Phil Twyford

Wellington, March 1 NZPA - A Labour MP is taking the unusual step of asking people to join a protest against a select committee he sits on.

Phil Twyford, a member of the special cross-party committee hearing submissions on legislation covering Auckland's new super city council, said today he was backing a lunch time demonstration which is being organised for tomorrow.

"Submissions to the select committee are heavily critical of the super city at a ratio of nine to one," he said.

"But government MPs, led by committee chair John Carter, just don't seem to care. We have had submitters shouting in frustration."

Mr Carter is Associate Local Government Minister.

Mr Twyford said Aucklanders had been telling the Government for the last year that local boards had to have real powers.

"National has been promising this would happen but their draft powers released on Friday are a joke," he said.

"It is death by a thousand cuts, toothless local boards, unfair boundaries, assets being set up for privatisation, corporatisation of council operations."

Mr Twyford said Labour and Green Party MPs would join the demonstration and were calling on Aucklanders from all over the region to take part.