Roll call of opposition to super city grows daily

Rodney Hide must be getting quite lonely.  The Government’s plan to parcel up 75% of Council operations, including the powerful transport agency, into arms-length council-owned  companies has met with an avalanche of opposition.

I read out the roll call to Hide in question time today: Len Brown, John Banks, Andrew Williams, Mike Lee, Michael Barnett from the Chamber of Commerce, Lawrence Yule from Local Government NZ, The Herald, The Aucklander newspaper, Suburban Newspapers, hundreds of individuals who submitted to the select committee, and the 56% of Aucklanders who told a recent poll they didnt want to be part of the super city.

Is there anybody else out there who doesn’t like the corporatisation of Auckland local government?

Lawrence Yule was the latest to step up, this morning on RNZ. He is the mayor of Hastings, and president of the association representing local government politicians and officials. He is someone who cannot easily be written off by the Government. His opinion: the Government’s super city model is fundamentally undemocratic. “Handing over 75% of Auckland’s assets to unelected ‘council controlled organisations’ is unfathomable.”

Hmmm. Let’s see who is lining up to support the corporatisation of Auckland. John Key is. There’s Steven Joyce. And Stephen Sellwood from the Council for Infrastructure Development who Sean Plunket took delight in pointing out on Morning Report is a business lobby group that costs $9000 to join.

I am picking the Government will throw a bone to public concern by putting up some minor adjustments to the CCOs’ accountability regime. If they do, they will underestimate the depth and intensity of public concern. People don’t want transport to be run by an unaccountable council-owned company. They are concerned that one of these companies will be given control of waterfront development. They want their elected representatives on the Auckland Council to be properly accountable for the Council’s activities.

Meanwhile Rodney Hide is spinning like a top. Russell Brown this morning said he was ‘flat out lying’.  Sean Plunket’s interview is worth a listen. Plunket got him to concede that the use of CCOs will be expanded under the super city, and made the point  that Hide seems to equate commercial discipline with democratic controls.

Hide said “the ratepayers of Auckland have had a say”. How exactly?  He said the CCOs are “totally controlled by the Councils” when the whole point of them is to keep the elected representatives at arm’s length. A full catalogue of Hide’s misrepresentations awaits another post. Not enough room here.