Brian Rudman: Let ARC fund Greater Auckland groups

The campaign for regional funding for regional facilities such as the Auckland Zoo and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra got a major boost on Monday when regional councillors voted to support "in principle" the proposed legislation.

Officials had advised them that the bill's passage through Parliament "depends critically on a high level of support ... within the Auckland region" and that the ARC's endorsement "would certainly add weight to any case to Parliament".

The vote will give new hope to the 12 perpetually struggling organisations which are working with the Auckland City Council to promote a fairer public funding model.

Until now it's been a lonely battle, with the politicians of much of Greater Auckland happy to leave Auckland City ratepayers to carry the burden of keeping organisations such as the Auckland Theatre Company, Watersafe Auckland, Westpac Rescue Helicopter and Auckland Festival alive.

The proposed Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill is modelled on legislation that enables the Museum of Transport and Technology and Auckland War Memorial Museum to levy funds from ratepayers across the region.

The regional council has raised various concerns about some of the small print and asked that ARC officials be allowed to work with Auckland City "to resolve these matters." Given that two ARC officials are permanent members of the working party that meets weekly on the project, that should be no obstacle.

The councillors also expressed concern "about potential inefficiencies of multilayered, ad hoc bodies and the lack of accountability".

The obvious solution to this would be for the ARC to assume control of funding these regional activities itself. That, at a stroke, would cut out both the multilayers and the ad hoc bodies that have to be established only because of the vacuum caused by the ARC's refusal to engage in this area of regional responsibility.

Paul Walbran, chairman of the regional strategy and planning committee, was quick to exclude taking on this responsibility yesterday. He said councillors had some reservations about the ACC-backed bill, but "acknowledged that something needed to be done".

They were aware "we have a number of key cultural and community organisations which are urgently needing funding, or security of funding, and it's a matter of how we do this in a way which is fair and sustainable and doesn't see the said organisations fall over". It also had to be achieved "in a way which is accountable and fair and not a blank cheque by ratepayers".

All of which is very encouraging. It would be even better if the region's other local politicians joined their ACC and ARC colleagues in the rescue plan. Opinion surveys show ratepayers across the region support the proposal. They appreciate that city boundaries are artificial when it comes to residents of Takapuna or Howick planning a trip to the zoo, just as surf lifesavers financed by Auckland City Council don't ask for your library card for identity purposes before plucking you from the surf at Piha.

Meanwhile, the farcical goings-on at Auckland City over today's Boobs on Bikes parade continue. Unable to stop it, the politicians and the bureaucrats have decided to wash their hands of it and hope, by removing their fingerprints, no muck will stick. Who are they kidding?

On August 3, the bureaucrats memoed the politicians that "to prevent any undesirable behaviour and provide a professional environment in which an event can take place" city officials had decided, with the encouragement of police and the organiser, to make the event a "permitted event" .

But when a weird coalition of Ma Grundy and feminist councillors squawked, chief executive David Rankin decided a permit was no longer needed, even though he was at pains to note that the previous decision of his underlings had been "appropriate".

The reason for the change, he said, was that councillors "were concerned about the perception that issuing a permit condoned the event". In other words, to hell with road safety when the mayor's cheeks are blushing.

All it needs now is one of the Ma Grundys to be spotted with a video camera capturing every pornographic jiggle. Far-fetched? No way. In February 1994, the deputy mayor of the day, David Hay, was spotted videoing the "downright disgusting" antics at the gay pride Hero Parade down Queen St. He later screened the filth to fellow Christians and at at least two council meetings.

Still, God moves in mysterious ways. I hear a cold front is sweeping up from the South Pole.