Not my Leaders
Hide and Banks do not strike me as the kind of men you feel safe about having too much power. They never have […]
Politics
local government
Key decked over supercity
A much better performance from Goff today in the House today. Finally, after weeks of fluffing, he managed to score a direct hit […]
Backlash building on supercity
The unseemly haste with which the National/Act Government is pursuing its undemocratic supercity is causing more and more people to wake up to […]
The super-con
Rodney Hide would have us believe that a supercity is the way of the future. He says “Auckland cannot become a world-class city […]
It’s good enough for Wanganui
Rodney Hide refuses to give Aucklanders their referendum on the supercity and one of the excuses he offers is the cost: “The difficulty […]
Focused on what matters
So John Key has set his taxpayer paid researchers onto David Shearer. The best they can come up with is that 11 years ago […]
The Backlash Begins
We’ve been warning that John Key faces a backlash in Auckland if he doesn’t rein in Rodney Hide and present a democratic supercity […]
Meeting tonight on Super City
From Just Left: Tonight – Freemans Bay Community Centre – the Western Bays Community Board is holding a meeting from 6.30pm to discuss […]
Drinking Liberally Auckland – the future of Auckland governance
Join all your favourite lefty liberal drinkers at Drinking Liberally Auckland When: 7pm, Wednesday 29 April Where: London Bar – corner Queen and […]
Right’s excuses fall flat
David Farrar, head of the Free Speech Coalition and renowned democracy fighter, has outlined the Right’s reasons for opposing letting the people of […]
Fran gets it
Fran O’Sullivan shows that she gets it – National-Act’s supercity is designed to serve the interests of the business elite by taking democracy […]
Hide says no to referendum
Rodney Hide says Aucklanders shouldn’t have a vote on whether or not they want his supercity. He uses one of the weaker arguments the […]
Greens join call for referendum
The Greens have joined Labour and an array of groups calling for Aucklanders to get a referendum on the supercity. Great stuff. Sue […]
Goff calls for supercity referendum
Phil Goff has put out a press release calling for a referendum so that the people of Auckland can decide whether the Government’s […]
Look Mum they stole my city …
After the success of the meetings about the super-city in Waitakere and Manakau yesterday, here are a few more of interest in date […]
Govt’s refusal to listen sparks protests
The government’s refusal to listen on its fast-tracked Supercity plans is already resulting in protests. The unrest that’s building should hardly come as […]
Aucklanders must have their referendum
In 1999, Napier and Hastings had a referendum over whether their councils should merge. They voted against it. In 2005, there was a […]
Has National changed its policy on the super-city?
Yesterday I pointed out that the Local Government Act requires referenda on boundary changes such as are envisaged for Auckland. To not do […]
Rob Thomas: Taking the Local out of Local Government
A long contribution from someone in centre of the local body issues in Auckland. Despite its blatant electioneering, it is interesting enough to […]
Arrogance
John Key on criticism that the Government is arrogantly ramming through its Supercity plans without consulting Aucklanders: “The Government is not so arrogant […]
When is the required referendum?
I agree with the title of the Herald’s editoral today: “Let citizens have say on Super City“. Unfortunately, the editoral itself is wishy-washy. […]
The fightback begins
This morning I picked up the local newspaper out of the mailbox – Harbour News. On the front page was this extraordinary editorial […]
Creating venal politics
It appears that John Key and Rodney Hide are participating in an old political action in Auckland – the gerrymander. From a general […]
Ominous Trickles before the Flood
The attack on democratic local government is taking shape in the public domain. 1. Hide was not made the Minister of Local Govt […]
How to approach Auckland
No Right Turn and David Farrar have written posts on the massive lack of proportionality in the suggested voting regime by the Royal […]