Category: Local Government
The pressure on new councils, as Labour seeks to undermine their autonomy and transform the sector into a government lapdog, will be intense. For voters that surely means ensuring the candidates that they support will not be cowed by Labour’s demands - but will stand firm in their commitment to local democracy and remain strong as the voice of their local community.
More likely, is that LGNZ has become an integral part of the government’s strategy to promote the implementation of He Pua Pua and the so called “partnership” principles of the Treaty of Waitangi - notwithstanding that they are a factual and jurisprudential nonsense. If this so, then LGNZ should stop its media spin and make a clean breast of it to its members and the public.
Given Jacinda Ardern's dismal track record of policy failure, with the housing merger, the polytech merger and the health board merger all turning into disasters, how can New Zealanders possibly have faith that Labour’s plan to centralise council-run water services into mega bureaucracies controlled by iwi is going to work out well?
The most likely long-term outcome of the 3Waters reform is that the assumed cost and capital efficiencies will not materialise, due to a cumbersome governance structure subservient to cultural interests. The water reform is a high-risk proposition, with much higher risks that that faced by the 67 local authorities individually.
New Zealand democracy is under attack. But the threat does come from other nations – the threat comes from within. It’s time for Kiwis to wake up to the civil revolution that is occurring within our society. The agenda of the iwi elite to restore pre 1840 Maori governance to New Zealand is well advanced and progressing rapidly under Jacinda Ardern’s guidance.
All in all, a disinformation campaign promoting the need for reform of New Zealand’s water services has resulted in the Three Waters Bill that is now in front of Parliament. The Bill passes control of the governing entities to iwi. Water quality is controlled by new regulators that give the Minister’s sister the final say. And tribal members are being given control of water services at a local level.
What we have seen is false advertising and orchestrated ‘news’ items on mainstream media to promote a perception that there is a need for reform. We have been given false assurances that the councils will retain ‘ownership’ of their water assets despite councils having no benefits of ownership and a report prepared by the Internal Affairs Department for Standard & Poors admitting water entities will have “limited Local Authority oversight”.
Increasingly it feels there is nowhere to turn for the truth. All too often, mainstream media are seen as puppets on a string. ‘Influencers’ are being paid by central government to push its narrative. So-called ‘independent’ experts are given ‘favoured person’ status and showered with attention they wouldn’t otherwise enjoy. And social media giants - born out of the desire for free speech - are coming under increasing pressure to back government narratives.
Using a Local Council Bill, Labour is planning to replace the one-person, one-vote, all votes are equal principle upon which our Westminster representative democracy is based, with Animal Farm democracy, that elevates the influence of some voters above all others.
The Labour Government has surrendered to a terrible temptation. The glittering prize of perpetual power has swept away their traditional respect for constitutional conventions, their political ethics, and even their commonsense.
Loading ...
