KEY POINTS:
It's amazing how quickly some politicians lose interest in what their voters have to say. After his surprise win in the North Shore mayoralty race, Andrew Williams put his victory down to listening to the people. Unlike his predecessor, he said, he took note of voters' concerns over issues such as rate increases and the proposed Whenuapai commercial airport.
But less than a month on, his words of opposition to the Regional Funding Amenities Bill could have come from the mouth of his defeated rival, George Wood. This despite a council-funded poll revealing a majority of his fellow North Shore residents support regional funding of a wide range of sporting and cultural amenities.
Mr Williams said the survey would not stop his council opposing the bill, which is before a parliamentary select committee. His comments in Friday's Herald suggest he hasn't even studied the survey very closely. For example, his claim that the survey shows "there's overwhelming sympathy in the community for supporting the rescue services - but not in the area of arts and music" is just not accurate.
The report shows that more than 50 per cent of North Shore people supported regional funding - either by all councils joining together, or through the regional council - for all 11 amenities listed in the bill.
Opera New Zealand has the lowest support at 56 per cent - an amazing vote for such a minority entertainment - while the Coastguard topped the poll at 93 per cent. As for the other arts groups, both the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the Auckland Theatre Company scored 61 per cent, and the Auckland Festival scored 76 per cent. Not as good, admittedly, as the 91 per cent achieved by Auckland Zoo or the 83 per cent for Surf Lifesaving, but still pretty emphatic gestures of support for such high-brow activity.
Not surprisingly, support for rate increases to fund these groups was not quite as enthusiastic. Still, that 46 per cent of respondents agreed with rate rises to fund these amenities more equitably is a significant baseline of support to begin from.
On Friday afternoon, Mr Williams issued a press statement slightly mellowing his earlier remarks. The bill, if enacted, he said, would have major cost implications for ratepayers and the council needed to decide which organisations to fund. "We need to look at what should come under national or regional government accountability rather than the responsibility of local councils." He added that "there needs to be discussion on a number of issues surrounding the bill before the council finalises its submission and considers the impact it will have on rates".
He didn't specify the issues he refers to, but the key one is surely finding a way of repairing the inequity of the current situation. In his statement, he points out that North Shore will pay grants totalling $146,000 during the current financial year to the organisations named in the bill, and that this sum would increase to $1.4 million in year one if the bill goes through. There's the crux of the problem. The gap between the two figures Mr Williams quotes is the amount North Shore residents annually bludge off the minority of councils - mainly Auckland City Council - that do fund these groups. The discussion Mr Williams needs to have with himself and his fellow councillors is how to right this wrong.
The facts: North Shore residents, who make up 16 per cent of the total regional population, account for 18 per cent of total direct usage of the organisations covered by the bill. North Shore would have to pay a levy of $2.2 million a year to equitably share its cost of a regional levy for these 11 groups.
In fact, North Shore residents are major consumers of the listed arts groups, making up 21 per cent of Auckland Festival audiences, 23 per cent of Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra audiences, 21 per cent of the Auckland Theatre Company's and 22 per cent of National Maritime Museum visitors.
North Shore City's new scientific poll reveals that North Shoreites acknowledge this and a majority agrees it is time for more equitable regional funding for these organisations. Mr Williams took office pledging to keep his ear to the ground. Now would be a good time to turn on his hearing aid.
