The Minister’s not finished yet

A couple of weeks ago Minister for Local Government, Paula Bennett made a speech which as far as I have noticed has not been widely reported – seems the Media considers that murder and mayhem are of more importance. However what she said should be made widely known. The Minister indicated that she is not finished with amalgamation but rather plans to tackle it in another way.

The mister said:
“I will not legislate for large amalgamation. I am as tired as our communities are of having an argument over how many mayors there should be and over whom is bigger than whom and which area will dominate… They (the Local Government Commission) are going to work alongside you and your communities to ensure that we have the right structure, legally, financially, and with the right accountabilities to ensure sustainable growth in our towns and cities.

This might mean a CCO on water or transport across a region. It could mean a different business structure or increased responsibilities and accountabilities for Regional Councils. It could even mean in areas that might put a number of CCOs in place for key growth and infrastructure that there is no longer a need for a Regional Council.
The Local Government Commission will be working up various structure options for each region to look at and decide what works best for them, and then where necessary I will legislate to either set a new CCO up across a region – or even to take something away… So I implore you to do something about it. Be brave – own the change and both the Commission and I will do everything we can to assist and support you. But let me be clear – there will be change.”

At least it will not be able to be said that she is not being straight up with her intentions.