Two thirds of Auckland's city services will still be run by unelected Council Controlled Organisations and local boards do not have powers enshrined by law.
The new Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill has been tabled in Parliament today.
Local Government minister Rodney Hide and Auckland Governance Legislation chairman John Carter addressed a media conference this afternoon.
Mr Carter said 768 submissions had been received by the Select Committee.
"Auckland told us they wanted to be in charge of their city and they didn't want Wellington controlling Auckland," Mr Carter said.
Mr Carter said local boards will still have control over their patch and the Auckland Council cannot take their powers without an agreement.
He said if there was no agreement than the dispute would be taken to the Local Government Commission.
Mr Carter also addressed concerns about the CCOs and accountability.
He said the CCOs must hold their meetings in public and their minutes and decisions will be made public.
Mr Hide said the Auckland Council will appoint the chair and deputy chair of the CCOs and will be able to fire the entire board from day one.
"That to me makes it very clear that the Council will have the Auckland region and its people in its own hands," Mr Hide said.
Mr Hide said while the Government will be appointing the founding members of the board it will leave one or two position on the board vacant for the new council to appoint when it comes into being on November 1.
"The Mayor and council will be able to fire up Aucklanders. We will be able to elect a mayor and council and for the first time they will be able to get on and do it," Mr Hide said.
Manukau mayor and Auckland Council hopeful Len Brown said he still has
reservations about the CCOs. He said as mayor of the Auckland City he would not be able to realistically fire a board on day one.
His counterpart in Auckland, John Banks said he was pleased with the "added transparency" to the CCO model.
He said the CCOs will be held to account and they were democratic because the new council could hire and fire the board.
The legislation was tabled in Parliament today and will allow Auckland's Super City to come into being on November 1. It includes a number of changes after the select committee process.
Regarding the powers of local boards, the legislation commentary said:
"While we acknowledge the concern we heard expressed, we note that submitters may have been unaware of the complexity of defining the precise decision-making responsibility of local boards.
We do not consider that we have enough detailed knowledge of the extensive range of local government functions to make the definitive statements about the functions of Auckland's local boards."
Labour's Auckland issues spokesman Phil Twyford described the new legislation as a "con job".
He said the Government will still be appointing the first boards of the CCOs which will not be accountable to the people of Auckland.
Mr Twyford said local boards have not had their powers enshrined in law. "This is a massive con job on Aucklanders. The Government is ignoring the voices of Aucklanders who say these changes will make Auckland governance less accountable and less transparent," Mr Twyford said.
He said making the CCOs publish a glossy brochure and hold a media conference every three months was "an insult to Aucklanders".
"The Council Controlled Organisations (CCO) are going to be so big and so powerful it will be difficult for the Council and mayor to hold them accountable," Mr Twyford said.
The CCOs will run 75 per cent of Auckland's services with the largest - Auckland Transport - spending about $680 million of Auckland's ratepayers' money.
"The Government insists on setting up the transport agency as a CCO, against the wishes of Aucklanders and the advice of four government departments who said it would reduce the transparency and accountability to ratepayers," Mr Twyford said.
He said local boards are still not able to make bylaws and the Auckland Council does not have to delegate them power if the council believes the decision should be made on a regional basis.
The Green Party has also criticised the Bill, describing it as a "shoddy process".
"Unless local boards have a real capacity to influence decisions, communities are going to feel very remote from the decision-making process. This is one of the litany of problems Mr Hide could address before the Bill returns to the House," Green Party super city spokesman David Clendon said.
He said Aucklanders will not be able to reorganise the council until 2015 and there is still no provision for Maori representation on the council, aside from the "powerless advisory board on the periphery of the council structure".
"Opening the door to the privatisation of Auckland's assets - especially that of water delivery - is also another choice Mr Hide has made," Mr Clendon said.
"Mr Hide's reassurance that water will not be privatised has a hollow ring given the introduction of a Bill that amends the Local Government
Act to allow for contracts of up to 35 years," Mr Clendon said.
CCO's to run most Super City services
Local Government Minister Rodney Hide. Photo / Northern Advocate
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