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John MacDonald: Local govt reforms are needed but why the rush?

Author: John MacDonald,
Publish Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2026, 9:15am

There was a story on the news last night about the government’s push to have fewer local councils and how it’s given them just a few months to come up with a plan.

The threat being that, if they don’t, the government will force it on them.

And a couple of things struck me.

First, it occurred to me how successful the government has been in getting these councils to toe the line.

The councillors and mayors on the news last night were all going on about having the opportunity to choose their own destiny.

Which, for some of them, will be looking for another job.

One of them said it was great to do it to yourself instead of having someone else doing it to you, which they might have phrased a bit differently if they were given the chance.

Nevertheless, I thought that if the government’s objective was to make these councils sit up and take notice, then objective achieved.

The other thing that occurred to me, and I see that Wellington mayor Andrew Little is saying the same thing, is that this local government reform has rip, shit and bust written all over it.

Yes, 67 councils in a country the size of New Zealand is too much. And yes, amalgamating these councils makes perfect sense.

I mean, I’m a big advocate of the greater Christchurch councils joining forces. Have been for a long time now.

But, as Andrew Little is pointing out, establishing the super city in Auckland wasn’t an overnight or rushed thing.

He says the Auckland Council was created after a Royal Commission that ran for years. And he reckons it’s going to be impossible for councils to properly design and submit proposals in the timeframe set by the government.

And he’s right. Although we know why the government’s got the rush on, don’t we?

It’s election year and it needs to be able to say before the election that it’s delivering on its promise to overhaul the local government sector.

But that’s where the risk comes.

Because if the government’s motivation is to put itself in a position where it can trot out that line about getting stuff done, then we may end up with a local government structure no better than the one we’ve got.

Yes, we might have fewer councils, but that might be about it.

Because sometimes there’s nothing wrong with taking your time to do something properly. And, for me, this is one of those times.

We were talking about the Waimakariri Council yesterday and it’s back in the news today, with this public consultation it’s started as part of the plan it has to deliver to the government in just over two months from now.

It’s put three options on the table: staying on its own but picking up the work that ECan does in its neck of the woods, amalgamating with the Hurunui and or the Kaikōura councils, or joining forces with Christchurch City and Selwyn.

Which is all horse before cart, just like the government’s approach is horse before cart.

Because right now things are still up in the air in terms of what these councils are going to be responsible for, especially with the government’s intention to do away with regional councils such as Environment Canterbury.

And until that becomes much clearer than it is now, it is futile asking councils to find another council or councils to join their team, because none of them have got any idea at the moment what they’re going to be responsible for.

So yes, press on with your local government reforms, but do it in a way that means we do actually end up with something better than what we’ve got now, and not just a rearrangement of the deck chairs.

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