Tamihere wants to privatise half of Watercare

Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, July 3rd, 2019 - 98 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, john tamihere, local body elections, phil goff, privatisation, Privatisation, uncategorized, water - Tags:

The Auckland mayoral campaign is getting interesting.  

Past campaigns have been rather boring.  The first one, between Len Brown and John Banks was one sided because Brown had such an outstanding campaign.  The contests since have been even worse.

The current campaign should be a ripper.  Tamihere does not hold back.  His campaign this year has involved a number of staunch positions on issues.  

He has Matt McCarten and Michelle Boag behind him.  This will explain the slightly jerky impression of his policy positions.  They seem to veer from the left to the right, from solving the housing crisis to privatising large swathes of Auckland’s publicly owned infrastructure.

His announcement yesterday, that he wanted to privatise half of Watercare, cause a number of jaws throughout the region to drop.

From Todd Niall at Stuff:

Mayoral challenger John Tamihere wants to sell 49 per cent of the Auckland Council-owned water company, in the biggest policy splash of the contest.

Tamihere said the proceeds of the partial sale of Watercare could deliver cash to build much-needed infrastructure.

The announcement came in the first head-to-head debate with mayor Phil Goff at a business breakfast on Auckland’s North Shore.

Goff exclaimed: “What?” in apparent disbelief as he listened to Tamihere, and said any sale would put “water bills through the roof.”

“Watercare is not for sale as long as I’m mayor,” Goff told Stuff in one of the biggest policy divisions so far between the pair.

Watercare Services Limited is controlled by legislation cementing it in council ownership, banned from paying a dividend, and required to operate at the lowest cost.

The only area that had previously privatised water was Papakura when George David Hawkins was the mayor.  The local experience matches those throughout the world, the water became more expensive and the reliability of supply was either the same or worse.

So Tamihere’s announcement is unusual.  It may gain support among the right and among Hawkins style Actoids.

But it will inevitably mean the cost of water goes up.  ACC will not purchase the shares out of the goodness of its heart.  A dividend will be expected.

And already there are complaints about how unresponsive to public interests Watercare is.  Increasing the corporate nature of Watercare will only make things worse.

What are the benefits?  Tamihere says the sale is required to improve water quality.  But the current Council has already passed a targeted water rate so that important infrastructure can be built.

Tamihere has promised that this campaign will “shake it up”.  This latest announcement will have that effect.

98 comments on “Tamihere wants to privatise half of Watercare ”

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  1. tc 1
    3 July 2019 at 8:57 am

    Goff’s a shoe in if this is the best national can do. JT makes Shane Jones looks statesman like. must do better and remember he’s not a shock jock anymore.

    Hey what’s Blinky up to these days ?

    • Chris T 1.1
      3 July 2019 at 9:05 am

      "Goff’s a shoe in if this is the best national can do. "

      He is an ex Labour MP supported by McCarten.

      Nice try though

      • patricia bremner 1.1.1
        3 July 2019 at 9:17 am

        Supported by Michelle Boag, who is National last I heard, and he definitely ex-Labour.

      • Visubversa 1.1.2
        3 July 2019 at 1:20 pm

        The fact that he is standing with Christine Fletcher as his electoral partner tells you everything you want to know about what the National party wants in the way of Mayoral votes. McCarten is a gun for hire these days.

      • Marcel Proost 1.1.3
        9 July 2019 at 9:18 am

        ROFL. Tamihere WAS a Labour MP and Minister until 2005, when he resigned amidst allegations of corruption and 'too many liquid lunches', after publicly rubbishing 'his' PM (Clark) and Labour caucus colleagues and some Tamaki-esk homophobic crap. NOW, he is a neoliberal nitwit that is proposing more of the failed 'Trickle Down' bullshit and a direct line to Boag and the other rich ultra-conservative economic fascists. Not even a try – if you know the facts.

