Andrew Dickens: The government has given the councils a telling off for Christmas

The government is going to hold councils accountable for the basics like pipes and rubbish, but screw any mention of well being. 

I don’t know about you, but the care of maintenance of pipes and sewage and trash is fundamental to my well being. 

Minister Simeon Brown wants a report issued each year on the financial health of each council, their spending and their results. They also want to look at the changes in rates for each dwelling. 

In other words they’re going to read the publicly listed council reports and produce their own because apparently many ratepayers don’t or can't be bothered.

That's also the job the media used to do until they got so skint they don't have the staff to do it.

I couldn’t help thinking the whole thing was a dramatic production and part of a culture war to paint local bodies as a villain for committing exactly the same crimes central government are guilty of.

There’s criticism of council red tape in building consents and yet the irony is that it’s central government who writes the rules that the councils are enforcing. 

There’s criticism of a lack of long term plans when central government tends to change it’s plans every 3 years in line with elections.

Central government has palmed off some of the biggest and hardest part of civil maintenance to the councils. The water, the poo, the rubbish and then crippled councils by allowing them to only make revenue through property taxes and then when things go wrong treat local government like a whipping boy.

The point of the government’s attack on councils is to make them more accountable to ratepayers, but possibly to distract voters from looking at them.

Well thanks for that. Councils are accountable to ratepayers, it’s called the vote and ratepayers are notorious for not bothering to use it. 

Anyway, bring it on, councils should not be afraid of being held to account because they must believe they’re making their towns better and also on the whole they’re doing a pretty good job on the smell of an oily rag.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Drop the well beings. The government has given the councils
a tongue lash for Christmas, and they're going to hold
councilors accountable for the basics like pipes and rubbish. But
whatever you do do not mention well being. But I
don't know about you. The care and maintenance of pipes
and sewage and all that sort of thing is pretty
fundamental to my well being. Water pooh, fundamental to the

(00:22):
health of society and well being anyway. Minister Simeon Brown
now wants a report issued each year on the financial
health of each council they're spending and their results. He
wants to compare them all together. They also want to
look at changes and rates for each dwelling. In other words,
the government's going to read the publicly listed council reports
and produce their own report because apparently many rate payers
don't or can't be bothered reading what the councilor has said. Anyway,

(00:45):
it's not as though it's hidden. It's also the job
the media used to do until we got so skinned
we don't have the staff to turn up to actually
report on it. Remember that each time you like the
media sort of being chopped down a little bit. We
need we need people to report on stuff. I couldn't
help thinking the whole thing was a bit of a
dramatic production just before Christmas. Christmas panto here Ryan, he said,

(01:09):
was it bluster? Maybe part of a bit of a
war to paint local bodies as a villain for committing
exactly the same crimes that central government are guilty of.
You know this criticism of council red tape and building consents,
and yet the irony is that it's central government who
writes the rules that the councils are merely enforcing. There's
criticism of a lack of long term plans from councils
when central government tends to change its plans every three

(01:32):
years in line with elections. Central government has been palmed
off with some of the biggest and hardest part of
civil maintenance to their councils. They've got the water, the pool,
the rubbish. And then of course central government has crippled
counsels by and allowing them to only make revenue through
property taxes, and then when things go wrong, treat local
government like a whipping boy. I think the point of

(01:54):
the government's attack on councils is to make them more
accountable to ratepayers, yes one, but possibly to voters from
looking at central government, and thank you for that. Councils
are accountable to ratepayers. It's called the vote, and ratepayers
are notorious for not bothering to use it anyway. Bring
it on. I support the most of it. I love
the report, I love the ratings, I love the comparisons.

(02:15):
Councils should not be afraid of being held to account
because they must believe they're making their towns better, and
I believe on the whole they are. They're doing a
pretty good job. On the smell of an oily rag.
For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
to News Talks it Be from five am weekdays, or

(02:36):
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.