13 May 2009

Government stages coup d'état in Auckland

A few handpicked mates will have stripped Auckland's local authorities of all meaningful power by the end of this week, the Green Party said today.

A Bill being passed under urgency today establishes an Auckland Transition Agency with draconian powers over the people of Auckland, accountable only to Rodney Hide.

"The intrusion is excessive, with control extending to what Councillors, Board Members and employees are allowed to discuss at meetings," Dr Russel Norman, Green Party Co-Leader said.

Sue Kedgley, Green Party Local Government Spokesperson said; "We knew that democracy was under threat in Auckland, but I had no idea that our Government would go to this extreme. It would make Benito Mussolini blush with pleasure."

"The handpicked transition agency will be able to silence any dissent it deems may 'significantly prejudice the reorganisation,'" Ms Kedgely said.

Dr Norman said the bureaucratic bottleneck will be stifling. "All important decisions made by the eight Councils and all their subsidiaries will need to be rubber stamped by the Auckland oligarchy from next week."

"All transition costs will be borne by Auckland ratepayers, but controlled by the Lord Hide oligarchy," Dr Norman said.

Local Council employees can be seconded to the Transition Agency, but the salaries for them and their replacements will continue to be paid by the Local Council. This means the true costs of the transition may never be known.

Historian Edward Luttwak* defines a coup d'état:

A coup d'état consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder.

*Luttwak, Edward (1979) [1968]. Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

The Bills to be introduced under urgency today are not yet available to the public, but may soon be published at www.legislation.govt.nz.

ENDS

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