  2. millsy 2
    3 July 2019 at 9:05 am

    Hi Mickey,

    Papakura didn't privatise it's water until 1997, 5 years after George Hawkins had left the mayoralty. You might be thinking of his brother.

  3. mauī 3
    3 July 2019 at 9:13 am

    “Past campaigns have been rather boring.”

    Apart from that one that had that rather large sex scandal…

  4. Adrian Thornton 4
    3 July 2019 at 9:19 am

    It really hasn't sunk in to these idiots, free market liberalism hasn't worked, it never did, it was all smoke and mirrors, the lights have come on after their mad all night party (at our expense), and now every one of them looks like shit, left blinking, dumbfounded and dribbling in the dawn of reality.

    Talk about flogging a dead horse…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JizzeERcZjg

    • fustercluck 4.1
      3 July 2019 at 11:44 am

      Free market liberalism works pretty darn well, given the obvious evidence on the Planet Earth. However, this does not imply that the free market is magic or should be applied at every opportunity. As a conservative, I favour a general policy of light (but effective) regulation, liberty, and a reliance on individual initiative. That being said, there are certain things that are best left in the public domain and if ever there was an example of this it is water.

      • Adrian Thornton 4.1.1
        3 July 2019 at 12:03 pm

        No it has not..NZ as an example, after 30 years of liberalism..domestic housing prices totally out of control, house hold debt totally out of control, stagnant wage growth for most workers, wealth inequality spiralling out of control,a broken and uncared for health system, suicide rates at unheard of levels and from younger and younger members of our communities, depression among our citizens at critical levels, numbers of homeless citizens at numbers haven't seen since the great depression of the 1930's..I could go on, but this doesn't sound like a system working well, it might well be working for you and your circle friends, but maybe you need to look a just a little deeper, and with a slightly longer view.

        • fustercluck 4.1.1.1
          3 July 2019 at 12:26 pm

          Well, if one takes the long view, it appears that Capitalism has delivered longer lifespan to everyone, cool stuff like electricity and the technology that operates with it, most medical advances (I am fond of anaesthetic), etc.

          Capitalism gave rise to the Industrial Revolution that allowed the cities which house the overwhelming majority of socialists to exist.

          Capitalism enables the benefit system that many vulnerable people need to survive.

          Capitalism certainly is imperfect but does not have the blood of over 100 million people (in the 20th Century, not including war dead) on its hands like international and national socialism/communism.

          Capitalism is predicated on individual liberty, responsibility and choice. Command economies do not permit such to meaningfully exist.

          Capitalism, albeit imperfectly, feeds the world.

          Capitalism delivered the internet upon which this blog relies.

          So, yay Capitalism! Yay free markets!

          • Adrian Thornton 4.1.1.1.1
            3 July 2019 at 12:49 pm

            What the hell are you talking about, are trying to say capitalism hasn't done exactly the same?…"Capitalism certainly is imperfect but does not have the blood of over 100 million people (in the 20th Century, not including war dead) on its hands like international and national socialism/communism."

            Free market capitalism and it's unending lust for constant growth and expansion has been the core cause of untold wars and famine and massive human displacement through out the 20th Century, and it is still today a primary motivator that lays underneath much of the death and destruction we see on the news most nights.

          • Blazer 4.1.1.1.2
            3 July 2019 at 12:56 pm

            You sure give Capitalism a lot of credit.

            'Capitalism is predicated on individual liberty, responsibility and choice. Command economies do not permit such to meaningfully exist.'

            How can you arrive at those conclusions?

            Capitalism is predicated on created capital as compounding debt bearing instruments,allocated by a selective minority.

            • Shadrach 4.1.1.1.2.1
              3 July 2019 at 5:57 pm

              "How can you arrive at those conclusions?"

              Because in the classic examples of command economies (the USSR, China, etc) individual liberty was severely curtailed. To put it mildly.

              • Blazer …
                3 July 2019 at 6:47 pm

                that's just simplistic theory with no basis in reality.

