So much for Localism and Devolution

Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, August 22nd, 2024 - 18 comments
Categories: art, Christopher Luxon, culture, Environment, local government, simeon brown - Tags:

When I was a Waitakere City Councillor I had the misfortune of occasionally attending the same meetings with then Auckland Mayor John Banks.

It did not matter what the meeting was about, regional transport, environment, libraries or sport he always gave the same speech. He inevitably said that we should not use ratepayers as piggy banks. Of course his short term penny pinching meant that the long term investments in Auckland’s infrastructure did not occur and we are now playing catch up but that is a story for a different day.

I reflected on this when I reviewed Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s speech to Local Government New Zealand because it struck me that he, like Banks, was truly a one dimensional politician who had no idea of the importance of Local Government.

And his meddling could wreck Local Government.

There were a few jaw dropping aspects to the speech. He said Cabinet has decided to do away with the four well beings, which currently require Councils to focus on social, cultural, environmental and economic well beings of their communities now only now but also in the future.

Councils are expected to concentrate on “must-haves, not nice-to-haves”. The Government will investigate benchmarks for local councils based on similar measures in Australia and will also consideroptions to limit council expenditure of “nice-to-haves”, including revenue capping.

He did not specify what a “must-have” was but said that picking up the rubbish, fixing pipes, filling in potholes and maintaining local assets were things that Councils should be doing and that roads, rubbish and water were

He did not mention libraries, art galleries or community houses.  Nor grants to local groups to perform environmental works,

And certainly out west grants to local environmental groups achieve great results.

As an example last year the Waitakere Ranges Local Board funded the Pest Free Waitakere Alliance approximately $75,000. 

Thirty groups are affiliated to the alliance. They are responsible for an estimated 63,900 annual volunteer hours. If you monetised this at the living wage this represents $1,661,400 of value.

Hopefully the Alliance would continue without Council funding. But its effectiveness would inevitably be compromised. In economic terms Council’s investment produces an outstanding return, one which would cost the Council considerably more should it do this work itself.

It was not in the speech but in a press release put out yesterday by Simeon Brown this statement was made:

Council rates are increasing by around 15 per cent on average this year, which is more than four times the rate of inflation. This is unacceptable and councils must ensure they are doing everything they can to reduce pressure on ratepayers.

What Brown does not say is that the rates increase is because the Government did away with Three Waters. Councils responded by significantly increasing rates so that they could pay for infrastructure that Three Waters would have taken care of.

For years now Luxon has been talking about the importance of Localism and Devolution. Listen to this clip to hear him say those two words over and over again.

But clearly as far as he is concerned Localism and Devolution are not absolutes. As noted by Joel McManus in this article Localism and Devolution have their limits. From the article:

Auckland Council, the elected representatives of the largest local community in New Zealand, wanted a regional fuel tax to help it fund local transport infrastructure. Unfortunately, their opinion was wrong. That kind of localism makes car drivers mad, so the government had to get rid of it. 

Since 2021, 33 local councils around the country have voted to introduce Māori wards. That might seem like a great example of elected local representatives making their own decisions about democratic representation. Those councils had the wrong opinion. The government doesn’t like that kind of localism, so it will mandatorily require councils to hold a referendum to keep their Māori wards.

In the past few years, several councils reduced speed limits on central city streets or near schools. Some changes were required by Waka Kotahi, but many others were because local communities thought slower speed limits would lead to higher retail spending or fewer children being run over. Once again, that was the wrong opinion. The government is now stepping in to reverse every speed limit that has been lowered since 2020.

There are many other examples. Cycleways for instance are as far as this Government is concerned an absolute taboo for local government.

The Government’s proposals could cause carnage and chaos to local government. If you are a user of libraries or community houses, an artist or an appreciator of the arts, or a member of an environmental group you should be very afraid.

And this is such a shame because Local Government can achieve great things. As long as it is allowed to focus on the social, cultural and environmental well being of local communities and not only the economic well being.

