the sound

David Seymour Paul Goldsmith

It took 25 years from when Michael Laws’ Death with Dignity Bill was heavily defeated in Parliament until the End of Life Choice Act was ratified by the New Zealand public.

It’s been a journey. Parliament’s laws require one person to put their name on a Members’ Bill, and I’m proud mine was on the End of Life Choice Bill. Democracy is drawn from the Greek words for ‘people’ and ‘power’, and this law passed thanks to the power of many people. I particularly want to thank you, my neighbours in the Epsom electorate, who sent me to Parliament. Without you, the End of Life Choice Act wouldn’t have been possible. There are many others who deserve thanks. Perhaps none braver than Lecretia Seales, who took the cause to the High Court despite painful brain cancer. I could add to that list the many long-time campaigners, fellow MPs, and the almost two million voters who ratified the law.

I believe this law has made NZ a gentler, more compassionate and humane society. People who might have faced excruciating death will be able to choose control and dignity. Better still, we’ve done it based on classical liberal values, that a person should be able to do as they please so long as they are not harming anyone else.

Of course, not everyone shares this view. If you’re in that camp, and you’re still reading, I want to make peace with you.

If you oppose the law on moral or spiritual grounds, that is ok. Nobody is asking you to agree with or practise assisted dying. It is a choice, and nobody will expect you to choose it. The law forbids any doctor from even raising the topic with you.

You are being asked, however, to accept a choice that others may make. I hope you’ll agree this is not only reasonable but very normal. We do this in so many facets of life that all of us rely on others’ tolerance for at least some of our personal choices.

The second kind of objection goes something more like: “I wouldn’t mind if it was a choice, but what if it’s not a real choice for some people?” I understand these objections because I used to share them. The evidence changed my mind. No country that has legalised assisted dying has ever gone back. The Netherlands has had a much more liberal assisted dying law than ours for 20 years. Only six per cent of the population oppose the law, which the Royal Dutch Medical Association supports.

If even one of the terrible things people like to say about these laws were true, how come so few oppose the law? Either the Dutch are more different than we realised, or the law is safe. Of course there is a much wider debate than I could cover here but I think the international experience makes the point. These laws are safe, and ours is at the more conservative end of the international spectrum.

To change gears slightly, a few people have playfully suggested that, since ACT has some more elected MPs, I may be too busy to help Epsom people with local issues.

Sacrilege. So long as I’m the MP for Epsom, that will be my main job. The first thing I said to the cameras on election night was “Thank you to my neighbours in the Epsom electorate for re-electing me. My electorate office will be open to serve you on Monday morning. 27 Gillies Ave. 522 7464. mpepsom@parliament.govt.nz”. If I can ever be helpful, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

David Seymour is the MP for Epsom A year like no other. 2020, when we learned about coronavirus; ‘social distancing’, ‘lockdowns’, Zoom conferences, the challenges of wearing a face mask without fogging up our glasses.

Those memorable weeks of glorious late summer, when most of us were on a forced holiday of sorts. When it was safe to ride a bike down the centre of Remuera Rd.

A year when many Kiwis emerged financially unscathed or indeed prospered, while many other Kiwis – especially small business owners in hospitality or tourism – felt intense pain and despair. The axe fell seemingly randomly.

A year when government spending a billion dollars became a mere trifle.

A year when one wit said in a speech I heard that he’d put more alcohol on his hands than down his throat. A good year for book sellers, as many people rediscovered the joys of reading during lockdown. I myself knocked off the last two books of Hilary Mantel’s series on Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII – politics hasn’t changed that much, but thankfully now the losers don’t get their heads chopped off.

A year when our remoteness from the world and small population became a distinct advantage – the beautiful Pacific Ocean a moat protecting us from the ravages we watched daily on our TV screens or smartphones.

And a brutal year for the National Party, starting off in February ahead in the polls and winding up steamrolled. I bumped into a former All Blacks’ coach in an Epsom carpark soon after the election. “Paul,” he said, “One word: disunity. That’s what did it for you.”

It’s hard to argue with that.

And so, we go into summer suitably humbled and reflective; a smaller team, but still with a burning desire to restore our fighting power. For the challenges facing our country haven’t gone away.

It is possible to put off the pain for most people when the government is borrowing around $1 billion a week – but we can’t keep doing that forever.

Nor can we be complacent about the competitiveness of our economy. The returned government has a focus on redistributing wealth, but it cannot ignore the fact that the wealth first has to be created.

My thanks go to the people of the Epsom electorate who, against a ripping red tide, still gave their all-important party vote to National. On election night, the seat returned the highest party vote to National in the country.

To those who went elsewhere, we’ll work hard to win you back over the next three years.

Congratulations to The Hobson for navigating its way through such a difficult year.

All the best for summer, and here’s hoping that 2021 brings better times both in our country and around the world.

Paul Goldsmith is a National list MP based in Epsom

Desley Simpson

One of the many lessons I’ve learned from a decade in local government is the importance for Auckland Council of cultivating a strong relationship with central government. This holds true regardless of personal views and who is currently sitting on the parliamentary benches.

Why? Because to a large degree their decisions can save us money, cost us money, deliver infrastructure benefits, delay projects or speed up projects. In the Ōrākei ward, a shared path project from Glen Innes to Tamaki Dr has been underway for some time. This project was first started under the Key government and after a strong start, initially stalled when the government changed ‘colour’. However with careful negotiation, this project, which is co-funded by both central government and Auckland Council, is now back on track. Central government has stepped up to fund all of the most expensive section as council finances recover from the impact of Covid-19. On the other hand, during the election the government promised to fund Skypath, a walking and cycling link across the Harbour Bridge, which they own. Regardless of whether you support this project or not, that announcement means Auckland Council now has to fast-track the consenting and associated money to ensure the end to end work is done to meet the deadlines imposed by central government and to make the project viable.

