MICHAEL BASSETT: MUCH HANGS ON HOW YOU VOTE ON 11 OCTOBER

Only a little more than two months to go until local body elections. Always, triennially, on the second Saturday in October. And there is so much hanging on the outcome this time. As voters, we need to hold existing councillors and their would-be successors to account on a range of issues. Rates of course, which these days seem always to run ahead of inflation, are the key issue. Extra slow completion of council work projects meaning endless orange cones, is another. Extravagant decisions which too many councils have already made, or are planning to make, need to be questioned. Too many people are saying they feel alienated from their local councils and won’t vote. This is dangerous. All candidates should be cross-questioned. It’s that time when we get the one chance in every three years to say truth to power: LISTEN TO US!

Spiralling rates are the biggest issue. “Why has your council lifted rates by more than the rate of inflation this last term?” is question number one. And don’t take bullswool for an answer. Here is one obvious reason for spiralling rates. Most councils in New Zealand have staff levels in excess of what is actually needed, and existing councillors seeking re-election need to be asked how often their council has reviewed its staffing levels. After all, staff salaries are usually any council’s biggest item in its budget. Vaguely conscious that they are over-staffed, far too many council executives keep dreaming up new permits and compliance costs, the income from which goes on paying for their empires of surplus employees. But, these permits and charges slow progress and economic growth, which also pushes up costs for the ratepayer.

The Taxpayers’ Union, that does a splendid job on many fronts, has begun a worthy “Cap Rates Now” campaign. They claim, "Cumulatively, over the last three years, the average rates hike is an incredible 34.52 percent. Over the same timeframe, inflation has been just 13.7 percent." Yes, but they also need to explore a little more deeply the cause of the problem. Not only staff levels, but careless contracts for outside council services should be scrutinised carefully. It’s the only area where in my days as an Auckland City Councillor I ever came across any whiff of council corruption.

A new area where extra care at the local level is fundamental concerns the rapidly escalating racism being inflicted on central and now local government by Maori opportunists. We know of the nonsense being inflicted on schools in the form of excessive kapa haka and te reo lessons during school hours, and of the steadily declining academic achievement levels at secondary schools. But somehow no one ever connects the dots and pushes the time-wasting activities out of the way in the interest of better results for our kids.

A more urgent problem is the push by the Wellington bureaucracy to include special advantages for Maori in state activities. Wilfully overlooking Clause 3 of The Treaty of Waitangi that guarantees equal rights (and duties) for Maori, local government is now making the same mistake. An Auckland friend with Waikato connections told me about the Hamilton City Council’s ill-thought-through new proposed management policies that appear to have been dreamt up by a collection of Tainui racists. The so-called Te Tiriti obligations of Hamilton City Council are entirely a one-way street for Maori benefits. And there’s no recognition of the fact that every one of these claimants has more European ancestors than Maori.

John F. Kennedy famously declared “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. This set of proposals is the very reverse. The authors of the proposed policy tell us that Hamilton City Council must let Maori co-manage all natural resources, rivers, lakes and parks; pay for and celebrate historical occasions that Maori dream up; and ensure that Maori are involved in all decision-making. Not only will the council need to involve Maori in everything, but will have to pay them big sums in consultation fees. The fact that many Maori stand at local body election time and get elected to the decision-making body seems to be of no account. They don’t believe in democracy. They call it the tyranny of the majority.

At a rough estimate, I’d expect the proposed management structure, if adopted, would add at least $1 billion per annum, and growing, to the current Hamilton City Council rates bill. And the whole argument is couched in terms of Maori entitlement under te Tiriti, not the Treaty of Waitangi which the authors regard as a lower form of life because it contained the words “ceding sovereignty” to the Crown. No longer any word about Maori duties to the other residents and ratepayers; they are just expected to pick up the tab.

Hamilton City Council is only one council being subjected to this kind of blackmail. Other councils are facing it too. And I haven’t heard a dicky bird from central government that ought to be stepping in and stopping this nonsense in its tracks.

That’s why it is very important that everyone starts taking a much closer interest in the activities of their local council before 11 October. Low grade central and local governance could be about to cost us all a fortune for no discernible gain except for the people claiming they are special, very expensive, te Tiriti gatekeepers.