Source: Radio New Zealand
Wellington mayor Andrew Little RNZ / Mark Papalii
The mayor of Wellington says the coalition’s proposed restructure of local government is a “pretty serious attack” on the Crown’s treaty obligations.
The coalition wants mayors of city and district councils to take over the duties of regional councillors, in what would be the biggest local government shakeup in three decades.
The proposed removal of regional seats includes scrapping Māori constituencies.
There are currently two regional councils with specific legislation for Māori represenation: Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Canterbury Regional Council.
The government’s discussion document states the government has “considered the impact of the proposal on Māori rights and interests”.
It also says the proposal “has been designed to not undermine, disrupt or affect Treaty settlements but is seeking a wide range of views to ensure this is the case”.
‘A total backtrack’ – Little
Speaking on Nine to Noon on Wednesday, Wellington mayor Andrew Little said the proposals would impact Māori representation that had been guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi.
“One thing that regional councils do is regulate the environment. The fundamental promise of the Treaty of Waitangi was tino rangatiratanga over whenua, over land, and other valued things.
“So to undermine the representation of Māori over environmental things is a total backtrack on the obligations that [have] been recognised for the last 50 years that the Crown has under the Treaty.
“Regional councils and district councils act effectively with Crown authority when they regulate the environment, so undermining that representation is a pretty serious attack on treaty obligations.”
Little said it would narrow the diversity of representation at council level.
“The proposals that were announced yesterday look like they are diluting, or in fact completely removing that Māori representation on that important function and that cannot be consistent with the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty.”
Speaking more generally on the proposed changes, Little said the direction of travel was amalgamation.
“One obvious conclusion to draw from the proposals, as they’ve been announced, is it is trying to drive towards greater amalgamation.
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s got to be supported locally and democratically, though.”
Little said the proposals would also “significantly’ add to a mayor’s workload.
“There’s a whole new organisation to get to grips with. There’ll be staff, including a chief executive, that has to have appropriate oversight and support so that adds to what is already a growing workload for mayors.
“I’m not quite sure what the underpinning analysis was that suggested that this was an easy transfer to make.”
Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz RNZ / Angus Dreaver
RMA needs to be part of discussion – Gisborne mayor
Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz said the proposals wouldn’t change the functions of regional councils but they did risk losing technical expertise.
She also said the Resource Management Act had a big part to play in the national conversation about how to best restructure local government.
“Before we criticise regional councils, they’re working under a regime called the Resource Management Act, which we all agree is not fit for purpose.
“So I think we also need to make sure that discussion is had alongside what the functions are that we want to have on a local, regional level or national level.”
Stoltz said Gisborne had operated as a unitary authority since 1989 that did the work of both a city council and regional council.
It had worked well for her region, though that didn’t mean it would be the best approach in other parts of the country, she said.
“It works really well for us because we have a single governance structure making both the local and the regional decisions, which means there is real clear accountability. Your community know exactly who is responsible for that and for what and then we can also have integrated planning across our land, water and infrastructure.
“That works really well for us, because all the major planning and regulatory functions sit under one roof.
“During Cyclone Gabrielle, it was easier to have a coordinated emergency response. When you need rapid decision making, you don’t need to negotiate across multiple councils.
“You have a coordinated response, and your community know exactly who is responsible for what. So there is some reduced duplication but the fact that it works for the Gisborne District Council does not mean it will work for any other region.”
Asked if her community would not support being amalgamated with other regions, she responded: “I think if you asked the people of Gisborne that, that will be a firm no…we have been a unitary authority forever, and it works well for us.
“We never put those discussions aside, though, because we haven’t had a review in 36 years. So this is a once in a lifetime review. The devil will be in the detail.”
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand