Local Government Minister Rodney Hide is being accused of misleading Aucklanders as the row over plans for the new super city council heats up in Parliament.
Labour and the Greens have zeroed in on proposals to create seven council-controlled organisations (CCOs) to manage most of Auckland's services.
Legislation to set them up is in a bill which Parliament is dealing with, and opposition parties say they will try to amend it.
Labour's Auckland issues spokesman, Phil Twyford, says Mr Hide is "misleading Aucklanders on a daily basis" by saying local boards could sack anyone on the CCOs when the legislation specified they would have the same legal protection as any other public body.
"How can Rodney Hide still think that Aucklanders want their local government corporatised when it is opposed by Len Brown, John Banks, Andrew Williams, Mike Lee, Local Government NZ, the NZ Herald, the Aucklander, suburban newspapers and hundreds of Aucklanders who submitted to the select committee," he said yesterday.
Green Party MP Sue Kedgley says it should be left up to the newly-elected council to decide whether it to set up any CCOs.
"Every other council in New Zealand determines whether it wants CCOs or not, not the central government," she said.
"Auckland should have the same democratic rights as every other council."
But Mr Hide and Prime Minister John Key are backing CCOs and say other councils have been using them for years.
"Wellington City Council has nine CCOs managing water supply, stormwater, the waterfront, and the stadium, as well as the city's economic and tourism development," Mr Hide said.
Mr Key said CCOs had been used in Auckland for a long time and he had no problem with the structure.
Comments and questions7
So the Opposition Parties are opposing? Go on!
And I have little respect for anything the night mayor might say.
Although I don't agree with 90% of Labour and Greens policies I do agree with them here.Good on you Sue Kedgley - you're on the money here.
Auckland look out and be very worried about Mr Hide. I wouldn't trust him as far as i could throw him.
This guy represents the Act party who have always been joined at the hip with property developers who aggressively lobby behind the scenes.
Who else remembers Rodney Hide digging that first hole on a digger at Five Mile in Queenstown for his mate Henderson? Well the hole is still there but Im not sure where all the money went.
And lets not forget Richard Prebble in his last year of the house pushing "Smart Growth". This is a term he took from horrid new urban developers DPZ who build gated communities in US. They also tried here on a Wilderness beach in Hawkes Bay. Smart Growth and Smart Code is something we should all be worried about in regard to control by resident associations rather than councils. It can easily lead to loss of certain community democracy depending on who ends up in control of your neighbourhood. If it wasn't for some aspects of the RMA we would have this due to our adoption of New Urban Protocol.
By the way. Prebble then went onto the board of a major property company and also got involved in a certain Turangi venture that left the local Maori investors with massive losses. Appalling.
Real Smart stuff!!!
It is worth remembering that many of Acts original property industry supporters are now bust and have burnt a lot of elderly retirement cash too.
Here's my prediction. Hide will put on his mates and control who gets what business and what major contracts. Once he leaves Parliament he will already have been guaranteed a directorship role or two on the boards of the firms who he delivers the contracts.
Auckland - wake up on this issue.
I don't know what it is about Rodney that gets up people's noses so much. Is it the tall poppy syndrome? He gets things done - historically, Auckland has found it very hard to get things done, because of all the little committees arguing about it. "And roundabout and roundabout and roundabout they go"
Never forget that the ACT Party was founded by ex-Labour Party members who realised how wrong the socialist method was, not by rich, selfish people as Charles seems to be implying
It appears that we are spending more money when we should be being carefull. What is the rush to spend when ratepayers are struggling to survive. The region needs to be very carefully assesed for all the future and this rush is plain foolish. Perhaps there are people wanting to make money and have powers. Trust is someting that is not easily accepted when we are rushing into a supercity that needs to be done well and transparently for all. The government is being pushed by a very minor party and its aspireations . Strong government would not allow this to happen .
Supercity who cares...just rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic called NZ. What I'm really enjoying is witnessing the daily blind panic and frenetic activity to justify their jobs by all the council officers with dubious titles and roles in all the soon to be gone cities worried for their jobs. Never seen so many meetings and whiteboard scribble with tetchy tempered bureaucrats....great stuff.
Given that recommendation 21A of the Right Royal CONJOB on Auckland regional governance stated:
"All Auckland Council's major commercial trading and infrastructure activities should be undertaken through CCOs"
- don't you think it would be fiscally responsible to provide at least ONE piece of research / 'cost-benefit analysis' which PROVES the 'cost-effectiveness' of the CCO model for the public majority?
Has ANYONE - EVER - gathered ANY FACTS to back the mantra?
If the Right Royal CONJOB has failed to provide any EVIDENCE of the 'cost-effectiveness' of CCOs - then haven't they failed to do their job, given that their 'Terms of Reference' included maximising cost-effective solutions?
Or is the real reason for the $UPERCITY to create a bigger public trough - for bigger but fewer private snouts - mates of those who will give out the contracts???
www.stopthesupercity.org.nz
NO SAY - NO PAY!
Consider disputing and witholding payment for ALL rates - Council /Regional Council /water and wastewater.
If central and/or local government are not going to exercise prudent stewardship over our hard-earned rates monies - why should we give them any?
Penny Bright
waterpressure@gmail.com
pete at 5:26pm has got it (deck chairs n titantic).
bringing such major council change over a crippled economy with now major tax reform (more take) and added taxation (july 1st - ets) will be the nail in the coffin. there is so much uncertainty, growing debt and little if any confidence - this supercity will cause so much disturbance to businesses and consumers, processes and needs - the whole thing will splutter into economic and social turmoil.
but, this may be the point and goal. if you don't understand what I mean by that new world are doing specials on coffee at the moment. grab some and wake up to what is going on
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