Politicians duck for cover on Head Start
If New Zealand is going to undertake the most significant reform of local government in a generation, it needs a far more careful, considered and...
Tag : local democracy
The battlefield of local government reform
The number one reason why Simon Watts and Chris Bishop have suddenly put the brakes on Head Start is a fear of suffering at the...
Local democracy swept aside
If amalgamation weakened accountability and drove costs up in 1989, is there any reason to believe that even more heavy-handed mergers can deliver the opposite...
Democracy or autocracy?
As the Government mulls over the proposals for how councils propose to reorganise themselves under the Head Start pathway of Simplifying Local Government, we must...
A red card system for councils?
I hope you enjoyed the FIFA World Cup 2026 as much as I did. It is amazing how exciting, dramatic and emotional it can be watching...
The three f’s of amalgamation
After several false starts, it seems as though the Wellington region’s local governments are to amalgamate. What form this takes is still uncertain, but it...
All the reform, everywhere, all at once
If local government feels overwhelmed at the moment, that is because almost every lever that shapes the sector is being pulled at once, writes Gwynn...
Editorial
From rubbish to rates to dog bylaws, nothing impacts people’s everyday lives as much as local government. The sector is at a time of immense...
On the subject of reform
It’s clear that local government has reached a turning point. Reform is no longer theoretical, it’s happening, and in many respects it’s long overdue, writes...
After the ballot box
New councils should resist the urge to plunge straight into policy firefighting. The real opportunity lies in the first hundred days, advises David Hammond, the...