Reprinted from gregpresland.com

18 comments on “So much for Localism and Devolution ”

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  1. Tiger Mountain 1
    22 August 2024 at 10:32 am

    This has real life consequences. In Whangārei residents of a middle class suburb egged on by Shane Cigaretti made 242 submissions against, with 6 for–one of them mine, on a state house development of 37 dwellings on an ex MoE site in Puriri Park Rd.

    An Independent Commissioner however at the hearings ruled the houses could go ahead, stating the very requirement now being repealed, that long term community well being, trumped some bigoted/privileged locals concerns about their property values.

  2. Tony Veitch 2
    22 August 2024 at 10:37 am

    It's an old maxim by now, but nevertheless very true:

    Neoliberals know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing!

  3. Kay 3
    22 August 2024 at 11:07 am

    He did not mention libraries, art galleries or community houses. Nor grants to local groups to perform environmental works,He did not mention libraries, art galleries or community houses. Nor grants to local groups to perform environmental works

    Is anyone surprised? Luxon only 2 weeks ago outed himself as a cultural philistine.

  4. Ad 4
    22 August 2024 at 11:21 am

    Would it just be simpler to merge all local governments into regional Government departments, and do away with local and regional democracy altogether?

    Just so we can get used to the "be silent-consume-die" routine.

  5. Incognito 5
    22 August 2024 at 11:34 am

    You may want to read the piece by Jonathan Milne over at Newsroom, which also quotes Penny Hulse: https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/08/22/the-pm-is-going-to-war-on-council-waste/

    Luxon and his cronies are treating local councils with the same contempt and disdain as unemployed beneficiaries and try to dictate how much money they’re getting and how they’re allowed to spend it. Arrogant neo-authoritarians who pretend to stand for personal freedom, choice, and responsibility but in reality, they make everything conditional and subservient to their will & ways.

  6. aj 6
    22 August 2024 at 3:21 pm

    This opens up the nice-to-haves to pork barrel politics.

  7. Ad 7
    22 August 2024 at 4:33 pm

    I wonder if Prime Minister Luxon and his family have ever:

    – Been to a library

    – Swum in a public pool

    – Swung on a swing in a park

    – Picnicked at a beach

    Beyond that, has he:

    – Been to a concert

    – Attended a stadium sporting fixture

    – Departed from a port or airport

    – Seen a New Zealand film

    – Been to any civic celebration such as a citizenship ceremony

    – Hosted an international delegation of mayors or other civic leaders

    – Tried to get anything done outside of Wellington

    None of the above is 'core council business', and all those facilities are operated and fully or mostly owned by local government.

    Maybe the only things he should be invited to are the opening of roads and sewerage works.

    Imagine what a local political boycott of the government would look like.

    In the end it would be central government held accountable for everything. That would have pretty significant political consequences.

  8. Visubversa 8
    22 August 2024 at 5:07 pm

    Perhaps Eden Park could pay back all the Ratepayer's $$$$$ they have extracted over the years. That should keep a few libraries going.

  9. Mike the Lefty 9
    23 August 2024 at 9:16 am

    Maintenance of services such as museums, libraries, swimming pools and parks will come under increasing pressure as councils have to borrow deeply and increase rates drastically just to keep going. But these are not glamorous exciting projects that would excite the pulse of National. Borrringgggggg!

    But come up with something exciting like a multi billion dollar stadium in Auckland, an America's cup hosting bid, a Commonwealth games bid or some grandiose scheme to build a road tunnel under Cook Strait National will want to join the party. Expense is OK if it generates plenty of positive political publicity but not OK if it assists us local peons to borrow a book from the library or take a walk in the local park.

  10. TJ 10
    23 August 2024 at 4:32 pm

    So, is emergency response deemed Wellbeing? It's not a core function of Council employees who during the day are writing policy or answering your queries at the front desk and then when the !@#$ hits the fan, man the Emergency Operations Centre organising housing, transport and food for victims – all wellbeing issues. The chances of another event like Cyclone Gabrielle are deemed a 100% certainty – what then? It may be deemed unnecessary because we have FENZ?

    What about the advocacy that Council does with Central Government agency to try and get more government services in their Districts/Regions e.g. Justice, health and education – who will do that?