Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking this morning that he was determined to fix the issue of many road cones covering routes across the city. Video / Newstalk ZB
Auckland Council has quit Local Government New Zealand, with Mayor Wayne Brown questioning the value after seeing hundreds of members “getting pissed all night long” at its conferences.
Brown used his casting vote to pass the measure after the vote was split 10:10 at today’s governing body.
LGNZ is a representative group for local government across Aotearoa and provides advocacy and support for local councils.
As part of the drive to cut costs in this year’s budget, Brown put up the motion for the council to cancel its membership of LGNZ, which, he said, was costing about $640,000 a year.
Brown said LGNZ needed Auckland more than the Super City needed the Wellington-based organisation, saying it was easy for ministers to dispense with consultation by making a one-hour speech in the capital city.
Brown said as a banjo-playing member of a band that had played at a LGNZ conference in the Bay of Islands he had watched hundreds of members “dancing and getting pissed all night long for no benefit to ratepayers”.
“Just because it’s enjoyable to meet other councillors and have a chat to them- and a lot of the other mayors have already rung me and they say ‘oh they want me to come in and fix LGNZ’ and I say, ‘well, I’ve got enough to fix here, mate, without going somewhere else’,” Brown told Newstalk ZB’s Heather Du Plessis-Allan.
He said “every unnecessary penny” had to have a good justification with compounding costs from the likes of the City Rail Link and other projects.
Brown said Auckland Council’s withdrawal would mean job losses at LGNZ and added, “I’m going to have to fire staff because my previous council gave me a really bad day when I arrived and found I was $295m in the poo.
“When you’re facing a tricky time you have to do tough things.
“I stood on the basis of trying to eliminate the waste of money-costs and this [LGNZ] strikes me as just a waste of money. There are conferences and things you don’t need to go to. I certainly don’t need to go to the things.”
Brown said Auckland Council would have more power alone rather than staying with LGNZ.
“It [LGNZ] makes it very easy for the Minister of Local Government to talk to all the mayors. They get the mayors in Wellington for a meeting and the Minister wanders in, chats with the room, leaves - and says ‘well, that’s consultation done with the local government sector,” Brown said.
“I’ve always felt that if you’re on your own, they [government] have to come and see us.”
Stuart Crosby, LGNZ President, said the organisation was disappointed at the move, saying Auckland ratepayers will have to “pick up the bill”.
“It’s really disappointing that the mayor has used his casting vote to leave LGNZ,” Crosby said.
“The irony of cost savings now means Auckland ratepayers will now have to pick up the bill.
Wayne Brown pulls the council out of Local Government New Zealand, claiming it's a waste of money. Illustration / Rod Emmerson
“Auckland benefits from more than a million dollars a year in savings associated with their membership. This decision also has an enormous impact on elected members who are under-represented such as our Māori elected members and young elected members.
“By leaving, they’ve ignored the view of the majority of local boards.”
The decision to quit the organisation was strongly opposed by several Auckland councillors.
‘Some of our local boards weren’t too pleased about it, but then again, a lot of our local boards are bigger than the local councils,” Brown told NZME.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. Photo / Dean Purcell
Rodney councillor Andy Baker said membership allowed the urban-based council to learn about its rural needs, Albert-Eden-Puketapapa councillor Julie Fairey said attending one conference had allowed her to make contacts and enduring relationships, and North Shore councillor Chris Darby said membership allowed Auckland to strengthen its sphere of interest.
Waitemata councillor Mike Lee, a 30-year veteran of local politics, said LGNZ has become part of the elitist Wellington beltway and was not acting in the interests of Auckland.
“[LGNZ] tried to convince other [councillors]. They’ve had several shots at convincing me in the past and they’ve failed,” Brown said.
Voting breakdown was 10-10 and mayor used his casting vote to vote in favour of leaving. Voted to leave: Simpson, Turner, Williamson, Stewart, Walker, Watson, Sayers, Lee, Newman, Brown. To stay: Fuli, Filipaina, Henderson, Hills, Baker, Leoni, Fairey, Dalton, Darby, Bartley.
