April 11, 2009
 
Local Government Minister Rodney Hide has misled the PM and Aucklanders
 
North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams says Rodney Hide, Minister for Local Government has misled the Prime Minister and Aucklanders in his ministerial capacity overseeing the restructuring of Auckland Governance.

“I believe the Minister has misled Prime Minister John Key and has also misled the people of Auckland and New Zealand.”

On TV3’s Sunrise breakfast programme on Tuesday 7 April (7.11am), the morning of this week’s Government announcement on the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance (2pm), Prime Minister John Key stated:

“I think Rodney Hide did a lot of great work in the last sort of week or so, working closely with all the officials and listening to the community, spent time going out and talking to the various Mayors and different people……..”

The truth is, it has been confirmed that the only Mayor that Rodney Hide consulted with was Auckland City Mayor John Banks. In fact it is understood that John Banks received private briefings and may have even contributed to the final draft of the government document. So the Prime Minister’s statement on national breakfast television that “in the last week or so” that the Minister “spent time going out and talking to various Mayors” is incorrect. No such discussions took place. Has the Local Government Minister misled the Prime Minister that his plan for Auckland, a radical knee-jerk deviation from the Royal Commission’s recommendations, had some sort of buy in from the Mayors around Auckland?

The Mayors, representing their councils, are now asking to be communicated with as they have not had the courtesy of dialogue with the Local Government Minister or Prime Minister.

Questions are also being asked about numerous statements from Minister Rodney Hide over many months leading up to the release of the Royal Commission report claiming there would be considerable cost savings from the restructuring of the Auckland councils. The Minister this week is now saying that there may not be cost savings and this review is all about good governance and not about cost savings. It would seem that the people of Auckland and the people of New Zealand have been misled by the Minister if this is the case. Has the Minister conjured up public support for his restructuring on false pretences of there being resulting cost savings?

“These inconsistencies and false statements might indicate the need for a judicial review if correct processes have not been followed, if the public of New Zealand have been misled, and if the Royal Commission’ 18 months of research and conclusions have been dismissed within a week by politicians with pre-conceived ideas, intentions and alliances. This is a very serious matter requiring considerable investigation.”

“I am also concerned to be advised that John Banks has been a long-time silent supporter of the ACT Party and has attended ACT Party meetings, sometimes as a guest speaker. This unholy alliance between Banks and Hide needs to be the subject of a great deal of scrutiny. Something smells here. I also understand ACT supporters received inside information on the Government’s decision on Auckland prior to the announcement on Tuesday. This raises questions as to whether this National Government is being hi-jacked by these extreme right wingers”.

Rodney Hide has also said “It’s too late for the six mayors to develop new proposals for Auckland. The mayors didn’t do it when they had the responsibility to take the initiative”.

“This too is a totally misleading and incorrect statement and the Minister should apologise for this outrageous comment. All the Mayors in the Auckland region work together extremely well, with one notable exception. Auckland has developed the “ONE PLAN FOR THE AUCKLAND REGION”  (see http://www.aucklandoneplan.org.nz /  and see below ) and the Mayors, ARC Chair, Councils and Government Ministries have put a lot of energy and effort into this plan in recent years to bring greater integration to the Auckland region across a wide range of initiatives.

“After all this extensive and expensive ONE PLAN work across the region it is totally unacceptable for the Minister to dismiss the mayors and councils in this manner and say we haven’t been doing anything. A huge amount of work has been going on, cooperatively between councils, and we can all see the improvements already rolling out across Auckland with major public transport improvements such as the Northern Busway, a vast array of regional and local roading projects, sustainable environmental programmes, digital networks, economic development programmes and community improvements. The Minister would have the people of Auckland believe that Auckland has not been working together and has not been planning regionally. The reality is this work is already well down the track and this is yet another example of the people of Auckland being hoodwinked by the ACT Party with false propaganda to suit their own highly suspicious political agenda.”

“National Party people with long-time North Shore allegiances have commented to me of their concerns that the government is being hi-jacked by Rodney Hide on this Auckland Governance issue. There are real concerns out there on the North Shore, and this is echoed right across Auckland, that a small group of wealthy elitists with ACT party connections, and with the ears of the Prime Minister, are aiming to control Auckland. This should be of huge concern to thinking Aucklanders.

+Ends
 

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