Mike's Minute: Council amalgamation – something else this Govt didn't deliver

Andrew Little had a good crack at the Government over council amalgamation.

He got interrupted by an alarm but made his point and his disappointment is well-founded.

My major criticism of this Government is they said a lot of stuff they simply didn’t deliver on.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Let's hope the Government hasn't lost its nerve on amalgamations

It has been revealed the Government has pumped the brakes on the council reform it was rushing to get done. I think the councils and mayors who are angry about this have every reason to be really, really cross.

Dion Swiggs of ECan says he's 'disgusted'. Timaru's mayor says this is 'disappointing'. Mackenzie District's mayor says he's 'utterly disappointed'. Porirua's mayor says she's 'fuming' and has called the Government 'cowards'.

Mike's Minute: Why would the councils not amalgamate?

I'm trying to work out in this council amalgamation back and forward, how many who aren't amalgamating are genuinely stuck, versus how many are simply sticking it up the Government because they don't like them and/or they don’t like being told what to do?

Councils are the bane of our lives. We are over council-ed, we are overrated and we should be immeasurably grateful to the central government who are capping rates and reducing the number of these groups.