Media Release

For Immediate Release - Sunday 3 April 2009

Government Should Not Rush Super City Decision

Call for Deferral of Election to Allow More Time

Auckland City Councilor Graeme Easte today implored the Government to defer elections for re-organised local government in the Auckland Region for an extra 6 months in order that we do indeed get better governance rather than being "stampeded into making a quick and flawed decision we will all regret for many years to come".

The Government is clearly persuaded that it needs to make a quick decision on the Royal Commission's recommendations in order to meet a self-imposed deadline of October 2010 when the next local Government elections are scheduled. Passing the necessary legislation and re-organising eight councils into one vast new organization by the end of next year will be a huge task for all involved.

But what if we had an extra six months? Councilor Easte suggests that we put the election back to April of 2011 "so that we do not rush things and risk getting it all horribly wrong".

There is precedent for deferring elections in special circumstances: - elections for the ARC in October 1991 were cancelled because elections were due again just one year later following a Government decreed re-organistion. And similarly in October 2001, elections in Rodney District were cancelled because there had been a special election 6 months earlier (following about 2 years under a Commissioner appointed by the Minister of Local Government).

About 5-7 months is the most obvious period of deferral:

• any less and there is a clash with the Christmas/New Year holiday period

• too much more could clash with the run-up to the general election

• we must also keep well clear of preparations for the Rugby World Cup.

• April would allow time for campaigning to occur in February and March.

Such a proposed deferral would allow time for public debate of the Royal Commission's surprisingly clumsy proposals. Given that the Commissioners have put huge emphasis on efficiency and speed of decision making at the expense of democracy, there has been widespread grumbling about key aspects of the proposed structure. In particular:

• the centralization of so much power in the hands of one individual

• the lack of checks and balances on the mayor and chief executive

• the elimination of Community Boards (how come Auckland is to get a lower standard of local representation than the rest of New Zealand?)

Even government ministers have gone on record as having doubts about some aspects of the Commissions recommendations.

Devising workable improvements on the Royal Commissions recommendations will take time and should not be rushed in one or two weeks with no real opportunity for comment on the scheme proposed.

"I am not suggesting that we go back to square one", said Mr. Easte, "but there must be some opportunity for response to the radical and deeply flawed proposal from the Royal Commission". I urge the Government to give itself time to make the right decision and to listen to what Aucklanders have to say.

ENDS

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