The podcast discusses how local councils in New Zealand are struggling with lack of control due to unelected staff, outdated laws like the RMA, and questionable spending—such as Wellington City Council's $130,000 art purchase—leading to declining public trust.
Stacked weekly counts; colour by lean. “n/a” covers government and iwi-Māori sources where lean isn't applicable.
How this topic has been named, week by week. A new alias winning out is usually a framing shift.
Verbatim segments from politicians speaking on podcasts and radio shows about this topic. Sourced via the voice-reference library — each speaker has been confirmed manually from their voice clip. Click play to stream the original audio from the publisher, pre-seeked to the moment the quote starts.
So I told you earlier what I was doing down in Christchurch yesterday. I was giving a speech to part of local government in New Zealand. It was the South Island part of it. So it was a room full of mayors and councillors from the South Island. And one of the topics up for discussion was what councils around this country need to do or could do to win back public approval. I have to be honest, I left that room last night. You know my views on councils. I left that room last night feeling just a little bit sorry for the councillors and the mayors that I met because the ones that I met. They admit seem to be honestly trying. They admitted they've got more to do. They have stupid costs they need to cut as well. But what they told me is that they're up against it. They have things they can't change. National laws like the RMA that tie their hands. Unelected staff who just go ahead and do their own thing. And sure enough, there is a story this week that illustrates at least some of that perfectly. Wellington City Council staff. These guys have spent $130,000 on new art. art for their flash new building where they have hogged the top floors and shoved the mayor downstairs where he's looking out at a wall. Now the thing is, they don't need art, right? They have no money and they are just going hard on the ratepayers in Wellington. They don't need to spend on art. They've already got an extensive collection they could draw from. It includes Colin McCann, Toss Williston, Ralph Hotary, Dick Frizzell, Pablo Picasso for goodness sake. Judging by the criticism from the elected councillors, it seems like the elected councillors did not know that the unelected Un-elected staff were spending up on fancy art. That's what these guys are up against. Bureaucrats who treat ratepayers like a bottomless ATM. That is a major problem. Now, I'm not making excuses for the elected councillors or mayors because they've got their own part to play in the big spending. But some of them are truly trying. They are just up against decades of ingrained largesse like that.
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national laws tie local governments' hands
Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Here's the real issue impacting local councilsSpotted something wrong on this page? Report a correction.
