“Our communities want their councils to get back to the basics. Water, rubbish, housing and roads is what councils should be focussed on. The last thing they need is another word salad from the Government like the Review into the Future for Local Government,” says ACT’s Local Government spokesperson Simon Court.

“Taxpayers have shelled out for a report that gives them a word salad on “wellbeing”, a copy and paste from He Puapua on co-governance and the suggestion of un-elected Māori representation on elected councils, plus the tired debate of lowering the voting age.

“The report makes no reference to the biggest changes in local government in history, like stripping councils of water assets and environmental management and urban planning.

“All it shows is a bureaucracy hopelessly out of touch. Our cities remain congested. Auckland beaches are frequently closed to swimming because of sewage leaks, the pipes in Wellington are broken, we have a drastic shortage of services and consented sections for the next generation to build their homes on. Where is the emphasis on these real world, practical concerns?

“It's a make work scheme for pontificating bureaucrats, what we really want is councils who can direct sewage to sewerage treatment plants instead of the beach.

“Councils should be focussed on fixing the pipes and roads and the Minister should be ensuring that’s the focus.

“The role of local government should be to provide services that neither central government nor private enterprise can provide. This report endorses Local Government to keep failing hard at essential services, while pursuing a range of tiresome woke agendas.”

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