"My vote is for Ecan"

In his general debate speech on Wednesday, Green MP Kennedy Graham launched a blistering attack on the government's plans to overthrow Canterbury's elected regional council and replace it with an appointed dictator:

the Creech report is a shoddy piece of work and fails rudimentary tests of professional standards. First, the report lacks intellectual integrity. It criticises Environment Canterbury for being science-driven and not science-informed. The Creech report is politically-driven and not politically-informed. If it were politically informed, it would acknowledge that democracy is bigger than business; that the subsidiarity principle is bigger than government; and that one does not replace elected councillors with appointees of central government, just because they are making decisions one might not like. That is political arrogance of the highest order.

E-Can Speech

Mr Speaker,
The Green Party strongly opposes this Bill – the Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Bill.

This Bill may come to mark an historic occasion – which may live on in infamy in the annals of this Parliament.

Last week in General Debate I advanced a critique of the Creech Report and its recommendations. I do not wish to repeat myself here. Suffice to say that the report was politically-driven and not politically-informed, and failed basic standards of organisational and managerial professionalism.

Ecan Bill Committee Stages: 'What We Say Goes' Continues Part 2

First off under Part 2, I make one comment in response to the comments of the Minister in the chair, the Hon Nick Smith, which he addressed to me, and then I hope that I have a chance later under Part 2 to make further comments.

In response to the Minister, who believed that he had detected an illogicality in what I had been saying, I reassure him that the Green Party does not have an illogical position because it is this: what I was saying at the time, under Part 1, was that responding to the bill as it is drafted, and understanding the intent of the Government, and particularly the Minister, to clear up water management, as he sees best, there could have been another way.

Ecan Bill Committee Stages: 'What We Say Goes' Continues

I want to systematically address at least two clauses in Part 1 of the Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Bill and offer some comments.

When I look at clause 3 of Part 1 of the bill, I see that the purpose of the bill is to: "provide for the replacement of the elected members of the Canterbury Regional Council with commissioners who will act as the Council's governing body until new elected members come into office following the next election;". The Minister could have used his powers under the Resource Management Act to appoint commissioners to take over all the functions, powers, and duties of councillors in relation to water if that was the Government's main concern. That would have allowed democratic governance to continue in relation to the council's other statutory responsibilities, particularly public passenger transport, air quality, where is has led New Zealand, regional land transport coordination and planning, and pest control and biosecurity.

Ecan Bill: Committee Stages 3: 'What We Say Goes' Continues

I wish to address Part 3 and, in particular, clause 34, which is titled “Imposition of moratorium. ‘Power to impose moratorium on specified applications.’”
It begins “ECan may,”, and on that point I allude back to a point made earlier by Brendon Burns. I attempted to get the same point across before our debate on Part 1 was cut off.
The reference to “ECan” is very sloppy drafting. Throughout the bill, the text is littered with references to “ECan”. Indeed, it is defined in the interpretation clause, but it is a poor use of legal drafting.
It is almost as bad as clause 9, which states that “Elected members cease to hold office”, and that this provision applies “no matter what the Local Electoral Act 2001 or the Local Government Act 2002 may say.”

The Green Party strongly opposes this Bill – the Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Bill.

Mr Speaker,

This Bill may come to mark an historic occasion – which may live on in infamy in the annals of this Parliament. 

Last week in General Debate I advanced a critique of the Creech Report and its recommendations.  I do not wish to repeat myself here.  Suffice to say that the report was politically-driven and not politically-informed, and failed basic standards of organisational and managerial professionalism. 

In particular, the statutory arrangements in this country impose five functions on regional councils.  They are: resource management, bio-security control, river management, land transport and civil defence.  The Creech Report focused excessively, almost exclusively, on one part of one f those functions, and condemned the Council to death.

Kennedy Graham Hansard : 661;Page:9767

Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green) : This House is expecting Government legislation soon on regional governance in Canterbury. It arises from the ongoing tension that exists in Canterbury over the vexed issue of water. Canterbury’s water has become the bell-wether for the current political debate in New Zealand. This is between two alternative philosophies embraced by different sections of the New Zealand public and also in this House. The first postulates economic growth as the paramount value, yet in the primal mists of the political jungle this Government has an instinctive awareness that not all is right with the environment. It intuits that the people also are concerned, so it utters soothing noises to assuage the masses: “We shall balance our economic opportunities with our environmental responsibilities, and we have a subgroup—the Bluegreens—to salve your conscience. The Prime Minister himself is a member, so nothing to worry about.” The second philosophy embraces sustainable development: the economy is forever subordinate to the environment, whether or not humans choose to acknowledge it.