The government's plan to sell shares in four state-owned energy companies was that listing them would help anchor the stock market, the Associate Finance Minister claims.

Auckland's local government reforms have made the city a better place to live and work, Act MP Rodney Hide told an audience in Queenstown on Thursday night.

A study of Maori participation in local government has produced findings that run counter to government policy against having special seats for Maori on the new Auckland super council.

The study conducted for the Department of Internal Affairs researched how four councils involved Maori in decision making.

Auckland City Council has amended its Auckland Airport shareholding policy to allow it greater flexibility to increase its stake.

The council currently owns 12.75% of the airport shares, which have in recent times been a target for foreign investors who have been denied takeover attempts.

Mark Ford, who has run utility businesses for the Auckland region since the early 1990s, has been shoulder-tapped as the chairman to drive the super city council through its transitional phase.

Sources tell NBR his appointment as head of the transition agency will be confirmed with the next week as two bills to implement government policy for the governance of the Auckland region are due in Parliament.

Local government Minister Rodney Hide has raised the possibility of four-year terms in local and central government.

Answering a question at an EMA Northern breakfast seminar on the super city for Auckland, he said the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance recommended a four-year term for councils.

But this would not be practical unless the central government term was also extended to avoid clashes of election times. Such a change would not occur without a referendum, Mr Hide said.

Neither Act nor National has a policy of extending the parliamentary term.