KEY POINTS:
Northern Employers and Manufacturers chief executive Alasdair Thompson makes no apologies for firing an arrow right into the heart of the consensus governance model drawn up by local officials to govern Auckland.
Instead of the "caring and sharing" model that is in front of Government, he wanted the eight Auckland councils abolished and replaced with a single super-council, and, a raft of community boards.
"We should just get on and do it," says Thompson. "Instead of wasting time talking while Auckland falls further behind."
When Thompson launched the Fix Auckland campaign 10 days ago, he had a crack at the way local officials and politicians had negotiated "in secret" to come up with a model that "protected the turkeys."
It was typical Thompson frankness.
But some Metro Project players thought he had been a "tad aggressive" - although they may have agreed in private that the Strengthening Auckland's Regional Governance final report lacked boldness.
Most agree time has run out to get a more ambitious proposal in place before the upcoming local body elections.
Thompson concedes they have a point.
But he wants to build momentum through a website campaign to create pressure on the Government to appoint an independent commission to come up with a new governance structure.
The EMA spokesman has been pushing the Fix Auckland proposal to politicians (Labour and National), business groups and rotary clubs.
"The business response has been fantastic - although some support the status quo."
At the heart of the EMA drive is a desire to remove duplication of councils, services and bureaucrats.
Thompson - who admits the calculations do have a 'back of the envelope ring' - reckons some $200m yearly could be stripped out of Auckland regional costs. The costs savings were derived from from discussions with two accounting firms, who said at least 10 per cent in operational costs could be whipped out through a major rationalisation.
That would equate to a saving of about $400 a ratepayer for spending on much-needed capital infrastructure projects
The union that represents Auckland local body staffers says rationalisation would create costs - not reduce them.
But Thompson reckons any jobs lost would be transitory as the private sector grabbed skilled people to fill vacancies in the tight labour market.
National Leader John Key says the Government will reform Auckland's governance. But Key's kept his options open about one super council, a three city option of requiring the eight existing councils to share services.
The EMA is fronting the campaign with support from the Council for Infrastructure Development and One Auckland Trust which is headed by Grant Kirby.
