Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has told a public meeting in Taupō that the Government is not forcing amalgamation onto councils and that it is “up to you guys” what happens in Taupō.
The comments appear difficult to reconcile with the Government’s published Head Start framework, which allows a qualifying majority of affected councils to submit a reorganisation proposal that includes councils which have not agreed to participate.
Councils that do not progress through Head Start are also scheduled to enter a compulsory backstop process after the 2028 local elections, with the final model to be determined by Government.
The Head Start process was promoted as a voluntary pathway for councils wanting to move early, but its rules do not give every affected council a veto. The policy specifically allows proposals from councils representing a majority of either the affected territorial authorities or the affected population.
Phrases such as “drive the truck or be the roadkill” accompanied the original reform announcement, while Luxon’s comments in Taupō place a noticeably greater emphasis on local choice.
The Simplifying Local Government process has been widely criticised, with a number of councils declining to participate in Head Start. Taupō District Council has been particularly vocal about not wanting to join the proposed Western Waikato unitary authority put forward by Waikato, Waipā and South Waikato district councils.
Taupō chose not to submit or join a Head Start proposal before the 9 August deadline. However, under the published rules, that decision does not give it an explicit veto over a qualifying proposal submitted by other councils.
The Government’s own examples show that Councils A and B may submit a proposal affecting Council C where A and B constitute the required majority. Such a proposal is eligible for consideration, although the policy makes clear that eligibility does not guarantee Cabinet approval.
Waikato District Mayor Aksel Bech expressed surprise at the Prime Minister’s statement.
“Based on a direct and personal meeting with the Minister for Local Government I remain hopeful that the government will stick to its criteria,” he said.
“We worked under an impossible timeframe to their criteria, now they need to work to those themselves.”
According to an article in Taupō & Tūrangi News, Luxon was specifically asked whether Taupō would be “lumped in” with neighbouring councils against its will.
“No, no, honestly, I think, you know … in some communities … it’s been a bit of misinformation and a bit of angst that’s been driven,” he replied.
“But genuinely, it’s because councils came to the central government and said we want to be able to think about working together.”
Luxon went on to tell the Taupō audience: “So as to what you choose to do as a community, up to you. That’s up to you. You’re a local community; you make your choice.”
A sculpture by Simon Te Wheoro is set to grace the New Zealand Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Named Tūtarakauika the stone sculpture will be the first New Zealand Toi Māori stone sculpture of its kind to be placed at the Embassy and is a testament to Simon’s growing international reputation.
The sculpture, along with a remembrance album honouring tīpuna who served and sacrificed their lives on those lands,will be unveiled at a dawn ceremony in Brussels.
To raise funds for the journey Simon’s family are auctioning off a one-off Toheroa shell sculpture, hand-carved from rare Tākaka marble reclaimed from the demolished section of Parliament. The new owner of a taonga with its own history and collectible significance will be announced on 22nd September.
In local sport there are only 2 games left in the season for the Raglan Roosters Football team as the head back to Hamilton this weekend to take on Waldorf Salad at the 11 at beautiful Kahikatea Park in Hamilton. They are currently last place on the Waikato sunday football leagu division 1 table and need to win both of their last matches to have chance of staying in the division
