Perspective with Ryan Bridge: We really shouldn't need central Government to clarify things for local councils - Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The Government's introduced a bill today to get local Government back focused on the basics.

But the fact they've strayed so far from potholes, rubbish and waste water is as much our fault as the councillors and mayors running the budgets.

The Government's bill contains the wildly controversial stuff like:

"Prioritising core services when managing finances and setting rates." And "new financial performance measures for councils, with a requirement for regular public reporting."

How scandalous.

Honestly. We shouldn't need central Government to spend time and money clarifying such simple principles to their local Government counterparts, but it's 2025, and here we are.

We shouldn't need a bill to stop wasteful spending. We just need more Andrew Tripes.

He's the Whanganui mayor overseeing a 2.2 percent rate increase this year. Much less than the average 8.7 percent across the country.

He went on RNZ this morning and basically said it how it really is. If you want low rates, spend less, save money, have a plan. And stick to it.

Like Dave Latele, he says: No excuses.

He cut the naff curb-side food waste bin nonsense. That saved them 1.1 percent.

Why has Auckland kept its scheme when most don't even use it?

The fact is that this is all our fault. Not the fault of the councils or the mayors - and certainly not central Government who's sweeping in to try and save the day.

It's us, the voters. We obviously don't care enough about council waste. Otherwise we'd have voted to get rid of it.

It's a simple as that.

Voter turnout in 2022 was 36 percent. In Auckland, our largest city, it was 31 percent! In some areas of Auckland it was only 20 percent.

No wonder we're tripping over cycleways and raised crossings, paying for cooking classes at community centres and drowning in unnecessarily, infuriatingly exorbitant rates bills.

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