                • Shadrach …
                  3 July 2019 at 7:00 pm

                  Yes of course. The Soviet Union never really existed. There never were any human rights abuses. All soviet citizens enjoyed absolute freedom of expression, worship, association. Twinkle twinkle.

                  • joe90 …
                    3 July 2019 at 7:29 pm

                    And the victims of mercantilism, slavery, the economedia system, preventable famine during Britain's rule of the sub-continent, colonialism, and the ensuing twentieth century wars of independence, never existed, eh.

                    /

                    • Shadrach …
                      3 July 2019 at 7:51 pm

                      The conversation I'm having with Blazer is about command economies. If you want to discuss the results of economic practise from centuries ago, go right ahead.

                • fustercluck …
                  4 July 2019 at 7:30 am

                  Blazer, being able to quote Marxian nonsense in the face of reality does nothing to advance an argument. Calling something simplistic when it is obviously true is not an argument either.

                  The world is a tough place where struggle is necessary for survival at all levels of the food chain. No economic theory or practice has yet moved past that reality.

                  Capitalism, warts and all, has yielded a superior standard of living across every rational metric when compared to command economies ever since agrarian capitalism emerged from feudal Britain. This is even more true when one looks at modern iterations of command economies, i.e., Communism, such as Soviet Russia, China, and now Venezuela.

                  Argue from reality rather than the Marxist bubble you appear to live in and your assertions will carry more weight.

                  • Blazer …
                    4 July 2019 at 9:14 am

                    fustercluck..the reality is there are many 'shades' of Capitalism.

                    Crony Capitalism for an example is common but not lauded.

                    Can you have rich people without a whole lot of poor people?

                    What role does 'finance' and military might play in reality?

                    Here is a balanced article.https://www.crisismagazine.com/1992/the-mature-society-capitalism-and-the-third-world

                    • WeTheBleeple …
                      4 July 2019 at 9:26 am

                      An outstanding talk by Professor of Economics Emeritus, Richard Wolff

                      Democracy At Work: A Cure for Capitalism



                      It's 56 minutes plus questions. Worth bookmarking if too busy right now.

                  • KJT …
                    5 July 2019 at 8:40 pm

                    Social co-operation including public health, large scale infrastructure building, universal State education, wealth redistribution and the rule of law, have enabled the most prosperous societies in human history.

                    Fixed it for you.

              • KJT …
                3 July 2019 at 8:29 pm

                Ask a black bag lady in Chicago about "individual liberty". She may talk to you, after she is done laughing.

                Meanwhile, the USA is surviving by borrowing from the Chinese, "command economy".

                Personally I don't like how China is run, anymore than the USA, noting that the "free" USA, imprisons more people per capita, than China!

                • Shadrach …
                  3 July 2019 at 9:15 pm

                  Can the black bag lady in Chicago vote? Yes. Can she worship freely? Yes. Can she express her opinion freely? Can she express an opinion that is opposed to government policy? Yes. Can she run for office? Yes. could she have done any of that in the USSR? No.

                  • KJT …
                    3 July 2019 at 9:46 pm

                    She can't do most of that effectively, in the USA either, slight problem with lack of money.

                    • Shadrach …
                      3 July 2019 at 9:54 pm

                      Voting is free. Worshiping is free. Expressing an opinion is free. opposing government policy is free. Running for office is free – oh there may be a registration fee. Although I'm sure she can find a sponsor.

                    • lprent []
                      4 July 2019 at 1:25 pm

                      Ah no it isn't free in many parts of the US. Not unless you discount count the use of peoples time to be 'free', and the cost of getting identification or getting to vote isn't trivial either.

                      The Republicans at state level have been and still are bringing in a series of measures that are designed to only to make it harder for poor people to vote.

                      Requiring expensive paper work for authentication. Requiring people in poor areas to go long distances to vote. Requiring people to get in ridiculously long lines to vote because not enough polling booths are made available in poor areas. Making voting on work days rather than weekends (and opposing holidays on voting days). etc

                      And that is before extreme gerrymandering and preventing ex-felons from voting and steadily ratching up the legal discrimination that causes more and more of the poor to spend time in jail for ever more minor offenses.

