Big changes proposed for local government

Peak rates, a relationship reset, money from central government, longer terms and a possible amalgamation of councils. All this and more in the long-awaited review of the future local government

In today’s edition: banking inquiry met with scepticism; teachers want government to commit to arbitration outcome; a new round-up of election news; but first, a summary of the major shake-up proposed for of local government

Review panel members: Jim Palmer, Penny Hulse, Antoine Coffin, Gael Surgenor and Brendan Boyle (Image: supplied)

The current local government system is not set up for future success

“The series of compounding crises we are experiencing are unlikely to abate… All of these challenges are felt at place and will only intensify over the next 30 years.” These very relaxing phrases are why I watch a lot of very stupid television these days but also come from the full and final report from the Future for Local Government review panel which was charged with ascertaining whether local government in New Zealand is fit for purpose. No wonder then that the panel has seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and recommended almost a complete re-tooling of local democracy, built from the grassroots up. Central to the panel's findings, after two years of consultation, is the conclusion that the relationship between local and central government needs a reset, with the report describing a marginalisation of local government by successive governments. It’s not the most frequent word used throughout the report but “devolution” comes up several times, the panel emphasising that local government not only has a larger role to play in building “local solutions for national-level problems” but in the reform process as well. Ultimately the report concludes the current local government system is not set up for future success. 

Money should flow from central to local government

One of the biggest recommendations is that more money flow from central to local government, with many people telling the panel we have reached “peak rates”. While rate rises in metropolitan areas tend to get a lot of coverage, smaller areas with smaller rates bases are left with few options to increase revenue beyond upping rates that are already high. Whakatāne for example, is the fourth largest geographical area in the country but has a small population and therefore a smaller rates base. For a while, it had the third-highest rates in the country. South Waikato District Council is suggesting an 18.5% rate rise this year. Jono Milne at Newsroom quotes Neil Holdom, mayor of New Plymouth, who points out that “central government gets 91% of tax revenue, while councils get the remaining 9%, but we provide 40% of our public infrastructure.” To combat this, the panel has recommended that government pay rates on council land used for schools, hospitals and conservation estate and that the GST collected off rates be returned to local government. 

On participation and the running of elections 

Turnout at last year’s local government elections just nudged the 40% mark. On improving participation in local democracy for both voters and those who might consider standing, the panel suggests a range of measures including embracing citizen-led democracy and reviewing what elected members are paid. The report finds that postal voting is not fit for the future but acknowledges the many issues associated with online voting, simply saying that “the panel encourages decision-makers to explore a range of alternative options for distributing and receiving votes in local body elections.” It also recommends adopting ranked voting (STV) as the nationwide method for local elections. It has proposed terms be extended to four years, that the Electoral Commission run local government elections and that the voting age for local government elections be 16, something partially in play already. Many of these recommendations line up neatly with Toby Manhire’s suggested ten steps to “reverse the ‘absolute shambles’ of collapsing local turnout”

No amalgamation agenda but some firm suggestions

The report is careful not to knock the efforts of council staff and those elected throughout the country but residents of the 78 territorial authorities across the country now could probably all point to examples of a system groaning under a burden of what it's expected to deliver within its current means, hamstrung by current operating and governance models. The ongoing tension in Gore is well-documented. Commissioners are still in place in Tauranga. Hot on the heels of Monday’s news that a $250m error was found in the cost-benefit analysis for reducing speed limits in Wellington, there’s news this morning that an investigation has been launched after the city’s council committed a “serious harm data breach” by releasing personal details of people involved in road crashes including the names of drivers and medical details such as blood alcohol levels and drug use. The panel denies it has an amalgamation agenda, saying local government should be enabled to work out what’s best, but it did put forward suggestions for a complete reorganisation of councils. The Herald’s Derek Cheng has good detail on that, including the suggestion that the 15 regions proposed in the Resource Management Act reforms could be a starting point.

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Market study of banking review announced

It’s fair to say there’s been a mix of reactions to the government’s announcement of a Commerce Commission market study into the banks with some cynicism creeping in, aided by what people perceive as a lack of real change after previous market studies into fuel, groceries and building supplies. In The Post this morning (paywalled), banking expert David Tripe from Massey University says it will make some people feel good “but whether anything much will actually change as a consequence is another matter.” interest.co.nz’s Dan Brunskill acknowledges the timing is political but says the study has merit. The Kaka’s Bernard Hickey writes that “shorn of the ability to look at bank culture and behaviour…less-than-threatening outcomes for the banks are likely, just as they ended up being for retail fuel, supermarkets and building materials.” Stuff’s Luke Malpass opens with the imagined pitch, writing “Another market study guys? Why the hell not? Let’s get the band back together.”

