Summary
- On the 16th of December 2024, Minister for Local Government Simeon Brown announced a series of planned reforms to local government.
- Reforms include removing references to the “four well-beings” from the Local Government Act 2002.
- Labour-led governments have typically added references to “…social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being” into the Local Government Act 2002. National-led governments typically remove those “well-being” references and add in references to “core services”.
- The Local Government Minister Simeon Brown also announced establishing a bench-marking system at the Department of Internal Affairs to allow public comparison of council performance and statistics such as debt levels, debt projections, capital expenditure, rates and rates forecasts, budget balancing, and road condition.
- A modernisation of outdated rules “to drive efficiency and cost savings” was also mentioned in the announcement. The example of “removing requirements for newspaper notices” was given.
- On Newstalk ZB, commentator John MacDonald criticised the government for “tinkering around the edges” and urged them to go harder on councils and start “…some serious amalgamations of local councils”.
- RNZ reported on comments from the Local Government Minister, supportive comments from the ACT Party’s local government spokesperson (Cameron Luxton) as well as opposition comments from the Labour Party leader (Chris Hipkins) and the Green Party’s local government spokesperson (Celia Wade-Brown).
- On Newstalk ZB, Heather du Plessis-Allan was supportive of government removing the “four wellbeings” and critical of wasteful spending by councils and commented, “Hopefully getting out the big stick will mean the excuses are cut, distractions are dropped, and these guys focus their minds on doing more work for less cost to ratepayers.”
- Former Kāpiti Coast District Councilor Gwynn Compton argued on his Local Aotearoa website that “four wellbeings” spending is not a major driver of rates increases and that council staff will “…basically just change the language they use” and otherwise continue with their projects and long-term plan spending.
Quotes
“The local government reform programme will:
- Remove references to the ‘four well-beings’ from the Local Government Act 2002, restoring a purpose focused on fixing pipes, filling potholes, and delivering core local services.
- Refocus local government on basics, guiding council decision-making and avoiding duplication of roles with central Government.
- Benchmark council performance. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) will publish a yearly report on key financial and delivery outcomes, helping ratepayers hold councils accountable.
- Modernise outdated rules, including removing requirements for newspaper notices, to drive efficiency and cost savings.”
Government getting local government back to basics, Press Release from Minister Simeon Brown, 16 December 2024
“We see so many examples up and down the country where councils, you know, the convention centres, the hotels that they look at, and all of these other things that they want to spend money on, and you look at the language. They use the four wellbeings to justify the decisions that they’re making, and we’re saying that party is over,”
Minister Simeon Brown as quoted in Wellbeing provisions distracting councils from core job – Simeon Brown, RNZ, 17 December 2024
“One of the biggest things driving up rates up and down the country at the moment is the need to upgrade water infrastructure. The previous government had a plan in place to make sure that the cost of that was being carefully managed, that central government had a role, and that ratepayers weren’t going to end up picking up the whole of the tab. This government scrapped that, and that is one of the reasons that rates are now going up,”
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins as quoted in Wellbeing provisions distracting councils from core job – Simeon Brown, RNZ, 17 December 2024
“ACT is also pleased to see real accountability to ratepayers with the first benchmarking report, so Kiwis can see how their council stacks up against others in terms of rates, debt, and spending. Some healthy competition between councils is long overdue,”
ACT Party local government spokesperson Cameron Luxton as quoted in Wellbeing provisions distracting councils from core job – Simeon Brown, RNZ, 17 December 2024
“Today’s announcement makes it clear that ‘Luxon localism’ has nothing to do with supporting local democracy but everything to do with dictating from the top down what communities should think is important,”
Green Party local government spokesperson Celia Wade-Brown as quoted in Wellbeing provisions distracting councils from core job – Simeon Brown, RNZ, 17 December 2024
“But essentially what the Government’s doing is it’s waving the stick on behalf of ratepayers, saying that legislation changes are on the way that will force councils to focus on “the basics” as the Government likes to call them.
Which, on the face of it, most people who pay rates will love the sound of. And I’m no different. I look at the ratepayer money that seems to go out the door from all these councils in all different directions and wonder what happened to all those promises about “zero rates increases if you vote for me”.
Not that I ever fall for that cheap talk.
And I think we know what the basics are that the Government wants these councils to focus on. It’s all the non-flashy things like making sure there’s safe water coming out of the taps, fixing the pipes, fixing the roads, building new ones, picking up the rubbish.”
It’s time we had less local councils, John MacDonald, Newstalk ZB, 17 December 2024
“The four wellbeing pillars that task councils with looking after economic wellbeing, social wellbeing, cultural wellbeing, and environmental wellbeing will be scrapped.
That was a bad idea from the last Labour Government anyway, which was so broad and meaningless it gave councils an excuse to expand their meddling into pretty much anything, because everything is a wellbeing.”
Councils forced the Govt to bring out the big stick, Heather du Plessis-Allan, Newstalk ZB, 17 December 2024
“As Victoria University of Wellington’s Dr Dean Knight put it, the inclusion or removal of the wellbeings from the Local Government Act doesn’t make a lick of difference legally to what councils are or aren’t going to do. That’s also been what I’ve established from talking to local government representatives and staff who served and worked through those periods. They basically just change the language they use, but otherwise they keep on keeping on with what they’ve developed with their communities on what they need to do in their long-term plans.
It’s a damning indictment on the approach of the Coalition that they would rather engagement in petty performative nonsense like this, instead of ending their dithering on addressing the underlying structural and financial issues that will still face councils once Local Water Done Well plays out.”
Gwynn Compton, Blaming the wellbeings for higher council rates is a longbow to draw, Local Aotearoa, 17 December 2024
Article Details
Headline: John MacDonald: It’s time we had less local councils
Author: John MacDonald
Published on: 17 December 2024
Published by: Newstalk ZB
Headline: Wellbeing provisions distracting councils from core job – Simeon Brown
Published on: 17 December 2024
Published by: RNZ
Headline: Heather du Plessis-Allan: Councils forced the Govt to bring out the big stick
Author: Heather du Plessis-Allan
Published on: 17 December 2024
Published by: Newstalk ZB
Headline: Blaming the wellbeings for higher council rates is a longbow to draw,
Author: Gwynn Compton
Published on: 17 December 2024
Published by: Local Aotearoa
Link: https://localaotearoa.co.nz/news/2024/12/17/wellbeing-link-a-longbow-to-draw
