Reform agenda: the right starting point
Success is a system where local government is a genuine partner in national development. Resourced, empowered and expected to lead, writes Nick Leggett, the Chief...
Category : Governance
Budget 2026 – Cost of stopping and procurement
Funding announcements create direction, but they do not deliver outcomes on their own, writes Clever Buying founder Caroline Boot. Budget announcements are often read through...
Head Start is just the beginning
We are only just at the beginning of local government amalgamation in New Zealand. Head Start is not the destination, it is the starting point...
Why good governance matters
Each council triennium we seem to have at least one council that maintains its place on our newspaper front pages for all the wrong reasons,...
Reform and the reality of regional delivery
Amalgamation is a lot more complex than simply joining with neighbouring councils. As structures change, there can be no gaps in delivery and no loss...
Our way or the highway
The Government, through RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts, has given councils a three-month ‘Head Start’ ultimatum to...
Post the waters exit part two
David Hammond, Head of Consulting and Public Sectors at Tribe Executive, continues his discussion on whether water reform resolves performance pressures or redistributes them, and...
Our Chicken Little Syndrome
Have we become paranoid over our historically tempestuous weather, asks Alan Titchall, reviewing the drama around the storms in April (2026) Cyclone Vaianu last month,...
A relentless burden of change
Linda O’Reilly, Special Counsel at Tompkins Wake, spent much of the Christmas/New Year break doomscrolling and weather watching and came up with this perspective on...
Regional Governance – asking the right questions
By Dr Deon Swiggs Chair, Environment Canterbury & LGNZ Regional Sector. Regional governance is the capability to plan, fund, and deliver decisions and services that...