No blackmail, says Mayor

Press, 13 November 1981, Page 19

No blackmail, says Mayor

PA Auckland The Mayor of Auckland, Mr Colin Kay. has denied an assertion by the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) that the mayors of the four main centres are blackmailing the Government. The mayors of Auckland, Wellington’ Christchurch, and Dunedin are members of a committee on local government financing which sent a series of questions to the three main political parties asking about their policies. The move angered Mr Muldoon, who called it blackmail. But the mayors have said the action was' an attempt to cause political discussion on

the issue of local government funding. "I do not see where blackmail conies into it." said Mr Kay. “Local authorities have been asking these questions for years without much success. “It is election year and we thought this is the time to get some answers." He said that, increasingly, local government had taken over some oi the tasks ot the Government, such as community development, but did not receive a greater share oi the tax take. The committee was formed to distribute the questions, after a meeting in Wellington in September of mayors from the main metropolitan centres.