowered fees and costs, simplified paper work and improved customer service across the region.  

The improvements won’t happen overnight but rationalising the tangle of plans and policies will deliver consistency.

The focus will be on lowering fees and costs and simplifying the paper work.

A single district plan will go a long way towards that.

Costs will be lower with better customer service. 

There are a bewildering number of fee categories across the region. Take dogs – there are sixty categories for registering, impounding, and adopting dogs. There will now be half that number with charges dropped to the lowest levels.

Then there are building inspections, currently charged at an hourly rate varying from $110 to $178. In future there will be a standard hourly charge of $110 across the region.

And the resource consent forms! Over 850 forms currently used by councils will be reduced to 120 simplified forms for consistency across the region. Wherever you are in the region, the consent application will be the same.

And there will be a single Building Control Authority. This will deliver a standardised control policy and acceptance criteria, a consistent policy for reviewing and deciding on applications.

I want the Auckland Council to focus on providing a service culture for the people of Auckland - I expect that from the moment the phone is answered.

We also need improved performance from central government now we are soon to have a new Auckland Council.  I am working with Ministerial colleagues on how we can better mesh the cogs between Wellington and Auckland  

The second big job I have underway is a review of the planning, decision-making and accountability aspects of the Local Government Act 2002. This will focus on the transparency, accountability and financial management of local government.  

The Local Government Amendment Bill proposes to that councils provide in-depth information about their budgets, rates and activities in an easier to understand format. This ensures that constituents can hold their councils to account for decisions made, and that funds are utilised appropriately.  

The bill also pushes councils to focus on core services.  By core services, I mean those things that most people understand and expect their councils to provide, such as infrastructure, waste collection and public transport.  

My third job is the largest and most significant. 

I want to produce next year a first-principles discussion document of the proper constitutional status of local government in New Zealand, how its proper function and structure should be evaluated, and how central and local government can better mesh both their decision-making and their work programmes to improve the service we provide in the communities we represent.

I have tentatively called this project “Smarter Government – Stronger Communities”.  

We need to clarify the role of local government and its relationship between central and local government. In my view, local government should not be seen as subservient to central government.  To me, local government is a distinct tier of government, focused on a particular set of core services.  Too often central government sees local government as a government department it can impose its will upon, with little or no consultation.

This discussion document will look at the problems and engage the public in a debate about the position of local government.  

This project is a huge task, likely to take two to three years.  We’ll further consider what the issues are by seeking public feedback on the discussion document, which I expect to release sometime next year.  

So let me conclude briefly, putting back on my ACT Leader hat.

Let me come back to the ACT vision for a more prosperous and socially cohesive nation.

Here is what we need to do in this country.

We face huge challenges, but we have enormous resources.

The greatest resource we have is the energy and enthusiasm, the talent and the drive of the extraordinary people that make New Zealand great.

What we have to do is unleash it.

Fundamentally, what makes an economy grow is people backing themselves and trying something new.  

It is entrepreneurship, innovation, experimentation, competition.

So the job of government, especially one as bloated and inefficient as ours, is to get out of the way.

Stop regulating every damn thing.

Stop taking so much tax from people.

Give people choice in the education and health services they need.

Get the government out of the way.

Then hang on for the ride as we rev up.

Ignore the depressing folk who say we can never catch Australia.

Of course we can.  And when we have done that, we had better start focusing on catching our Asian neighbours.

So what can ACT guarantee to voters at the next election?

ACT can guarantee stable centre-right government – the electorate wants that, and we will have the track record to prove it.

But most importantly ACT can guarantee better government.

Much better government – and the electorate both wants and needs that.

Thank you.