                      Basically the US is one of the most unfree "democracies" around as is shown in their piss-poor.

                      The Democrats tend to be a bit better – but they still do many of the same things like gerrymandering.

                      If you think otherwise, then I'd say that you are an ignorant idiot who doesn't focus enough on what you are blathering about.

                    • Shadrach …
                      4 July 2019 at 1:37 pm

                      "Ah no it isn't free in many parts of the US. Not unless you discount count the use of peoples time to be 'free', and the cost of getting identification or getting to vote isn't trivial either."

                      She's a bag lady. What else will she be doing with her time?

                      “Making voting on work days rather than weekends (and opposing holidays on voting days). etc”
                      She’s a bag lady. I dare say she doesn’t work?

                      As for the other issues, like long queues etc, so what? Costs nothing to queue. And the bag lady will be queueing alongside others so she is not at any disadvantage.

                      PS you can't resist the personal dig can you?

          • the other pat 4.1.1.1.3
            4 July 2019 at 8:17 am

            capitalism works by giving the majority of assets/resources to the minority……if you were talking enlightened capitalism i might agree to an extent.

            after 9 years of "normal" capitalism in nz i think you should indeed all be shot!

      • Marcel Proost 4.1.2
        9 July 2019 at 9:30 am

        "Free market liberalism works pretty darn well, given the obvious evidence on the Planet Earth."

        Congratulations for being a 1%'er and therefore having the privilege of calling the renaissance of Dickensian times as 'very well working economics'. Thanks to 30+ years of your greed and delusions, we now have homelessness, poverty, suicides, relative costs for the essentials of life and degradation of infrastructure at the highest levels since the great depression. You must be one hell of a clued-up economist, Ms Boag…

  5. Dukeofurl 5
    3 July 2019 at 9:29 am

    Regarding Papakura 'selling' its water /sewerage operations in 1997 under a 30 year franchise

    Wrong Hawkins. It wasnt George , later a labour MP, but David Hawkins, he could be a brother but Im not sure

    [Right you are will change – MS]

    • Donald 5.1
      3 July 2019 at 11:43 am

      The same David Hawkins is currently … (wait for it) … Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Watercare.

  6. higherstandard 6
    3 July 2019 at 9:30 am

    A choice between Goff and Tamihere for the long suffering Auckland ratepayer along with the usual cabal of munters and troughers running in the various wards….oh what joy.

    • Mark Graham 6.1
      3 July 2019 at 11:18 am

      Not the usual. Feel free to vote for me and Cathy if you're in Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward.

      • Sacha 6.1.1
        3 July 2019 at 3:32 pm

        Exactly. Some decent people standing for council. And Tamihere has no show without overt backing from the Nats.

  7. Morrissey 7
    3 July 2019 at 10:03 am

    John Tamihere? He's not a fit and proper person to sit behind a freaking microphone, leave alone entrust to running a huge city.

    https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/12/liars-of-our-time-no-4-willie-and-jt.html

    • michelle 7.1
      3 July 2019 at 2:46 pm

      that was what people said about jhonkey and he got 9 yrs to wreck our country and divide us

  8. marty mars 8
    3 July 2019 at 10:11 am

    John needs to button his shirt up put a tie on and get a haircut. THEN he may be taken seriously.

    • Morrissey 8.1
      3 July 2019 at 10:20 am

      That dopey chatterbox Ben Shapiro wears a tie, and has a conservative haircut, but no one with an IQ above room temperature takes him seriously. Tamihere needs a fundamental upgrade, not cosmetics.

      • Shadrach 8.1.1
        3 July 2019 at 12:11 pm

        Ben Shapiro graduated high school at 16. He graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a B.A. in political science. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School. How's that for 'dopey'?

