Long term role for ethnic panel

Auckland Super City mayoral candidates Len Brown and John Banks. Photo / Dean Purcell

Auckland's diverse ethnic communities have been given an assurance by the main contenders for the Super City mayoralty that an ethnic advisory panel will play a long-term role in the new city.

The Government has provided for ethnic and Pacific Island advisory panels in the Super City legislation, but also inserted a sunset clause for them to be disestablished in November 2013 after only one electoral term.

Yesterday, Manukau Mayor Len Brown, Auckland City Mayor John Banks and North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams told the Auckland Regional Ethnic Council that they saw a significant and long-term role for the ethnic advisory panel, which must be established by the Super City mayor no later than March 31 next year.

Mr Brown said it would be a challenge to establish an ethnic advisory panel to represent the interests of so many communities, but he saw significant roles for the largest ethnic groups of Indian, Chinese and Korean backgrounds.

Mr Banks said the best way for ethnic people to get involved in the Super City was to put themselves up for election to public office, but he regarded the ethnic advisory panel as critical to reaching out and embracing all the ethnic communities.

"I cannot see it just lasting a short term and getting to the stage where we don't need it any longer."

He reiterated his opposition to separate Maori seats on the Auckland Council, saying he was not going to split up the city on race.

Mr Williams said he wanted to make Auckland a diverse hub of the South Pacific and grow that by showing cultural diversity and inclusiveness.

An ethnic advisory panel was needed, he said, so the Super City did not become a corporate city run by big business.

City Vision leader Richard Northey told the mayoral debate - he is standing for the Auckland Council, not the mayoralty - that the ethnic advisory panel needed to become a permanent body with a mix of elected and representative people reporting to the mayor, council and local boards.

To a question on law and order, an issue of big concern to ethnic communities, Mayor Banks said he wanted a create a single police structure in Auckland from the current three police districts.

He is also calling for a multi-agency taskforce to tackle gangs peddling drugs, greater investment in closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and giving local communities greater control over the availability of alcohol.

190 Ethnic communities make their home in Greater Auckland.
19 percentage of population recorded in last Census as belonging to non-Maori/Pacific Island ethnic groups.