Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said this worked by “making sure there is a cap on non-core expenditure. If you look at the New South Wales model, they’ve got a regulator which regulates what price increases can be put on for non-core programmes that councils do”.
“It’s about maintaining cost control for councils. We’re not seeing that. We’re standing in a building [Tākina], which basically screams that they’re not doing that appropriately.”
That message did not go down well with councillors, who could be heard audibly groaning at the suggestion of largesse on their part.
When asked whether central Government dictating how councils should spend their money was a reversal of the “localism” National advocated in opposition, Brown said if councils wanted to spend money beyond rubbish, roads, and water, there would be “price caps so that ratepayers who ultimately bear the burden and bearing the brunt, are not seeing their rates go up”.
“Localism comes with both rights and responsibilities,” Luxon said.
Councils did not take Luxon’s remarks lying down. After Luxon called on mayors and councillors to “go line by line, stop the wasteful spending, remove the bureaucracy, focus on better customer service, and end the projects that aren’t delivering value for money”, Broughton said they already did this in their long-term plan.
Whanau, welcoming everyone to the conference, made pointed remarks about the Government’s repeal of measures to make it easier to establish Maori wards. Existing wards will have to be confirmed in a referendum and new wards will need to go to a referendum if just 5% of residents sign a petition asking for it.
“Councils should decide for themselves on the use of Māori wards,” Whanau said to applause from councillors.
“We should be able to decide for ourselves, how we honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and how we work in partnership with mana whenua, iwi, and Māori,” she said.
She said she agreed with protesters outside the venue, that Maori voices at the council table “strengthened” rather than “weakened” democracy.
Some councillors applauded Luxon’s call for restraint, and the list of policies he announced to help, such as taking the four well-beings out of the Local Government Act, often thought of as a distraction for councils by critics. He said Cabinet had agreed to new transparency measures that will make it easier for councillors to get information from council officers.
Many councils are waiting for detail on promised city deals between central and local government, where the two sides come to the table and agree what infrastructure needs to be built and how to pay for it. They were left wanting on that score, with little detail announced - although more might come later in the week.
Luxon did, however, promise there would be “new revenue tools for councils, where that makes sense”, however, he appended that remark by saying “the days of handouts are over”.
Labour’s local government spokesman Kieran McAnulty said councils had been “hung out to dry” by the Government.
“The fact is that the Government hasn’t taken any action to support councils, forcing them to rely solely on rates that won’t even cover the basics. A spineless and cynical political move. The equivalent to tying someone’s legs together then criticising them for not being able to walk.”
Changes announced:
- Refocusing the purpose provisions in the Local Government Act by removing four wellbeings from the Local Government Act.
- Investigating performance benchmarks for local councils.
- Investigating options to limit council expenditure on nice-to-haves through a regulator that would cap rate increases for non-core spending.
- Reviewing transparency and accountability rules to make it easier for councillors to request information from council staff, possibly by a written question system.
- Reforming the code of conduct process to balance councillors’ freedom of speech rights with spurious and politicised code of conduct investigations.
Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.