        PS – I didn't think lefties judged people by what they wear?

        • Morrissey 8.1.1.1
          3 July 2019 at 12:16 pm

          Listen to him talk: he's about as clever and coherent as a drunk ringing up NewstalkZB in the small hours of the morning.

          • fustercluck 8.1.1.1.1
            3 July 2019 at 12:31 pm

            You can type that out, Morrissey, but that does not make it true. I think Shapiro is a monopolist shill but the dude can lay out an argument (which is more than the ad hominem specialists here generally do).

            • Professor Longhair 8.1.1.1.1.1
              3 July 2019 at 1:10 pm

              Methinks one "fuster**uck" has not actually viewed Shapiro's humiliations as shown in those clips provided by Mr Breen. Could we ask that he do so before he makes a fool of himself by making such preposterous claims about someone so abjectly unable to "lay out an argument."

              • Gabby …
                3 July 2019 at 3:03 pm

                Morsissey seems pretty sure that disagreement with his good self is conclusive evidence of vile moral turpitude. You'll be okay though I reckon prof.

                • Sacha …
                  3 July 2019 at 5:31 pm

                  Subtle. 🙂

                • Morrissey …
                  3 July 2019 at 7:18 pm

                  Point of interest, Baggers: some years ago the Professor was himself arraigned on charges among which were included the phrase "gross moral turpitude." He had to make a hurried departure from the exclusive girls' finishing school in Switzerland where he taught elocution, and ended up teaching philosophy for a time at Denver State University. Similar charges were brought against him at that institution, and he is presently working as a stand-up comedian on a Turkish cruise ship.

              • greywarshark …
                3 July 2019 at 4:45 pm

                "Laying out" is what you do to dead things isn't it?

                • Morrissey …
                  3 July 2019 at 7:31 pm

                  Ben Shapiro’s braindead “arguments” should be thrown onto a scrapheap and left to the rats and seagulls.

          • Shadrach 8.1.1.1.2
            3 July 2019 at 12:41 pm

            That says more about you're intellect than his.

            • Professor Longhair 8.1.1.1.2.1
              3 July 2019 at 1:07 pm

              A somewhat bewildered soul has a go at our friend Breen thusly: "That says more about you're [sic] intellect than his."

              Why is it that these fellows lay themselves open to such ridicule? Actually, we know the answer, so no response required, ladies and gentlemen.

            • Muttonbird 8.1.1.1.2.2
              3 July 2019 at 1:33 pm

              *you're. Lol.

        • Siobhan 8.1.1.2
          3 July 2019 at 1:22 pm

          Thats the same Ben Shapiro that said, way back in 2017, that Global Warming is no biggy because “if the sea level rises five or ten metres” people will just “sell their homes and move”?

          Just checking.

          • Professor Longhair 8.1.1.2.1
            3 July 2019 at 1:26 pm

            Dat's da one!

          • Shadrach 8.1.1.2.2
            3 July 2019 at 5:50 pm

            I'm sure he has said many things you don't agree with. He's said many things I don't agree with. Doesn't make him 'dopey'. That's why I posted his academic record.

            • Morrissey 8.1.1.2.2.1
              3 July 2019 at 7:10 pm

              It's not that he says things that people "don't agree with." Everyone does that; nobody's perfect. The problem with Shapiro is that he quite clearly lacks the ability to defend his disgusting and outrageous statements. His "academic record" amounts to nothing when you consider just how incompetent and poorly informed he is.

              Your going to bat for this despicable and stupid fellow reminds me of a sad case a few years ago, when some fool on Google Groups—a "credentialist" like yourself—tried to claim that that stumbletongue Simon Bridges did not deserve to be called "not very bright" on the grounds that he had been "accepted for study at Oxford."

              https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/simon-bridges-is-young-not-very-bright.html

              • Shadrach …
                3 July 2019 at 7:53 pm

                "It's not that he says things that people "don't agree with." "

                Not people. You. And that's exactly what this is about. It's typical of many people on the left and right. You don't like an opinion, so you label the purveyor of that opinion an idiot. Or despicable. Or stupid. You really are so transparent. Even down to your self promotion.

