KEY POINTS:
One legacy of the Clark years that every Aucklander should be grateful for is that by the end of the era, this end of the country had finally begun to get the attention from central Government that it warranted.
Now with her fellow Aucklander John Key leading a Cabinet top-heavy with Jafas, we can only hope the old National practice of siphoning off excess funds to build little-needed roads in marginal rural wildernesses finally becomes the stuff of folklore only.
Certainly the Wellington bureaucrats seem to have got the message. In the Department of Internal Affairs briefing notes to Rodney Hide, the incoming Minister of Local Government, the officials spell it out in no uncertain terms. "The success of the Auckland region is critical to the success of New Zealand as a whole."
And just in case that's not plain enough, out come the trumpets. "Auckland's significance to the social, economic and environmental performance of New Zealand is, perhaps, unparalleled in the developed world. The city-region is home to more than a third of the population and is forecast to contribute more than two-thirds of the country's future growth. Its distinctive role as gateway to the world, and as our only city of scale, means Auckland is central to efforts to improve national prosperity and productivity."
Perhaps it was the bureaucrats' subtle finger-wagging reminder to the incoming Government of the neglect of Auckland by the National Government of the 1990s, when, for example, in the case of roads, only 25 per cent of central Government road funding was spent north of Pukekohe, despite it having just under 40 per cent of the population.
Of course this "let's hear it for Auckland" endorsement came with strings. Officialdom wants Auckland to succeed because if we don't, the whole country founders. And to succeed, say the bureaucrats, Auckland needs effective governance reform.
Outlining how the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance was set up in October 2007 and, after widespread consultation and 3500 submissions, is due to report back by March 31, 2009, the bureaucrats make it plain how they expect the new Government to react.
First, it will "be important" for the Government "to respond quickly (ie, within a month)" of the report being presented, "with clarity and leadership [otherwise] the opportunity to make positive changes for Auckland's governance could be lost".
Noting that "the Government may wish to consult with Aucklanders once the findings of the Royal Commission are known", the officials warn against this.
"Further consultation would delay Government policy decisions and consequently delay implementation of any changes, meaning that changes could not be in place for the 2010 local elections." If Aucklanders want to comment, they say, they can do it during the select committee process.
Given the vehement opposition from the politicians of the outlands during the commission hearings to any weakening of their individual empires, one suspects such advice is common sense.
Particularly if the royal commissioners come up with the Vancouver solution tipped in yesterday's Aucklander as the commission's preferred choice.
The Vancouver model involves a top tier of regional government, the political leadership made up of delegates from 22 municipalities. This regional layer, Metro Vancouver, administers the regionwide resources such as water, parks, sewerage, transportation and housing.
In form, it has some similarities to the model proposed by Auckland Regional Council, which has an upper, directly elected Greater Auckland Authority to deal with regional matters and 30 community councils below to encourage and revive local democracy.
To me the drawback of the Vancouver model is that a regional council made up of delegated politicians encourages parochialism, with local politicians battling for their own little corners rather than for the region as a whole. That's how the original Auckland regional authority was set up, to its detriment. But let's leave this debate until we read the commission's report.
The encouraging thing is, what some cynics saw as a problem-shelving exercise as far as the Labour Government was concerned has now got the strong backing of the bureaucracy. Auckland governance reform is not just vital for Auckland's prosperity, they say, but for New Zealand's as well.
If the commission does meet widespread expectation and proposes strengthened regional governance, the question will then be, will the Key Government risk offending its conservative local government fellow travellers by backing the reforms.
