While that might sound like the start of a joke – and some would maintain it is – actually it’s a pretty serious question this election.
Both tend to maintain that they alone are true representatives of the people. And, in fairness, each would have some justification for that claim. Councils are closer to action on the ground, so might just be more in touch with citizens. On the other hand, ministers and other MPs are scrutinised much more closely, so we may feel more responsive in that sense.
The truth is that the functionaries of these different forms of democracy have much more in common than either would care to admit. Both struggle to reconcile the rapacious demands of their respective voters for spending ever more and taxing ever less, for example.
Each faces election at intervals of three years and in 2026 it’s the turn of central government.
But this is also a hugely consequential year for regional, district and city councils. They might even feel as though their fate will be bound to the ballot box this November, no less than those actually up for election or re-election. The approaches of various parties vying for the Beehive vary in key ways, so it’s going to be consequential, one way or the other.
In general, the centre-right parties in Parliament have tended to emphasise a relatively constrained role for councils, both in terms of the part they play in society and with the “rates capping” policy in particular.
Conversely, parties of the centre-left are more enabling of a wide mandate for councils and less inclined to impose restraints.
There are reasonable arguments for both approaches, particularly in a country where we have somehow simultaneously under-invested in infrastructure but also imposed high costs on the long-suffering payers of rates and taxes.
We might have broken, old water pipes but thank goodness we’ve paying through the nose to maintain them.
In a constitutional sense, local government exists only because central government passed a law breathing life into it. As a “creature of statute”, each council is able to do what Wellington has decreed, in the form of the Local Government Act.
Creatures are not always popular with their creators, however, as Dr Frankenstein would attest to. This isn’t to suggest that local government has become any kind of monstrosity, although of course I can’t stop others suggesting that if they’ve applied for a resource consent lately.
All that said, while different types of politicians might like to slice and dice responsibility for making the trains run on time, reality is another thing entirely. To extend that famous emblem of efficiency, when it comes to the realpolitik of rail running to timetable, the tracks are owned by KiwiRail but passenger trains are within the remit of local transport agencies. Suffice it to say that there’s always plenty of blame to go around.
Coalition tensions flare as parties clash over the minimum wage
At the heart of it all, though, the citizens who pay taxes to the state are the same people who pay rates to the local council. And ordinary Kiwis tend not to know or care who exactly owns the potholes in that rather rough road down the way.
I suspect voters will be looking to see which political parties will have a healthy relationship with local government. In recent years it’s been a bit fraught, between the Three Waters proposals of the last government and various restricting measures of the current one, of which rates capping is just one.
To my mind, there’s actually no good reason for central and local government to be at loggerheads. I was certainly grateful for the support of many mayors and councillors for our reforms of the Public Works Act, the earthquake buildings regime and a more sensible system of liability for Building Consent Authorities.
Recently debate has revolved around the restructuring of local government itself, with some resentment reported at a meeting of Local Government New Zealand. For what it’s worth, I found LGNZ a reliable partner in discussions about proposals that could bring about mutual benefit to central and local bodies alike, so those perspectives will be interesting to understand.
Local government employs many New Zealanders, including but not limited to elected representatives, and we all have a stake in our councils doing things well.....The full article is published HERE
Chris Penk is a New Zealand politician who has been a member of Parliament in the House of Representatives with the National Party. He now writes a column for Stuff.co.nz.
Each faces election at intervals of three years and in 2026 it’s the turn of central government.
But this is also a hugely consequential year for regional, district and city councils. They might even feel as though their fate will be bound to the ballot box this November, no less than those actually up for election or re-election. The approaches of various parties vying for the Beehive vary in key ways, so it’s going to be consequential, one way or the other.
In general, the centre-right parties in Parliament have tended to emphasise a relatively constrained role for councils, both in terms of the part they play in society and with the “rates capping” policy in particular.
Conversely, parties of the centre-left are more enabling of a wide mandate for councils and less inclined to impose restraints.
There are reasonable arguments for both approaches, particularly in a country where we have somehow simultaneously under-invested in infrastructure but also imposed high costs on the long-suffering payers of rates and taxes.
We might have broken, old water pipes but thank goodness we’ve paying through the nose to maintain them.
In a constitutional sense, local government exists only because central government passed a law breathing life into it. As a “creature of statute”, each council is able to do what Wellington has decreed, in the form of the Local Government Act.
Creatures are not always popular with their creators, however, as Dr Frankenstein would attest to. This isn’t to suggest that local government has become any kind of monstrosity, although of course I can’t stop others suggesting that if they’ve applied for a resource consent lately.
All that said, while different types of politicians might like to slice and dice responsibility for making the trains run on time, reality is another thing entirely. To extend that famous emblem of efficiency, when it comes to the realpolitik of rail running to timetable, the tracks are owned by KiwiRail but passenger trains are within the remit of local transport agencies. Suffice it to say that there’s always plenty of blame to go around.
Coalition tensions flare as parties clash over the minimum wage
At the heart of it all, though, the citizens who pay taxes to the state are the same people who pay rates to the local council. And ordinary Kiwis tend not to know or care who exactly owns the potholes in that rather rough road down the way.
I suspect voters will be looking to see which political parties will have a healthy relationship with local government. In recent years it’s been a bit fraught, between the Three Waters proposals of the last government and various restricting measures of the current one, of which rates capping is just one.
To my mind, there’s actually no good reason for central and local government to be at loggerheads. I was certainly grateful for the support of many mayors and councillors for our reforms of the Public Works Act, the earthquake buildings regime and a more sensible system of liability for Building Consent Authorities.
Recently debate has revolved around the restructuring of local government itself, with some resentment reported at a meeting of Local Government New Zealand. For what it’s worth, I found LGNZ a reliable partner in discussions about proposals that could bring about mutual benefit to central and local bodies alike, so those perspectives will be interesting to understand.
Local government employs many New Zealanders, including but not limited to elected representatives, and we all have a stake in our councils doing things well.....The full article is published HERE
Chris Penk is a New Zealand politician who has been a member of Parliament in the House of Representatives with the National Party. He now writes a column for Stuff.co.nz.
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