Christopher Luxon swipes at councils, taking aim at the ‘white elephant’ he’s speaking from

Wednesday, 21 August 2024

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon took a swipe at Wellington Council, criticising the council-funded convention centre hosting mayors and councillors from across the country.

He suggested councils across the country were wasting money, and pointed to Wellington City Council to make the point. He said the Government would look to limit what councils were able to spend money on.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) was hosting leaders from across the country at the newly built Wellington convention centre, Tākina. Right from the start of his speech, Luxon was deeply critical about the performance of councils and how they spent ratepayer money.

“The building we’re in today is a classic example. With pipes bursting and other infrastructure under pressure, Wellington City Council decided to spend $180 million of ratepayers’ money on a convention centre, which, according to public reporting, is now losing money,” he said.

On Wednesday morning, Wellingtonians woke to yet another bust water pipe which flooded a central city street.

Cambridge Tce was covered in brown water due to a burst pipe overnight.

There were groans, but also a smattering of applause, from the crowd as Luxon chastised Wellington City Council’s priorities.

He continued: “It’s very nice that politicians like us have another expensive room to deliver speeches in, but can anyone seriously say it was the right financial decision or the highest priority for Wellington given all of its challenges?”

And then he repeated an old phrases from National’s election campaign:

“Ratepayers are sick of the white elephants and non-delivery. So, my challenge to all of you is to rein in the fantasies and to get back to delivering the basics brilliantly.”

Luxon urged councils to cut spending, but did promise that central Government would make some changes to allow them to access more revenue. But he did not detail what new “revenue tools” would become available.

Instead, he said the Government would look to impose statutory limits on what councils could spend money on.

He also said the Government would look at introducing “performance benchmarks” for councils.

He said councils should not be focused on “wellbeing”, but on “core activities”.

“For ratepayers, it’s simple. The central government focuses on must-haves, not nice-to-haves, and we expect local government to do the same,” he said.

The speech was relatively short, and received a mixed reception from those at the LGNZ conference.

Greater Wellington councillor Thomas Nash called Luxon’s speech “one of the most mana diminishing, paternalistic and visionless speeches to a group of people I have ever heard”.

Luxon denied the Government was breaking its commitment to localism. During the campaign, National argued Labour was attacking local democracy through the Three Waters amalgamation plan. He said localism came with “rights and responsibilities”

Earlier, LGNZ president Campbell Barry, the mayor of Lower Hutt, said every council was already working to cut spending.

But he said they needed support from Government and called for a “bed tax”, which would allow councils to put a levy on tourists.