Carter's Super City role 'abuse of process' - Labour

John Carter is MP for Northland. Photo / Supplied

Appointing Northland MP John Carter chairman of the special select committee dealing with legislation setting up Auckland's new local government structure is an abuse of process, says Labour.

National named its five representatives for the 11-member committee yesterday and put Mr Carter forward to be the chairman.

Labour MP Darren Hughes said proposing Mr Carter to chair the committee was an abuse of the process and unprecedented because he had been so closely involved in developing the Government's proposals for Auckland's governance.

There was a "clear conflict of interest" and the Government had botched the handling of an important decision regarding the future of Auckland, he told Radio New Zealand.

Mr Hughes said the associate minister of local government was being forced on as chair of a Parliament committee, when he was also on the executive.

Select committees were a tool of Parliament and were overwhelmingly for back benchers to scrutinise the work of the executive, he said.

"It undermines why we have select committees."

But Mr Carter said Mr Hughes was "being a little silly" and if he was chair he would be able to sit on the select committee and report back what the people of Auckland wanted to the Government and caucus.

"I am not going to abuse the process. I am going to make sure that the voice of Auckland is heard on this issue."

- NZPA