Phil Twyford
Auckland Issues Spokesperson

18 May 2009 Media release
Government creates Super City chaos

The Government’s Super City plans are unravelling rapidly as the full extent of its mishandling of the reforms become clear, says Labour’s Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“Earlier today Aucklanders were told by John Banks that the Government’s plans are likely to see 2,700 council workers lose their jobs – about 40 per cent of the entire workforce. He later apologised, saying he couldn’t say exactly how many job losses there would be, obviously after a telling off from the Beehive.

“I’ve also been told today that tens of millions of dollars worth of development projects in Waitakere City are grinding to a halt because of the uncertainty being created by the transition plans,” says Phil Twyford.

“That’s a lot of additional private sector jobs that are now also on the line. And that’s just Waitakere City.

“This type of destabilisation is likely to create enormous uncertainty in the market and will have significant economic impacts around the city, on top of the economic impact on all the hard-working families whose jobs may be affected.

“Labour has repeatedly raised concerns about the Government’s failure to disclose proper information about the ramifications of the plan, including the details around the costs and projected impacts on staff.

“In desperation I sought help from an Auckland University public economics lecturer last week, who estimated up to 817 jobs could be lost.

“But Mr Banks’ statement today suggests the situation could be much more serious than that. It’s simply appalling that in a time of recession the Government won’t even front up and tell Aucklanders if it is about to wipe close to 3000 council jobs from the city and a number of private sector ones as well.

“Prime Minister John Key today was unable to say whether Mr Banks’ statements were correct. That’s not good enough. Aucklanders deserve the full facts before being asked to sign up to the Government’s plans,” Phil Twyford says.

“Aucklanders also need to know how services and developments would be affected in the face of such signficant potential job loss. It’s increasingly clear they seriously impacted as a result. Once again Mr Key – you must front up.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media