Michael Barnett: Back to basics - NZ needs Auckland to do well

It's looking as if Auckland will be even more divided with the Super City than before. Photo / Janna Dixon

Auckland's governance reform programme has been reduced to a divisive land grab between pockets of Auckland interests that is threatening to deepen differences holding back the region's progress.

I am greatly concerned that Government has stopped listening to the Auckland call for a governance reform to unite New Zealand's largest city and enable the nation's economic engine to lift its performance.

When we launched Auckland's governance reform, the objective was to convert the city's potential to lead the South Pacific's financial and trade services, and to carve out a powerful global niche as a unique and highly attractive city-region that is culturally diverse, accessible, innovative and distinctive.

The idea was to bring all Auckland together and build an Auckland brand, value and leadership that could enable all Aucklanders to improve their standard of living and quality of life.

Instead, by listening to pockets of local interests, the reform process has been turned into a land war over Rodney and Franklin districts and become preoccupied with dividing Auckland into a lot of little communities.

We need to go back to the objective - New Zealand needs Auckland to do well and be an international city that is attractive for investors and people to live and work in, and that all New Zealanders can be proud of.

It is not too late for the Government to back up and review where it is at in terms of achieving its big picture goal to fix Auckland's structural weaknesses.

We all know that those weaknesses are because of the complex structure of governance in the region, with competing leadership, duplication of facilities, complex and fragmented decision-making processes, and weak accountability.

That is what the governance reform decisions of government are meant to fix. But the opposite is happening.

By skipping from month to month with decisions that are splitting Auckland into a confused collection of smaller communities and tossing large chunks of the region into neighbouring regions without any clear rationale, we are ensuring that the divisions we want to fix are instead being locked in place.

The one hope for getting the reform back on a clear track is that Prime Minister John Key has said that the decisions on boundaries and carving up Auckland's local communities can be revisited.

The Government needs to step in immediately and make it clear that Auckland's boundaries will remain where they are, but the consequences of new governance be open for review in a stated period - say three years.

The purpose of the new Auckland Council, mayor and councillors will be to represent all Auckland's interests - not divide and rule between different parts of the region.

Aucklanders have had enough of "divide and conquer" and "them and us" local government politics.

But it very obvious from my mail box and everywhere I am visiting around Auckland that there is no majority support or consensus for carving up Auckland's boundaries and recreating a lot of local community fiefdoms.

The rows and differences will only become louder if the Government fails to act.

We are two-thirds of the way through a reform process and there is still no sign of the big picture decisions and promised legislation to address Auckland's infrastructure and economic development concerns.

The Government has promised that the key legislation on economic development, transport, urban planning improvements and other big issues needing to be addressed to unite Auckland into a single city will be introduced to Parliament before the end of the year.

There is a huge risk that the confusion and scrapping over boundary changes and local communities will destroy what is left of the goodwill towards the Government that it can truly make progress to make Auckland a better place to live and work.

No true Aucklander wants any other outcome than that Auckland be a top city - up there with Australia's top cities - able to attract and keep people, operate efficiently, offer an unparalleled lifestyle, and enable business, arts and sports to flourish.

Auckland can be the best of the best, but not if we stay on the track we have somehow got diverted on to through the way decisions are being taken.

* Michael Barnett is chief executive of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and an Auckland Regional Council councillor.