I work closely with a number of central government MPs in my role as Ōrākei ward councillor: David Seymour (ACT) MP for Epsom; Simon O’Connor (National) MP for Tāmaki and Paul Goldsmith (National List MP) who lives in Remuera. We often collaborate on local issues where our responsibilities overlap and through that co-operation and joint advocacy we can achieve positive outcomes for our constituents.

So, what are the differences in the roles of central and local government representatives?

Central government takes care of the ‘big stuff’ which affects all of New Zealand such as health, education, justice, foreign policy. Unsurprisingly, local government focuses on local matters such as roading and water infrastructure, waste, public transport and libraries. There is inevitable overlap between projects, which is why good communication and partnerships are key.

Local authorities raise much of our own funds, although central government does provide funding and subsidies towards particular activities such as roading and public transport. This is a good example of where the relationship is key. Our city’s bus network, and the roads they run on, are the responsibility of the Auckland Council family through Auckland Transport (AT); whereas our motorways are administered and maintained by Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA), a central government entity.

In addition to sharing the tasks of government, local government provides effective accountability through greater engagement and opportunities for citizen participation. Councils’ varying policies recognise that preferences differ between New Zealand’s diverse communities on issues where a one-size-fits-all approach may not be appropriate.

With Christmas fast approaching, I’m sure many of you will breathe a sigh of relief as 2020 draws to a close. It’s been a rollercoaster year with Covid-19 being the major disrupter. Challenges have also included lockdown-associated economic woes; the worst drought on record; and a crash requiring partial closure of the Harbour Bridge to name but a few. With limitations on overseas travel many of us will look to staycations or holidays within New Zealand.

We are incredibly lucky here in New Zealand where some of the best things to see and do are actually right in our own backyard - have you visited the gun emplacements next to the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial? Or seen the very impressive, large, and old pōhutukawa in Dove-Myer Robinson Park? Without the usual hordes of overseas tourists, now’s the time if you’ve always wanted to try some of our great walks or some of the spectacular off-road cycle routes – check out doc.govt.nz and nzcycletrail.com for more details. Keep safe these summer holidays, enjoy any time off you might have and look after yourselves. Bring on 2021!

Desley Simpson is the Councillor for Auckland representing the Ōrākei ward

Building Up and Out

Iwrote a few months back on the changing housing vista that the Auckland Unitary Plan is bringing to a street near you. About how the focus has shifted from the amenity suburbia brings to us — things like open space, large green sections — to the amenity of actually having a house being more important than the outlook or view. This is creating conflict and tension as the reality unfolds. Interestingly, those people who move into a modified neighbourhood, on smaller sites with more compact living, do not share those tensions as they are happy to now be able to live there.

The shift in emphasis has been to get more houses built, without Hamilton and Auckland joining at Huntly, urban compactness trumping urban sprawl. Some of you – the new home buyers — will say it is working very well, those of you who now live less than a stone’s throw from these interlopers will say it is an outrage.

For the outraged, have I got news for you! In August the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) came into effect. It has a lofty goal of having well-functioning urban environments that enable all people to provide for their social, economic and cultural wellbeing. In short, even more housing potential is being proposed and with all the outrage you can muster, nothing will stop this train.

About three months has passed since the NPS-UD came into effect and the reality of those is becoming clearer. Constraints in the planning system have made it hard for people to build homes they need, in areas they want. This has led to higher house prices, reductions in housing choice and a lot of land banking. And this has impacted the most on the young, the poor, and the culturally disadvantaged.

To overcome this, the NPS-UD sets out that councils must enable greater height and density (say six levels or higher with no unit limit) in areas of high demand and access. An example would be within an 800m or walkable radius of train stations or town centres. Council must no longer require carpark minimums, that is, there will be no requirement to provide for carparks on site in these developments, so developers will be free to determine the number of carparks provided. But we suspect people will still have cars, so suburban streets may be full with cars that have no onsite parking.

Councils must consider private plan changes where they will add to development capacity and are near transport corridors. Development may then occur even when it is not planned for, both on the fringe of urban areas and on already developed urban land. Again, this is because councils have not been as responsive to growth as they should have been – partly because in places like Auckland, the people who vote them in have pushed back on intensification. These decisions are no longer in local government hands at a macro level.

If you take the aforementioned example of the 800m radius from a train station, this would cover significant areas around existing low intensity neighbourhoods in Remuera, Epsom, Meadowbank and Ōrākei. If you are looking for perspective, the zoning in these areas will enable the sort of apartment buildings that are now appearing on Kepa Rd and the Remuera ridgeline.

Auckland has two years to bring in these compulsory changes and it will be interesting to see how many areas try to fit into the ‘exemption’ criteria, with heritage and natural hazards being the two mains ways to opt out of what is certain significant change to many suburbs. The viewshafts that criss-cross this part of town may now be considered of cultural importance, which may also limit changes. Based on our experience, the council has a lot of work to do in order to implement the NPS-UD and then to comply with it on an ongoing basis, as it’s required to monitor demand and supply and make constant provisioning.

In practical terms the enabling of additional development needs to be backed up with financial viability. However, in areas people want to live in, this may be less of a hurdle which may see more popular — but currently lower intensity areas — like Remuera, Newmarket, Parnell and Ōrākei, being ripe for development. I suspect that opposition will come but only after the fact and then, if not now it is too late. You’re welcome! — Hamish Firth

Paul Goldsmith National List MP Based in Epsom

107 Great South Road, Greenlane 09 524 4930 paul.goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz paulgoldsmith.co.nz paulgoldsmithnz

Funded by the Parliamentary Service. Authorised by Paul Goldsmith MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.