Councils back on the government's naughty step

Sharp rates increases are the latest target for the PM and Simeon Brown.

Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Tuesday, December 17.

In today’s edition: Manurewa Marae investigation won’t be released until end of January, it’s HYEFU day and the news isn’t likely to be good, and why is the Desert Road being closed for half the summer? But first: more detail of the government’s plans to keep local councils in check.

Councils back in spending spotlight

There are just eight days until Christmas (crazy) and less than a week until we wrap for the year (crazier). That means there was time to squeeze in one more post-cabinet press conference. And this week, reported The Post’s Thomas Manch, local councils were back in the spotlight with the prime minister and local government minister reiterating their intention to refocus councils on outcomes and delivery, and to ditch the so-called “white elephant” projects. “We want to make sure that councils also have a focus on outcomes, right? And I think they’ve lost focus,” Christopher Luxon told reporters last night. Of particular interest for the government was the sharp rise in rates across several councils, with a restated focus on essentials rather than “nice-to-haves”. That means fixing pipes, filling potholes, and delivering core local services – which does not include social housing.

As explained by the Herald’s Thomas Coughlan, the reforms will include the publication of new reports of council spending along with legislation that will include measures to force councils to keep rates low. Council performance will be benchmarked and the Department of Internal Affairs will report back on, among other things, council debt, budgets and road condition. The Local Government Act will be amended to remove the “four wellbeings” – social, economic, environmental and cultural – something that the two main parties (and New Zealand First) have been arguing over since 2002.

‘Luxon localism’

The opposition is unimpressed. Labour’s Chris Hipkins, reported RNZ, rejected the assertion that the four wellbeings had increased the scope of what councils were focusing on. And the Greens’ spokesperson for local government, Celia Wade Brown, said the prime minister was dictating down to councils, appearing to go against the National Party’s stated intention in opposition to advocate for localism – local approaches to local needs. “Wellbeing is not an abstract nice-to-have, community centres, libraries and sport fields are fundamental to the health of our communities,” Wade Brown said. “Councils are far closer to these everyday needs than the Luxons of this world who are ‘wealthy and sorted’.”

In the wake of the government’s first crackdown on councils in August, The Spinoff’s Joel MacManus argued that Luxon had officially abandoned efforts to promote localism. “The Luxonian version of localism isn’t devolution of power, it’s just delegating tasks,” wrote MacManus.

Wellington council to tidy up proposed budget

The government has routinely used Wellington Council as an example of out of control spending. A Crown observer was put in place last month to oversee the council’s efforts to get its books in order after efforts to sell shares in the capital’s airport failed. As RNZ’s Kate Green reported, Wellington mayor Tory Whanau is confident the council will be able to finalise its long-term plan this week ahead of public consultation in the new year. Parking fines will be on the agenda at today’s final council meeting along with proposed rates increases for the next financial year. And while Whanau said she was anticipating additional amendments to the long-term plan to be put forward by councillors, she expected there would be little difficulty getting the proposals over the line. "We've got a package ready, we just need to finalise it and put it out to consultation. But I think on the whole, I don't think we'll receive much difficulty at all."

Action plan nearly completed

Meanwhile, the government won’t quite manage to tick off everything on its final quarterly action plan of the year due to rushed lawmaking, reported Newsroom Pro’s Marc Daalder (paywalled). A bill intended to repeal the 2018 ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration will no longer pass before the end of the year as promised after a drafting error was discovered. The error, which would have increased developers’ decommissioning liability instead of decreasing it, was only picked up after the proposed law was debated in parliament under urgency and sent off for a shortened consultation period. But the prime minister said he did not believe the rushed timeframe for drawing up and debating the bill had anything to do with the error, though legal experts have raised concern about an over-reliance on urgency. “Absolutely not,” Luxon said. “All this is about is making sure we get it right. We want to make sure, particularly the decommissioning of oil and gas fields, that we get that drafted correctly.”

The prime minister was also questioned yesterday on whether or not he intends to visit Waitangi for the annual commemoration in February, reported RNZ’s Lillian Hanly. February 6 will land amid public hearings on the doomed treaty principles bill, effectively ensuring that Luxon, as the face of the coalition, will receive a frostier than usual reception at the treaty grounds. Luxon said "a number of iwi invite me to their Waitangi Day celebrations", but confirmed he would attend Rātana celebrations in late January.

