Auckland Commission online

The Commission on Auckland's governance future is online (Hat tip: Aaron Bhatnagar)

a Commission to receive representations on, inquire into, investigate, and report on the local government arrangements (including institutions, mechanisms, and processes) that are required in the Auckland region over the foreseeable future in order to maximise, in a cost effective manner,—
(a) the current and future well-being of the region and its communities; and
(b) the region’s contribution to wider national objectives and outcomes:
[...]
investigate and receive representations on the following matters:
(a) what changes to current legislation (consistent with the purposes and principles of local government as described in the Local Government Act 2002) are considered desirable to achieve or support the achievement of the inquiry’s objectives; and
(b) what changes to the boundary of the Auckland region, or to the collaborative arrangements or mechanisms involving other regions across New Zealand, are considered desirable to achieve or support the achievement of the inquiry’s objectives; and
(c) what is required for effective relationships and collaborative arrangements between central and local government; and
(d) what ownership, governance, and institutional arrangements and funding responsibilities are required to ensure the effective, efficient, and sustainable provision of public infrastructure, services, and facilities to support and enhance—
(i) the current and future well-being of the Auckland region and its communities; and
(ii) the performance of the Auckland region as a growth engine in the New Zealand economy and in its role as a key transport hub for New Zealand and the Pacific region; and
(iii) the ability of the Auckland region to compete internationally as a desirable place to live, work, invest, and do business; and
(iv) the ability of the Auckland region to respond to economic, environmental, cultural, and social challenges (for example, climate change); and
(e) what governance and representation arrangements will best—
(i) enable effective responses to the different communities of interest and reflect and nurture the cultural diversity within the Auckland region; and
(ii) provide leadership for the Auckland region and its communities, while facilitating appropriate participation by citizens and other groups and stakeholders in decision-making processes; and
(f) what alternative transition processes for the implementation of any new or changed local government arrangements, and of any associated matters that are identified, are necessary or desirable:

The jargon is a bit depressing. As yet no dates or schedule of hearings has been released.

UPDATE

The commission is Judith Tizard's legacy as the first (and one would suspect last) "Minister responsible for Auckland". What a disaster she proved. She did so little that her sinecure was wound up last year and everything she should have been doing all that time was rolled into this commission. I note that the latest Metro magazine has an article which got five political journalists to rate Auckland MPs and she was ranked a 1 out of 10 - along with only three other MPs.

Also please note the reporting date is set at 1 December 2008 - which means after the election so as not for their recommendations to become a political issue, or any criticism of the last nine years of relative inaction to become a talking point. Given they have sweet FA on their website right now and must be at the staff recruitment stage and that they would need at least a month or two to digest and form their opinions and write their report we could see the public hearings part of the process occurring, at a guess, around May to August.