Image: Paula Southgate and her husband Greg Forsyth at the Peacocke Bridge blessing ceremony in September 2024.
Twenty-four years ago, when I stood for election, I never imagined the ever-changing political journey that lay ahead. It wasn’t always easy, but it has been rewarding. By Paula Southgate, retiring mayor of Hamilton.
Local government matters. It is the foundation of daily life, providing services we all depend on: clean drinking water, waste collection, safe roads, public parks, libraries, community hubs, civil defence, and the invisible but vital work of long-term planning.
When it works, and mostly it does, people barely notice it. But when something breaks down, the noise from the community is swift and loud. Sadly too, it has become increasingly hostile to elected members who do their best to serve.
Not every decision is popular, especially when it comes to rates and regulations. Being a mayor, or councillor, means navigating the complex web of legislation that govern our communities, making some hard calls and resisting the quick fix, in favour of the long view.
Six years of unrelenting change
The last six years have been among the most turbulent of my career. Council has had to continuously adapt and respond to shifting government priorities, evolving legislation, and rising public expectations. The pace of change has been unrelenting.
This political churn has taken its toll on councils and the community. Trust has frayed and communities are frustrated and more divided. That must be acknowledged if we’re going to rebuild public confidence.
Crisis in real time: The Covid curveball
The pandemic chaos sent shock waves through our community. Nothing prepared me for that scale of crisis. There was no manual, no script. In those early days when communication was key, I spoke to Hamiltonians daily, offering clarity and reassurance as best I could.
Behind the scenes, we moved fast. Council went ‘virtual’ overnight. I chaired meetings from my dining table. Decisions didn’t stop. There was important work to do – it was local government at its most agile.
The painful recovery
If I hoped for a calm recovery after Covid, I was mistaken. What followed was anything but calm. Local government was thrust into a perfect storm, a prolonged economic downturn, rising community needs, and an unrelenting tide of reform from central government spanning housing, infrastructure, and urban growth. Long-term planning was upended.
Among the toughest challenges, and undeniably one of the most complex and high-impact reforms, was ‘Three Waters’ and more recently ‘Local Waters Done Well’. Reform was well overdue. Having 67 separate local authorities (city and district councils) deliver drinking and wastewater services under varying standards simply wasn’t sustainable. Across the country there were significant failures: unsafe water, non-compliance, and chronic underinvestment.
Government now requires councils to partner with others to deliver Water Services Delivery Plans (WSDP) that meet rigorous standards for quality, efficiency, and affordability. This work is so important that Taumata Arowai (Water Quality Regulator) and the Commerce Commission have been tasked with oversight. The result? An enormous increase in workload as council staff have faced mountains of policy, technical complexity and community expectation and at eye watering extra costs for councils to absorb.
A wave of reform
Water reform was only the beginning. Local government has weathered wave after wave of change, from sweeping Resource Management Act reforms (aimed at fast-tracking growth), to overhauls of electoral law, emergency management systems, and urban development standards. Each directive came with complexity, and the expectation to deliver immediately.
Meanwhile, funding hasn’t kept pace. Councils have been forced to make tough, sometimes difficult choices on what to fund, particularly regarding transport infrastructure.
A broken funding model
The past few years have certainly exposed the significant flaws in the local government funding model. The Infrastructure Commission, the Treasury, the Auditor-General, and top economists all agree.
The infrastructure deficit nationally is estimated at more than $210 billion. This is the cumulative result of decades of underinvestment, constrained revenue tools, and a growing population needing homes.
Our primary funding source – rates – is now stretched to its limit.
To add salt to the wound, ratepayers are struggling in the face of cost-of-living pressures. Yes, rates are unpopular. But so is a rundown city with closed community centres, weedy berms, cracked footpaths, or broken playgrounds. People notice. They care. They are rebelling.
Economist Brad Olsen, however, has made it clear: councils are not splurging – they’re underfunded. That’s the challenge local government faces, doing more, with less, and doing it fast.
Council work and ‘core’ services.
Calls to “get back to basics” are ringing louder than ever, with growing pressure on councils to stick to water, roads, and rubbish, and little else.
But even those core services are becoming harder to deliver in today’s climate. In fast-growing parts of our country, councils are grappling with spiralling insurance costs, rising interest rates, inflation and the increasing cost of construction, transport, and labour.
However, the basics of a liveable city extend far beyond asphalt and kerbside collection. Yes, roads and rubbish matter but they don’t create a thriving community. And here’s the truth: time and again, these are the investments people ask for. They tell us they want new pools, libraries, parks, playgrounds, sports grounds, theatres and events.
“Nice” as these things are, they are also vital to our economy as much as our well-being.
The future requires real change and real partnership
The sad reality is that ratepayers can’t and shouldn’t carry the full weight of maintaining our towns and cities, funding growth or meeting rising national standards.
With water services transitioning to new, centralised entities and new Government expectations to deliver more for growth, for productivity, and 78 territorial, regional, and unitary councils, this is the time to pause and reflect. What does “fit for purpose” local government look like in 2025 and beyond?
We need smarter, modern funding tools: visitor levies, GST sharing, special-purpose vehicles, and direct government transfers. The Productivity Commission supports these ideas, especially for councils dealing with rapid growth or climate-related challenges, but we need Government support and partnership to get the work done.
What some commentators call “waste” is often just the visible cost of long-overdue infrastructure, community investment, or compliance with rising national standards or investments that directly affect quality of life.
Can we do better and save costs? Absolutely! And we must. It is time to find a fit for purpose solution that works for local communities and a thriving, productive country.
This is not my call for “takeovers” or forced amalgamations. This is a call for swift, honest, collective action about local government reform, how we can work smarter, collaborate better, and deliver greater value to the people we serve, without losing our local voice.
Promises that can’t be kept.
Election season inevitably brings familiar slogans: “freeze rates,” “cut waste,” “get back to basics.” I understand the appeal – rates are never popular, especially when households are facing cost-of-living pressures.
But, promises to hold or cut rates, without addressing the underlying funding problem, are empty. We just can’t keep our towns functioning and thriving, let alone growing on yesterday’s budget.
Big decisions on infrastructure, climate resilience, and urban growth don’t fit neatly into three-year political cycles. It will take more than election promises to fix the broken funding and financing system we currently operate under.
A time for honest talk and bold action
I believe wholeheartedly in the purpose of local government: to give voice to, represent and serve our communities, and to shape a better future, but how we deliver on it must evolve.
As I step away from my current role, I do so with deep gratitude for the opportunity to serve, and I leave with respect for those leaders of the past and hope for tomorrow’s leaders.
There are real challenges ahead but also opportunity. Now is the time for bold, honest, and optimistic leadership. Now is the time to be brave – for a better future.