Statement by Mayor Kapiti Coast District K. Gurunathan
In the wake of the radical three waters reform Local Government Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta
has repeatedly urged the local government sector to "re-imagine" the future of local government.
Given the huge problems and challenges faced by Wellington City, and by proxy the Wellington Region, it's time the
Minister and her Government gave serious thought to creating a Minister for Wellington City. For the simple reason that
Wellington City, as the home of Aotearoa New Zealand 's Government and the international face of the country, has an
exceptional responsibility and, therefore, a special relationship with the Government.
There is no reason that the re-imagining of local government, which has been called for, cannot look at a radical reset
of the administrative and political relation between Wellington City and the Government when both live in the same tight
geographical home.
When the multi-billion dollar business of Central Government is conducted within this tight square kilometres of
Wellington City then there is a national responsibility of Central Government to ensure that the planning and funding of
this City is more than adequate to not only solve all its infrastructure problems but its undertaken to showcase the
best of Aotearoa New Zealand to the rest of the world. In this symbiotic relationship the inefficiencies of the City
becomes the inefficiencies of Central Government administration. From this perspective, one could argue that it is
because consecutive central governments have failed to develop this ownership of national responsibility that we are now
seeing the painful failings of the City's fundamental infrastructure.
As mayor of a district that has more than 4,000 residents commuting every weekday to work in Wellington City I believe
in the oft-repeated mantra that what's good for Wellington City is good for the region. Today, I'd like to extend that
mantra to say that what's good for Wellington City is good for the whole country.
In concluding, I like to refer to the recent diplomatic clash between Australia and China where Minister Mahuta had
signalled a willingness to arbiter a truce. In re-imagining local government, I imagine a positive response with
delegations arriving from China and Australia to our capital. On the way from the Airport the Chinese delegation is
locked in a traffic jam in the City because a water main has burst causing immediate danger and flooding. The Australian
delegation is also stuck elsewhere in the City because a collector sewage main has burst and the proverbial is literally
cascading down many streets. I imagine it's not just the reputation of Wellington City or the Wellington region that
suffers but our national reputation and pride.