Fran O'Sullivan: Time for something super in Auckland

Three words to the Auckland mayors who can't stop bleating over the proposed shape of the Super City: "Get a passport."

It is not surprising that mayors like Andrew Williams, Len Brown and Bob Harvey initially wanted to relitigate the Government's plan for an Auckland Super City underpinned by a plethora of local boards. At one fell swoop, any pretensions they might still have had that they (or their successors) could hold on to their remaining vestiges of power disappeared when the Cabinet rejected the Royal Commission's proposal to insert six local councils under the single unitary authority.

The mayors are all smart enough not to attack the Government head-on on that score knowing it would just have been seen as special pleading to retain their own jobs.

Instead the debate has skewed off on to new tangents - the impropriety of electing eight of the 20 Auckland City councillors "at large", rather than requiring all candidates to represent wards; the terrifying prospect that a business person or a celebrity might end up as one of the eight "at large councillors" buying their way on to the council through their own fame and recognition, or, ability to fund an election campaign; and the terrifying prospect that local boards will have to apply to the council for cash to dispense services rather than run their own budgets through separate rates.

So, it goes on, and on, and on.

A horror story for our times whipped along by suburban newspaper editors who, dare I say it, can see extra kudos (and sales) by mounting campaigns claiming the Government is bullying Aucklanders, has stolen their voice and given them no say in the city's future.

What garbage. What the infighting mayors and their media champions overlook is the dire need to focus on just why government had to step in in the first place and force Auckland to lift its sights.

Grassroots democracy has hardly served Aucklanders well. Right now it is still just as arguable that Auckland is a morass of competing mayoral oligarchies all of them so focused on their own patch that they cannot do what is necessary for the greater good.

Don't believe me? Well read what the commission had to say on the existing eight councils - they "lack the collective sense of purpose, constitutional ability and momentum to address issues effectively for the overall good of Auckland".

There were regular disputes, councils who couldn't agree on or apply consistent standards and plans, Aucklanders had to put up with poorer services than they needed to, there was weak and fragmented regional government and poor community engagement.

The upshot of grassroots stirring is that Aucklanders miss out. We got so mired in "having our voice" that we stared the Labour Government's gift-horse in the mouth and missed our chance for an outstanding waterfront stadium.

We got so mired in protecting our airport that we missed our chance to form a major East-meets-West international aviation hub in Auckland.

We get so mired in protecting the ownership of our assets that we miss the chance to realise some cash and reinvest in building some next-generation infrastructure.

What is desperately needed is not more of the same but people with vision and courage who can lead Auckland - not hold it back. And if eight of the two councillors are elected "at large" from all Aucklanders - so much the better.

It will ensure that the Auckland Council is a step up from what we have currently got with the addition of people who are supported by the region at large and have a mandate to concentrate on ensuring Auckland gets on the path to becoming an internationally competitive city to live, play and work in, instead of languishing while regional competitors like Brisbane steam even further ahead.

Auckland is the commercial hub of New Zealand - having a few business people on board is not something to be feared. Rather that than the current plethora of representatives who bog council businesses down in the endless committee hearings which they are paid to attend.

Next week, Prime Minister John Key will announce the chairperson of the establishment board for Auckland City. The chairperson - who will be a business person - faces a tough challenge getting the administrative infrastructure for the new city in place in time for next year's local body elections.

The collapsed timeframe - one year instead of the four that the commission originally recommended - will no doubt be seized on by the critics as yet another example of the Government trampling over Aucklanders' rights.

But frankly, Key will be mindful that if the process takes too long, it simply gives more time for change to be derailed.

This is Auckland's chance to get it right. What's on the table is exciting.

Those that think differently should get out their passports and go visit the souped-up Brisbane which now outclasses Auckland in virtually every economic respect, but was well behind us two decades ago.