    • Visubversa 8.2
      3 July 2019 at 1:52 pm

      Women are not going to forget his "front bums" comments, or the Roastbusters rave. Others won't forget the animal cruelty – he moved house and abandoned his 2 ginger cats. Why would we want that loudmouth for Mayor?

    • michelle 8.3
      3 July 2019 at 2:52 pm

      What John needs is a chance people say Maori need to put their names forward and they say we all have the same chance to go for council as it is a democratic process and yet when they do the establishment all poo poo on the person no wonder our Maori people are put of we will always be at the mercy of our pakeha whanau and they tend to go for their own

      • marty mars 8.3.1
        3 July 2019 at 3:49 pm

        yep – he's not my cup of tea but you have to say at least he gives it a go and that is worth a bit I suppose.

      • Visubversa 8.3.2
        3 July 2019 at 3:57 pm

        His ethnicity has nothing to do with it. We "poo poo" him because he is a big, steaming pile of it, rgardless of his ethnicity.

  9. Sacha 9
    3 July 2019 at 12:40 pm

    The mayor of Auckland does not have the powers to privatise Watercare, and nor does the Council. Tamihere, Boag, and McCarten all know this.

    It would be good if media pointed that out rather than faithfully relaying the lies.

  10. Nick 10
    3 July 2019 at 1:12 pm

    No to Tamihere. He's often incoherent and talks gibberish.

  11. woodart 11
    3 July 2019 at 2:41 pm

    next nat gov gets in, makes shit up about acc crisis(nick smith ,remember)forces acc to either flick auck water or force a higher dividend to artificially boost gov books(blenglish, phucked solid energy by doing exactly that). nek minit, auck water bills go through roof…..flakey policy from a flakey candidate….

  12. Gabby 12
    3 July 2019 at 3:07 pm

    The jerky nature of Hammy Tami's policies might just be down to him being a jerk.

  13. WeTheBleeple 13
    3 July 2019 at 3:33 pm

    How a right wing governments water policies (penny pinching) have completely fucked over India.

    https://qz.com/india/1656211/indias-neglect-of-water-conservation-raises-spectre-of-drought/

    AKA – why capitalists should get their filthy fucking hands off our water.

    • greywarshark 13.1
      3 July 2019 at 4:38 pm

      Underneath those fleshy smug masks is a bleached skeleton. But they consider themselves immortal, and other people dying isn't of concern to them.

      • WeTheBleeple 13.1.1
        3 July 2019 at 4:54 pm

        I could've introduced the article a lot better it really got my goat that a comprehensive and intelligent water strategy that could pull the country back from the brink got shafted immediately upon the current government getting in in 2014.

        A water strategy I've been promoting this whole time… small scale earthworks and planting broadly administered. Seems a countries experts and experience drew the same conclusions. They nearly saved the day… I'm freaking livid.

        This right wing pack of bastards stripped the plan to around 3% of the original lending all benefits to a select few while shitting on everyone and everything else. May they lose in a landslide of epic proportions. A landslide formed in the catchments they've abandoned.

        I hope the Indian people are aware of this huge betrayal. I hope all other drought prone regions are learning from all this. Including in NZ where not only agriculture but power is increasingly reliant on water resources we're squandering as if it's infinite.

        • WeTheBleeple 13.1.1.1
          3 July 2019 at 5:05 pm

          Their inability to see past their nose is financial vandalism on an unprecedented scale.

          Here's some people employing the strategy – two crops per year instead of one, animal fodder, diets improved, incomes rising.

          Empowering people is antithesis to these power hungry fuckers.





          I've been compiling an article about the links between drought and flood, and how it ties to reduced rainfall. Should upset a few punters. Maybe here on TS, I'll see if I can get a broader audience for it first.

