Kineta Knight: Government moves to cap council rate rises at 4 per cent

Council rate increases will be capped at 4 per cent under proposed legislation aimed at easing financial pressure on households and businesses.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts said councils would initially be required to keep annual rate increases within a target range of 2 to 4 per cent.

John McLean: Infectious Medical Council Maori Madness

A chance insight into the Ministry of Health’s collective mind

Talking to embedded individuals can provide intriguing insights into elite sentiments on controversial matters.

I recently chewed the fat with one of our neighbors, an English-born doctor idling at the Ministry of Health. When I asked him what the general mood is at that Ministry, his face clouded with anger. He explained that Ministry staff are all furious and terribly distracted over the Minister of Health, baby faced assassin Simeon Brown, firing the chair and deputy-chair of the Medical Council.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Simon Watts made the right call - but it should go further

Credit to Simon Watts.

Some time ago he told me he was going to do something to stop councils like the Far North District Council.

They put ten iwi representatives, not elected by ratepayers, on a committee with six councillors who were elected, with full voting rights, thereby outnumbering the elected folk.

Pee Kay: A PYRHIC VICTORY?

I’m presuming many readers will have received e-mails from political party’s and political ginger groups announcing their roles in yesterdays announcement that the government will change the law so only elected councillors can vote on council committees.

And we all say well done to them all for the parts they played in getting the government to move on this issue where democracy was being pushed aside and political strength and power would be determined by your ancestry! The cornerstone of democracy, one person, one vote will be preserved!

Chris Lynch: Unelected council members to lose voting powers

The Government has moved to stop unelected appointees from voting on council committees, saying decision making should rest with representatives chosen by voters.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts announced changes to the Local Government Act 2002 that would mean voting rights on council committees would be made only for elected councillors.

Bob Edlin: How Jones passed the ball to ACT on co-governance.....

How Jones passed the ball to ACT on co-governance – and watched them score – by trying to nobble a Far North councillor

New Zealand First’s Shane Jones was desperately striving to recover lost ground when he despatched an email to team supporters and the media late in the week.

The email landed in PoO’s office while we were digesting the publicity Jones had won when he stumbled and put the ball into his own goal while – it seems – trying to score political points in two separate constituencies.

Peter Williams: National about to lock-in co-governance of local water

The following was written in Peter's capacity as Taxpayers' Union board member

In 2022, I joined the Board of the Taxpayers’ Union to fight Nanaia Mahuta’s plan to confiscate community-owned water assets and put them into ‘co-governed’ Three Waters entities.

And with the Luxon-led Government being elected with such a clear mandate, I thought we had won.

So it gives me no pleasure to give you the bad news. Co-governance of local water is back.

Chris Bishop, Simon Watts: A better planning system for a better New Zealand

New Zealand’s new planning system will make it easier to build the homes and infrastructure our country needs, give farmers and growers the freedom to get on with producing world-class food and fibre, and strengthen our primary sector while protecting the environment, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court say.

“This Government’s central ambition is to lift growth, productivity and living standards,” Mr Bishop says.

Ele Ludemann: Councils must refocus

The government is telling councils to refocus on needs not wants :

The Government’s plan to refocus councils on core services, such as roading, core infrastructure, water, and rubbish, has taken a major step forward with the introduction of the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill to Parliament.

Chris Lynch: Government unveils bill to refocus councils on core services

The Government has introduced new legislation aimed at refocusing local councils on essential services, responding to growing public frustration over rising rates, bureaucratic expansion, and declining infrastructure.

The Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill was introduced to Parliament this week and is described as a key part of the Government’s wider push to improve performance, transparency, and financial discipline across the sector.

JD: Questions You Won’t Hear the MSM Asking Any Time Soon

Guest post on The Good Oil by JD

Question for Chloë Swarbrick:

Given that the Green Party has been infiltrated by a group of anti-semitic, keffiyeh-wearing supporters of the terrorist organisation Hamas and has shifted so far left as to be indistinguishable from a communist party, do you think there is now a place in NZ politics for a new, more centrist political party to return to grass roots with a primary focus on environmental issues?

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 11/12/23

Watts going on about climate change – minister’s speech sets out govt’s position to COP28

Just one bit of governmental news has been recorded on the Beehive website since Point of Order last checked on what our new bunch of ministers are up to.

It is a copy of the COP28 National Statement for New Zealand which has given Climate Change Minister Simon Watts his moment to shine at an international gathering of representatives from more than 100 countries that have pledged to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030.

Simon Watts: $9,000 to Help Gangs Complete Census Forms

Labour has spent more than $1 million trying to encourage people to fill in their Census forms, including more than $9,000 playing host to gang members, National’s Statistics spokesperson Simon Watts says.

“This is the second Census in a row under Labour that has failed to reach its target and has become an expensive and embarrassing failure,” Mr Watts says.

“At $317 million, this Census is going to cost more than double the 2018 one and the data is going to be poor quality like last time.

Graham Adams: The stealth manoeuvre taking Three Waters to Five Waters

Adding coastal and geothermal water at the last minute seriously undermines democratic process. Even Cabinet may have been kept in the dark.

Asked in an interview last Friday on The Platform whether he agreed that Three Waters had indeed become Five Waters, Winston Peters quipped: “It’s not Five Waters; it’s Six Waters now. The sixth one is they’re pissing down your back and telling you it’s raining.”

That graphic image was just part of his criticism of the last-minute manoeuvre to extend the reach of Te Mana o Te Wai statements to cover not only freshwater but coastal and geothermal water too — as well as pointing out the mainstream media’s willingness to ignore it.

Point of Order: Recommendations in select committee’s hefty report do little to dilute Mahuta’s Three Waters legislation

We were thinking about packing up for the day, here at Point of Order, when an email arrived from the Office of Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

She was advising us the Government has welcomed proposed recommendations from a Parliamentary select committee to improve the workability of water reform legislation.

She didn’t provide a link to steer us to the report, but we found it here and it’s a hefty document.