Time to put the “local” back into local government
March 21 9:46 AM
AUTHOR: Peter Dunne
UnitedFuture believes in the powers of communities, be they neighbourhoods, suburbs, towns or cities to make the decisions that affect them.
But too often in recent years that has happened because local government has been anything but – pursuing agendas that while suiting its elites often have little to do with communities they are supposed to serve, who simply end up paying ever increasing rates, and wearing the debts.
So, it is time to put the “local” back into local government, to ensure it primarily serves its communities and meets their basic needs as its priority. But it is also time to recognise that central government has its responsibilities too, and is equally obligated to meet those in the interests of the nation as a whole. Any reform of local government cannot mean that central government takes the easy way out at the same time, with the consequence being essential services are no longer provided.
Proposed reforms announced recently by the Minister of Local Government are on the right track, but the devil will always be in the detail. UnitedFuture supports the retention of a power of general competence, but also supports the prioritisation of responsibility the Minister is proposing. The regime of fiscal responsibility that central government has operated under for almost twenty years ought to be applied to local government as well. This is especially relevant for many asset rich, cash poor (elderly in the main) people who want to stay in their own homes, but risk being forced to move out because they can longer afford the rates bill.
Some have suggested freezing rates as a solution, but this is too blunt an instrument, which will simply run local government into the ground, so UnitedFuture rejects that option. We also reject the do-nothing option that some are favouring, because local government has been in a state of flux since the late 1980s. Labour’s 1989 reorganisation was never fully completed, and National’s gutting of regional councils in 1991 was short-sighted. Labour’s 2000 changes failed to tackle the basic problem. And the political squabbling over the Auckland super-city was simply unedifying all round.
Efficient, well run local government is an important way of ensuring our communities’ voices can be heard, and of contributing to wider economic and social development. But that cannot become an excuse for duplication of services, mounting debt, inefficiency, and the pursuit of pet hobby horses.
It is also time to look at how major regions like Wellington, for example, are organised. How feasible is it for a region of 450,000 people (including the Wairarapa) to have seven territorial authorities, at least five community boards, one regional authority and nearly three district health boards? The more local government we have, does not of itself mean that the more local that government is.