Auckland Council could get greater oversight of AT, other CCOs as review promised by Christmas

Friday, 18 October 2019

Phil Goff talks to media following his re-election as Auckland mayor. (First published October 2019)

Auckland Transport could be in for a shake up, with re-elected Mayor Phil Goff to commence a 'wide-ranging' review of council-controlled bodies before Christmas.

Goff has taken aim at Auckland's CCOs, particularly Auckland Transport, which copped a scolding from the mayor after officials failed to front for a public meeting about St Heliers traffic changes back in April.

Following Saturday's election win, Goff said one of his first tasks this term would be to get 'a high powered group together to work with government' towards reviewing the CCOs.

Goff's office subsequently released a statement to Stuff, saying the mayor intends to 'move quickly and wants to have the review set up before Christmas'.

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During this year's campaign, he stopped short of calling AT out of control, but said the transport body, along with all CCOs, needed to be looked at to ensure 'maximum accountability and public responsiveness'.

'I'm not satisfied that's as it should be at the moment,' he said.

'In terms of fronting up, like at St Heliers, [and] being prepared to explain yourself, justify yourself, listen to people – no I'm not satisfied and I made that very clear to them publicly.'

Re-elected Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is promising to commence a review of the likes of Auckland Transport before Christmas. He hopes to enhance council's oversight of the orgnaisations it controls.

Goff's office this week told Stuff the CCO review would be 'wide-ranging' and 'comprehensive'.

It would come up with changes to the CCOs 'to enhance council oversight and enable the council to exercise a greater level of control over the organisations'.

Ten years since Auckland Council's establishment, Goff believed a review was necessary to see what had worked and what had not.

Reform was needed to 'improve public trust and confidence' in the CCOs by making them 'more accountable to elected members and to Aucklanders'.

Councillors would spend the coming weeks deciding the terms of reference for the review.

During an earlier interview with Stuff, Goff said he believed Auckland Council had done plenty to make AT more accountable during the his first term in power.

Goff pointed to the mayor's letter of expectations and AT's statement of intent as ways of ensuring accountability.

However, he also conceded the organisation had failed to perform as expected.

'The [St Heliers] occasion that I've given an example of is a clearest example of them having poor communication,' Goff said.

'I know why want they want to make the streets safer, I want to make the streets safer, but you go into the community and you talk to the people there.'