Regional communities should be a key part of decision-making in New Zealand. Photo / Tania Whyte
Regional communities should be a key part of decision-making in New Zealand. Photo / Tania Whyte
OPINION
Centralisation of government services within New Zealand appears to be occurring at a rapid pace.
The nation’s bureaucratic landscape is transforming in front of our eyes. Education, and health are only two of the many monoliths now driven by Wellington.
It seems likely this process will continue, irrespective of the political parties in government.
Proponents argue that centralisation will lead to reduced costs and greater efficiency. Many of the decisions will be made by highly paid, largely anonymous state employees using algorithms. Data, rather than humanity, will assume greater importance.
Artificial intelligence and other technological devices seem likely to aid the centralisation process. increasing its size, range and role in society. Bureaucrats can simply create and devise national regulations that must be implemented and followed to the letter, often under the guise of safety.
Compliance, in a range of occupations and organisations, is fast becoming a priority, taking a greater amount of effort and time.
Simultaneously, communication is now done through electronic means rather than in person. This allows national uniformity, greater anonymity and speed but for the citizen removes a vital connect with the system, often resulting in increased frustration and loss of local identity.
Furthermore, the ability of the public to exercise checks and balances on rules and regulations and political authority, so necessary in a democracy, will be in danger of being eroded.
It would be interesting to know what efforts are being made by Wellington to research people’s views on centralisation and whether cultural and regional views are taken into consideration. I suspect not.
Centralisation may lead to greater efficiency and potentially cost reduction, however what are the down sides? Will it lead to diminishing opportunities to develop competent leadership skills in the provinces, if all the decisions are made in Wellington? The nation can ill afford to see weakened local decision making and influence.
The recent truancy debacle is a classic example. Community outcomes were replaced by a national response, which has turned out to be exceptionally inadequate. Truancy has now become a nationwide issue. This highlights the danger of removing decision-making from the people close to the cutting edge.
In February 2019 the Government announced that the country’s 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics would merge to form Te Pukenga, which would also take over responsibility for industry and apprenticeship training from the industry training organisations. The head office would be in Hamilton. Subsequently it has announced redundancies, which are to take place in many of the locations.
A Northcote Covid-19 testing centre in 2022. Photo / Dean Purcell
The response to the recent Covid-19 pandemic illustrated the difficulties of adopting a centralised approach to events.
For instance, the Ministry of Health initially attempted to control the Covid vaccination process and appeared to make uniform assumptions about how the people would respond.
Sadly, it seems the ministry did not understand New Zealand is now a very diverse society, culturally and economically. Eventually, and it appears somewhat reluctantly, it agreed to allow community organisations to participate.
Subsequently numbers of people vaccinated increased dramatically. One must therefore ask; how many other ill-informed decisions are being made in the health area.
Strong regional communities have long been a strength in New Zealand. They have created identity, loyalty and camaraderie, particularly during crisis, festive and other occasions.
People were quickly able to contact the appropriate authorities and it is an avenue for developing leadership skills.
More significantly there is human interaction, a relationship, that illustrated someone cared.
Subsequently, the public generally bought into projects and were willing to participate. They saw benefits to themselves, the town city or region.
The Hawke's Bay Expressway's Tutaekuri Bridge near Taradale and the slash and logs built up in Cyclone Gabrielle in February. Photo / NZME
Mayors and councillors were often role models for the next generation. Schools were the glue in creating a healthy, educated, balanced society. Teachers and principals had a good understanding of the student’s needs and more importantly, established values.
Locals have also often been able to respond more quickly and effectively to natural disasters and provided much needed assistance when and where required rather than waiting for centralised decision making.
Role modelling, initiative, ingenuity and self-reliance are the key to enhance human psychology. Community leadership is therefore extremely important in ensuring sustainable, harmonious societies.
Centralisation would undoubtedly reduce local input and may lead to confusion about decision-making, particularly during disasters. Perhaps the government response to the recent floods in Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti are an example.
Confusion over decision-making is one obvious problem.
A far greater future issue will be the growing unwillingness for people to think and act for themselves, particularly if everything is decided by Wellington.
Inevitably, this hands-off attitude to authority and decision-making will flow into other areas of their life.
Māori decision-making has increased exponentially in recent years.
Tribes and other Māori organisations are now playing an increasing role in many aspects of New Zealand life and are heavily involved in promoting their point of view.
In the pandemic they were able to articulate that the centralised approach to vaccinations was not efficient or suitable for their people.
New Zealand is a relatively small, increasingly diverse society.