An update on the response to our open letter

It’s been a fortnight since we published our open letter outlining our current reality.

We revealed that only 2% of our audience support us financially and shared the real need to double the number of members who support us with monthly or annual payments. As of today, we are over one third of the way towards that target.

The response to our letter has been encouraging. Thank you to all our existing members who responded by donating or increasing their contributions. We’re grateful to all who also decided to sign up again. Welcome to our new members. We’re delighted to have you.

We still have a way to go, but the support has made us as determined as ever to get there. Please continue to spread the word and share the letter. You can also gift someone a membership for Christmas or donate as an organisation or company.

If you haven't yet, please become a member or donate today.

Findings of Manurewa Marae probe won’t be released until next year

Details of an investigation into the alleged misuse of private data at Manurewa Marae will not be made public until the new year, the Herald’s Jamie Ensor reports this morning. The investigation was launched back in June after it was reported that census data and Covid-19 vaccination information collected at the marae, which was also a voting site and operated by a political candidate, had been misused for Te Pāti Māori’s election campaign. Te Pāti Māori has denied the claims and welcomed the probe. Deputy public service commissioner Heather Baggott said the report required a “thorough response” and that “some matters will also require referral to other authorities for further consideration”. It’s now anticipated the investigation’s findings will be released in late January.

Earlier in the month, appearing before a select committee as part of parliament’s scrutiny week, chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne admitted it was “wrong” to have allowed a marae operated by a Te Pāti Māori candidate (and now MP) to also be a voting booth.

Best of 2024: A definitive list of woke and non-woke foods

As we race towards the end of the year, it’s time to take a look back at some of the biggest and best Spinoff stories from 2024. This morning: The Spinoff’s official list of all the woke and non-woke foods, compiled in response to changes to the school lunches programme. First published May 8, 2024.

Here’s a sample:

Chips, packet (ready salted, salt and vinegar or chicken flavour) = NOT WOKE

Chips, packet (all other flavours) = WOKE

Chocolate, Whittaker’s Miraka Kirīmi = WOKE

Chocolate, other = NOT WOKE

Couscous = WOKE

Crackers, rice, “specialty”, seeded = WOKE

Crackers, Snax, Salada, Meal Mates = NOT WOKE

Get the best of the Spinoff this year sent to you over summer

Sign up for The Spinoff Daily to receive our twice-weekly summer digest. Sent to you at the leisurely time of 10am on Tuesdays and Fridays over the summer break, you can enjoy a handpicked selection of the best of The Spinoff this year. perfect for beach, bach, backyard or travel reading.

Click and Collect

• It’s HYEFU day. The Post’s Luke Malpass previews the budget update, and expects bad news.

• Job advertisements have risen for the first time on a month-on-month basis since July, although it was only a 1% increase.

• Rainbow mental health service calls for government to review restrictive funding rules.

• A reader suggested I share this interesting commentary from E-Tangata on the Regulatory Standards Bill, the “dull but dangerous cousin” of the treaty principles bill.

• The government was warned that operating the Aratere Interislander ferry until 2029 was “simply not possible”, according to a leaked document.

• Why the Desert Road is being closed for half the summer.

• Finding it hard to get a cheap domestic flight? You’re not alone. Stats NZ said prices were up 10.8% in November compared with October.

• What can you do when your leave doesn't cover the school holidays?

Right now on The Spinoff

For his latest Windbag column, Joel MacManus argues for demolishing Wellington’s City to Sea bridge. Joanne Wilkes explains what we can learn from Australia’s version of the Marsden Fund furore. We break down what to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week in the latest new to streaming. Alex Casey made it to the end of 2024 without finding out what “hawk tuah” means. Claire Mabey explores the past and present of Holloway Road, one of Wellington’s most mysterious and storied communities.

That’s it for another day. Thanks for reading and see you back here tomorrow.

Want to get in touch? Join the conversation in the Substack comments section below or via email at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz if you have any feedback on today’s top stories (or anything else in the news).

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