Matt Cowley: Local Government Business Forum Chair ahead of the second day of the Local Government New Zealand conference

Anticipation is building over Government announcements at the second day of the Local Government New Zealand conference in Wellington today.  

It comes after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon ruffled feathers yesterday with an address telling councils to cut back on wasteful spending. 

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown is expected to speak to the delegates today. 

But Local Government Business Forum Chair Matt Cowley told Ryan Bridge the Government won't be offering a handout. 

He says it wants the big infrastructure issues addressed but ratepayers will have to chip in. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lux and ripping the mayors and the counselors at the
Local Government conference in Wellington a new one yesterday, saying
stop wasting your money on dumb stuff.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
I think the building that we're in today is a
classic example, with pipes bursting and quite literally this morning,
pipes bursting on the streets not far from here. And
it looks very nice, and it's great, and it's very
nice for us politicians to have a wonderful space to
make some great speeches in. But can anyone seriously say
that was the right financial decision?

Speaker 3 (00:29):
And so on?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
That was luxon yesterday. The conference continues today for day two.
We did actually try to get someone on from Local
Government New Zealand, but not available. I suspect there are
a few drinking poohs last night and maybe people didn't
want to get up. I don't know, I'm speculating. But
luckily this morning we have Matt Cowley, who is with
the Local Government Business Forum. He's the chair. Matt, Good morning,

(00:52):
Good morning, Ryan, thank you for being with me. I
really appreciate your time. What did you make of Luckson's comments.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
I think he's getting ahead of the announcements which will
possibly be made today around the city and regional deals
and that it's not going to be a free lunch
for councils. The government is wanting to address some of
these big infrastructure deficits, but racpayers will need a chip
in as well. And yes, so basically wanting to make

(01:22):
sure that councils are focused on some of the big
issues that they want to address.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Do you agree that they haven't been.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well, evidence will prove that the infrastructure deficit has been
really big and some councils have been focusing more on
some water and core assets than others.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, I think that's true, And to be fair, he
did say that too, they're not all bad. What do
you think of this idea of revenue caps on the
nice to have things.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
I think he's particularly looking towards those reflecting on the
rural communities and the farmers and those that are shifting
to maybe capital valuation and even where some councils are
even looking at capitalizing on kiwi fruit licenses so that
they can gain more revenue out of the primary sector

(02:16):
to boost into some urban areas. When you're looking at
some rural areas that are actually removing their tasia roads
putting them back into gravel because it's unaffordable, and that's
backwards in terms of comparing to some nice to have projects.
There are some projects that can stand up on their own.
But yeah, a real focus needs to go on those

(02:37):
councils to make sure they're focusing on this peak into
infrastructure deficits.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, basically the whole revenue model needs a total rethink.
And that's quite innovative one that you mentioned for rural areas,
but they need it basically just because you've got a
fifteen percent average rates increase at the moment for across
the country for anyone who's paying rates, which is really
hard to stomach. And as you know, as we mentioned

(03:03):
the other week, adding to the inflation problem as well
has been Matt, thank you very much for your time.
Matt Carley with US Local Government Business Forum Chair. That
Local Government conference continues today and we had I did
hear some comment from Tory Farno the willing to me
saying that she thought he Luxan was punching down on
the Meyors yesterday.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
I just think they kind of they kind of needed it,
didn't they. You know, it's not personal either, it's not personal.
It's not saying that you there's something wrong with you
as a as an individual, just that as a collective,
perhaps they have been looking in the wrong direction.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
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Speaker 2 (03:46):
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