    • mauī 13.2
      3 July 2019 at 8:00 pm

      Bleep, I thought you were on a self imposed ban? Wonderful to have you back nonetheless.

      • WeTheBleeple 13.2.1
        3 July 2019 at 8:31 pm

        Yeah I am on a (half-assed) self ban – except for HTGT – but water is very near and dear to my heart. And it has been my writing focus this past week.

        Water in the hands of capitalists needs to be taken far more seriously than most realise. It is the key to all of life and they have no respect for life. Water is the commons, not to be privatised. All water privatisation should be rethought and reversed. Water bottling for community profit not private.

        Whole catchment management to ensure supply, soil retention, afforestation, riches for all, not the few.

        We stand a very real risk of water crisis in this wee paradise. Will the capitalists save us?

        Hahahahaha. Of course not. What, you don't own water shares, then screw you!

        Privatisation of water is the shirking of Govt responsibility to care for our most precious resource. It is an abandonment of the public. It is a betrayal of the Treaty.

        • KJT 13.2.1.1
          3 July 2019 at 8:47 pm

          Just been talking to a recent arrival from the UK, about the costly and risky water supplies after privatisations in the UK.

          You have to be bloody daft to even want to go there.

          Flint Michigan, anyone.

        • the other pat 13.2.1.2
          4 July 2019 at 8:26 am

          thank you for this…..yell it from the rooftops or the mangy fuckers will just sell it to the chinese like down in Canterbury

          • WeTheBleeple 13.2.1.2.1
            4 July 2019 at 9:17 am

            I agree except it's not so much 'sell it to the chinese', as it is 'sell it to the highest bidder'. Capitalism crosses borders, steals your shit, moves on.

  14. observer 14
    3 July 2019 at 3:44 pm

    Goff isn't great, but he does pass the basic 'competence test'.

    Whereas Tamihere is just one of those people who stand for mayor because they're bored and love the sound of their own voices, like Michael Laws.

  15. Ken 15
    3 July 2019 at 4:34 pm

    John has likely been offered a substantial commission by a corporate entity.

    Water should never ever be privatised – not even half of it.

  16. Jum 16
    3 July 2019 at 4:55 pm

    Rodney hide is probably behind this. Without Len Brown being Mayor, we wouldn't have our asset now. JKeyll and Hide had that sown up until Brown came in and promised not to sell it. Matt McCarten??? I deleted what I wanted to say about Matt, man of the people McCarten no

    Tamihere is lying about selling 49%, leaving the asset still in our hands. Anything sold over 29%, you've lost control. Greed wins if we allow him to win the chains.

    The CCO needs to be dragged under control if they're assisting Hide and Tamihere, in any way, to betray Aucklanders. David Hawkins sold Papakura for a $. The council and cco will not promise to keep our water out of contracting out territory. They need to be reminded they are public servants not a plutarchy.

    What funding is behind Tamihere?

    • Graeme 16.1
      3 July 2019 at 6:33 pm

      It's really 24.9% that's the maximum that can be sold off without loosing control, or the ability to control over 75% of votes to pass a special resolution at a meeting.

      But in reality that doesn't affect much, Queenstown council sold a 24.9% stake in our airport to Auckland International Airport and AIA seem to be calling the tune and the QAC is trying to tell Queenstown and Wanaka that they will do what they like and stuff the noise. Looks like locals in both towns are going to have quite a battle over airports and noise

      • KJT 16.1.1
        3 July 2019 at 8:21 pm

        Yep. Minority shareholders have legal rights. Including the right to sue major shareholders if the company is not being run to maximise profit.

        • Graeme 16.1.1.1
          3 July 2019 at 10:07 pm

          Yeah, while AIA's 24.9% shareholding of Queenstown Airport has brought benefits to Queenstown through better management of the airport and many more flights, our airport has become the de-facto regional airport for the lower South Island. Around half the passengers are related to places outside Queenstown.

