Discussion
Local government has been smushed into a much more centralised system over the last 4 decades. Elected local boards that took care of specific jobs in some places (eg drainage boards) were folded into councils. As were community boards in a lot of places.
Many councils were themselves folded together. A process known among local opponents as "forced amalgamation". Auckland started out with dozens of independent city, district and borough councils. Now there's one ring to rule them all.
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Now it seems like we're looking at another round of forced amalgamation of local bodies, with Auckland's "supercity" council as the model. The first step being arbitrarily firing all regional councillors and adding their responsibilities to the jobs of city and district mayors.
Two RNZ shows have reported on this over the last week or so, Focus on Politics;
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/focusonpolitics?share=ad5c05a5-7472-48fe-b6c8-f13f997ef2aa
... and The Detail;
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/the-detail?share=58b425f8-6bc9-4e38-adf8-d9f921904eb9
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This is ironic, considering how much the NatACT First parties fulminated about Labour's centralisating reforms. In health, with the abolition of local Health Boards, and especially 3 Waters. IMHO the boogieman that won them the election.
But add it all up, and it does point to a disturbing bipartisan push against local democracy, and towards more centralised and therefore corporatised forms of government.
(3/?)
Labour didn't need to abolish elected health boards to solve the postcode lottery problem. They could have moved responsibility for funding decisions back the the Ministry of Health, while leaving the elected boards in place. As watchdog bodies standing up for the healthcare needs of the people in their area.
Why don't Labour seem to want that kind of local accountability any more than NatACT First? Will they fight the latest round of forced amalgamation? Inquiring minds want to know.
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"[3 Waters is] fundamentally the creation of these 4 mega ... bureaucratic entities, that are actually stripping power away from local communities, and stripping those aasets."
#CLuxon, clip played on The Detail podcast, 2023
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/the-detail?share=58b425f8-6bc9-4e38-adf8-d9f921904eb9
The NatACT First campaign machines came up with a wide range of such faux-localist talking points while they were weaponising 3 Waters as a wedge issue against the government of the day.
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I imagine we'll be hearing a lot of these NatACT First talking points quoted back at them as they attempt to do to local government exactly what they (falsely) accused Labour of.
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