Teachers want government to commit to arbitration outcome

The union representing secondary school teachers currently engaged in a series of rolling strikes, says it is willing to enter an independent arbitration process and suspend industrial action, on the condition that the government publicly commits to the outcome. The Employment Relations Authority has “strongly recommended” the union halt all industrial action and that the union and the Ministry of Education look at independent arbitration. Acting PPTA Te Wehengarua president Chris Abercrombie said the union felt “arbitration is the best step towards resolution of this dispute” but “does not see much point in going down this path unless there is a commitment from both parties to the arbitrator’s decision.”

Watch: Does everyone have a right to learn te reo Māori? 

In the first episode of 2 Cents 2 Much, Janaye Henry dives back into her reo journey. The revitalisation of te reo Māori is well underway and more and more New Zealanders are (re)learning the language. But resources for more intensive learning are limited, so how can we ensure that the right people are learning the language? Janaye speaks to her kaiako Jordyn with a Why and asks if Māori language classes should prioritise Māori applicants over Pākehā and tauiwi. And is Jordyn mad that Janaye dropped out of her own classes? Featuring an original revitalisation song from Janaye and Jordyn with a Why. 

Click and Collect

• Government announces changes to skilled migrant visa

• Four years after the Christchurch Mosque terror attacks, the firearms registry will go live on June 24

• Just closing the loop for you here — Meng Foon accepts he has resigned

• Andrew Tate charged with rape and human trafficking. Alex Casey has a good piece on who he is and why he causes so much concern

  

With Mad Chapman declaring the Election 2023 season open yesterday (rejoice, burn some sage, get out the garlic etc) I thought it would be worth having a new section on election-specific news. It may not run every day at this stage but it gives us space to cover a lot of ground across the country, quickly. You all seem to love Click and Collect so introducing….

Click and Elect

• Labour back ahead of National in new poll, Hipkins and Luxon move in preferred prime minister stakes

• Nanaia Mahuta won’t run on the Labour Party list for the election, and will only run for her electorate seat

• Heather Skipworth withdraws as Te Pāti Māori’s Tukituki candidate after originally stepping aside from standing in Ikaroa-Rawhiti for former Labour minister Meka Whaitiri

• Related — Willie Jackson sought sign-off for Labour’s Ikaroa-Rawhiti candidate yesterday

• Sue Grey takes Electoral Commission to court over election advertising allocations citing an inability to afford ads on mainstream media channels

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

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Right now on The Spinoff

Stewart Sowman-Lund investigates cluster headaches, a mysterious and excruciating ailment. Charlotte Muru-Lanning has the not-so-basic story behind supermarket own brands like Pams, No Frills and Countdown Essentials. As part of our Cost of Being series, a civil servant responds to last week’s edition with his own spending diary. Physicist Richard Easther challenges the starry-eyed infatuation of those who tout everything that happens in space as inspirational. A thrilled Airana Ngarewa reports on the recovery of a 150-year-old waka from the Pātea River. Alex Casey has a warning about the unexpected downside of moving to Christchurch.

Sporting Snippets

• NZ Football backs All Whites refusal to play after alleged racial slur with chief executive Andrew Pragnell saying “Some things are bigger than football’’. Meanwhile, the Qatar Football Association has hit back claiming its own player was a victim of racial abuse.

• More football with Western Springs Football Club and its top female players reaching agreement over gender equity issues

• Anti-corruption police raid offices of the organisers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

On hope, politics and bullshit

Amid a fairly chaotic political news cycle, there’s no real mystery in why I might have gravitated towards this piece from RNZ’s The House on Green MP Jan Logie. She is retiring as an MP at the election. Logie is widely regarded as one of the hardest-working MPs in parliament, with “a warm and energetic presence in the House” and a refusal “to indulge in the politics of personal attacks”. Logie says she’s hopeful about what parliament can achieve when people work as a collective, but admits she won’t miss the bullshit. Sometimes I think it’s a shame that we only get these kinds of reflections when MPs retire but am grateful to read something from someone who said she had “zero faith in our political system” before she entered parliament and is still remarkably optimistic about the place after four terms.