          The airport company came within a whisker of having it's annual plan rejected by council, it's 75.15 owner last week. so an interesting road ahead for our airport company and it's 75.1% ratepayer shareholders.

      • Jum 16.1.2
        4 July 2019 at 11:00 am

        Thanks for the % correction, Graeme. Much appreciated.

  17. Ad 17
    3 July 2019 at 8:07 pm

    At 100% ownership Auckland can and does require Watercare to come in and model water use versus impact by deprivation index. I've seen them from up close having to come back to Council multiple times in a week before the LTP is set, so that the democratically elected representatives determine the best and most equitable outcome by impact on people.

    At 51% they will have even less control than central government has over its electricity generators. At least with electricity you have a strong and practiced price regulator. There's no price regulation for water other than a simple legislative command which few have the resource or will to challenge.

    I would be interested in a candidate who had a policy for how to bring the Vector 75% shareholding under Council control again.

    For all its legendary faults since building the stadium, at least Dunedin Council can put the blowtorch to its companies and to its Holding company.

    • Graeme 17.1
      3 July 2019 at 10:12 pm

      For all its legendary faults since building the stadium, at least Dunedin Council can put the blowtorch to its companies and to its Holding company.

      Would be nice if residents and councils outside Dunedin City could put a similar blowtorch to DCH and it's companies that raped and pillaged to pay for that bloody stadium, amongst other things.

      • McFlock 17.1.1
        3 July 2019 at 11:03 pm

        Amazing how many old powerpoles were replaced around town when a whistleblower told the ODT they were extracting dividends to the point of turning infrastructure into serious safety hazards.

        CCOs are just the local version of SOEs. They shouldn't be sold, they should be reabsorbed by the legislative and executive bodies that theoretically control them.

        • Graeme 17.1.1.1
          4 July 2019 at 7:21 am

          Odd that it took 7 years to get some action and then it was around where the money had gone when Roger Steel was killed in 2010 when the pole he was working on failed There were lots of other incidents too.

          And the pole replacement programme they made a big fuss over a couple of years ago seems to have quietly gone on the back burner. There's still red tagged poles in public view, what can't be seen is unknown. Really fortunate we haven't had a big snow for a long time, but that could be more the issue as snow damage sorted out the rotten pole issue.

          Also there seems to be a managed retreat from rural spur lines with switch gear being moved back up toward main trunk lines.

  18. NZJester 18
    4 July 2019 at 1:31 pm

    Privatization just drives down worker wages and the quality of the service while saving no money in the long run. As time goes by it also tends to get more expensive as those in the top positions get stupidly higher paychecks and in trying to save money to fund their higher paychecks upper management tend to make bad decisions like cutting maintenance costs that makes the infrastructure tends to start to fail earlier and need costly replacement when a good maintenance program would have kept it from needing to be replaced for way longer. Good mantanence puts back needed replacement for decades while spreading out the need for parts to be replaced all at once so you are not up for one big lump sum and have to borrow big money to do it.

  19. KB 19
    4 July 2019 at 6:49 pm

    But the current Council has already passed a targeted water rate so that important infrastructure can be built.

    Goff says it's a decade to clean up Auckland's beaches. Tamihere says it needs to be faster, and $4.9b of infrastructure investment is aimed to vastly accelerate that.

    Yes, it will cost Aucklanders more. So what if it leads to clean waterways? Or….is paying more to clean up rivers a "do as I say, not as I do" edict from people here towards just the rural sector?

    • mickysavage 19.1
      4 July 2019 at 8:32 pm

      Good question. Goff's targeted rate was thought to be at the limit of what was possible. Sure it will take 10 years but without it cleaning up our waterways would take 30 years plus.

      I agree make it as quick as possible.

      But you don't have to sell watercare shares off. Just go out and propose say a 10% rates increase. Just so that the money is there. But then see how Auckland responds. I thought that Goff was brave for proposing the targeted water rate and he pushed it probably as far as was possible. Your suggestion will not be sellable to the electorate.