Category: Local Government
A 7-2 vote this week by the Masterton District Council to appoint representatives from two Wairarapa iwi to have voting rights on its standing committees is the latest step in a long march towards tribalising local government in New Zealand.
‘Green’ ideology is responsible for many of the public policy failures that are evident in New Zealand today. The green way is to create a moral panic to put public pressure on decision-makers to force change. As a result, through green pressure and soft public opinion, politicians will often implement policies that do more harm than good.
In 2010 the eight Auckland councils were amalgamated into one. I’m not sure why and my early prognosis gave the experiment five years before failing. This was based on the unwieldy nature of the proposed council – multiple layers of management were bound to complicate and slow down decision-making and further remove policy-makers from the places and people for whom they are actually making policy.
On 22 March, I attended the single public meeting which the Government held to brief the people of Auckland on its proposals with regard to fresh water management. There were fewer than one hundred people present, no doubt in part because there had been little publicity about the meeting.
Last Saturday, National launched their controversial water discussion document at a Party conference at Lake Tekapo. By announcing the major reform of the country’s system of freshwater management at a remote location on a weekend, National will have ensured that that most New Zealanders are unaware that a public consultation and submission process is now underway.
L’esprit de l’escalier, the French call it ~ the wit of the staircase. All those clever things to say that you think of only when you are walking down the stairs after the party is over. I had such thoughts last year, after an interview I did for Fishhead Radio on the subject of the Maori claim, before the Waitangi Tribunal and now to Parliament and government, to fresh water.
A report on the burden to economies of environmental policies, prepared by the OECD in 2014, ranked New Zealand 28th out of 34 member countries. It highlighted that real problems exist with our system of environmental regulation.
An increasingly common theme expressed by New Zealanders returning home from overseas is: this is about as good as it gets compared with most of the places they have visited, and it is not just the scenery they are talking about.
It is now clear that Iwi Participation Agreements have been designed to provide a mechanism by which any iwi, any where in the country, can demand the right to become joint or full resource management consenting authorities for the control of water and other natural resources in their area. No other law changes will be necessary.
As you read this newsletter, the New Zealand Centre for Political Research’s public information campaign outlining the government’s intention to allow Maori control of fresh water is getting ready to roll off the printing presses.
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