Good morning. It's always great to visit the deep South and experience your wonderful hospitality.  I have sampled some Bluff oysters which met all my expectations.  There is indeed a great spirit here and I am enjoying sharing in that.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to talk to you today about my portfolio of Local Government.  It is a role I am really enjoying. Each day is better than the day before and the day before that.  I feel enormously privileged to hold the warrant for Local Government - it is a wonderful opportunity and one I am keen to make the most of so we can move our regions and country forward.

So today I am going to traverse some of the issues and priorities. We can then open up to the floor and talk further about some of these ideas and answer your questions.

Since becoming Minister I have received many valuable ideas and lots of good feedback from the business sector. There have been thousands of letters received in my office, many of those from businesses and no doubt some from businesses and ratepayers in Southland.

I know that many of you often feel unnecessarily constrained by Council requirements, compliance costs and the increasing burden of rates demands, compliance costs and general "red tape." I am working to change this.

I have work underway to streamline council planning and consultation processes.  I am also working with my Ministerial colleagues to reduce red tape in the building and RMA areas. The result of this will be to make councils less risk adverse and more flexible.

There is also strong evidence which shows rates across local government have been growing faster than council costs over recent years. The poor old ratepayer is constantly being hit with demands for more money from their local authorities.

This is tough at anytime, but especially in the midst of a recession.  That's why I am totally committed to getting councils to focus on cost-effective essential services and facilities to their ratepayers and citizens.  Businesses and households are required to carefully prioritise their spending and balance their budgets and so too should councils.

It is for this reason that I want to see councils identifying and focusing on their core roles and functions.

In my view the basic infrastructure needs of this "nice to have" coming much further down the list if at all.

I'm not saying councils shouldn't spend only on their core roles and functions and I'm not telling local authorities what they can and cannot do.

What I want is for councils to foster greater local democracy by consulting more widely and seeking a mandate for "non core spending."  Ratepayers need to have a say.

As part of the review of the Local Government Act, the Department of Internal Affairs is looking at ways in which referenda and polls can be used as decision-making tools.

We know, for example, that Wanganui District Council regularly uses referenda to decide on issues such as rates and the future of council owned public assets and Hastings District Council recently used a referendum to gauge support for building the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park.

I am also aware of the positive steps some councils are taking to achieve a more responsive fiscal strategy. Hutt City Council is one example.  They have a clear fiscal strategy based on what their ratepayers can afford.  They budget to their strategy and thereby increase the disposable income of their communities and the profitability of their businesses. But the "real win" is that Hutt City has one of the lowest rate increases in the country while addressing council debt. That's got to be a good outcome for the people of Hutt City.

As Minister of Local Government I want to see more council accountability and financial responsibility. I am planning to have legislation in Parliament by the end of this year. Wearing my other ministerial hat I am working to reduce the costs that central government has imposed on councils.
 
My major task in the Regulatory Reform portfolio has been to identify legislation that is causing constant roadblocks, rustrations and compliance costs for councils.

One of your mayors, Tim Shadbolt, told me recently that his council could easily have kept costs to the rate of inflation, had it not been for the costs central government had imposed over the past nine years. He estimates that this year alone, Invercargill City Council will spend an extra $1.59 million, or nearly eight per cent of its budget, on complying with central government requirements.

So what can be done to address these problems to make the boat go faster and boost our economic performance.

The Government has already announced work aimed at reducing the costs associated with air quality and drinking water standards.

Work is underway to streamline both the Resource Management Act (RMA) 1991 and the Building Act 2004.  The first reform phase, the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill, addresses the excessive bureaucracy, costs and delays with the RMA.

If we can address this issue effectively we can definitely improve economic performance through higher productivity and creating new jobs.

The second reform phase is also critical It includes work to:

•  improve management of acquaculture, infrastructure, urban design and water; and


•  better align RMA processes with those of the Building, Conservation, Forests and Historic Places Acts.

I would like to touch briefly today on that "faraway place" Auckland.  It's too early to say what the implications of the changes in Auckland will be for other local authorities.

Auckland has a unique set of issues that needed a unique response.  For decades Auckland's governance arrangements haven't worked.  Years of factionalism, pettiness and a lack of strategic focus has left Auckland needing to be fixed.  Auckland has been slowing the country down for "too long". 

I'm sure you will agree that is important not only for Auckland. It is important for all of New Zealand that we get Auckland right. Why should Auckland drag down Southland or any other part of New Zealand?

The Government wants the Auckland region to speak with one voice on critical issues. We want to see a mayor and a council able to speak for and represent all of Auckland. Then candidates can go out and campaign on their vision for the city and region, fire our imagination and get elected to do the job.

We are determined to see a unified Auckland that celebrates its diversity and pulls the rest of New Zealand forward economically.

We are still waiting for the Select Committee to report back to Parliament early next month with recommendations about the final shape and boundaries of the new Auckland Council.
 
But what we can be sure about is that there will be changes to local government in Auckland that the Government expects will reap positive results in the years ahead. Here, many miles away in Southland, some of the issues are the same as in Auckland.  Many of you will share concerns about rates, regulation and the general state of the economy.

It is encouraging to see that Southland's unemployment rate at 2.8 per cent is below the national average.

There is encouraging development, particularly in the areas of energy development and exploration, like lignite mining in the Mataura Basin, and oil and gas exploration in the Great South Basin.  And just a couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister named seven potential cycleway routes, including the ‘Around the Mountain Trail' here in Southland.

The initiatives I have outlined today and our ideas in the future, I believe, will ensure that Southland is in the best possible position to get through this recession, capitalise on opportunities and be ready to move that boat as fast as we can when the economy improves.

There's a ton of spirit and get up and go here in Southland that's evident to anyone who comes here. 

I want to see us harnessing that spirit by making it easier for businesses to grow and prosper and for the Southland community to benefit through more jobs and higher incomes.

I think you well know that politicians don't have a monopoly on good ideas so I would love to hear from you. 

We can make this a greater country than it already is. 

Thank you for the invitation and opportunity to meet with you today.  Southland hospitality has lived up to expectations.  I'm looking forward to coming back. 

ends