THE PRESS THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1988. So much for consensus

Press, 24 March 1988, Page 16

THE PRESS THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1988. So much for consensus

The Minister of Local ; Government, Dr Bassett, wins himself no friends and does the cause of local body reform great harm with the; nasty little bill || he has taken to Parliament this week. The Local Government Amendment Bill, 1 given its first reading after a division and referred to the select committee on internal; affairs’ and local government for consideration, does its best to stifle all opposition ! to; imposed local body amalgamations. Not content with the present system, under wjhich tlie apathetic and even the dead can be counted as support for an amalgamation proposal, Dr Bassett wishes to do: away with polls; altogether, as.well as removing | the ! existing procedures of • conciliation, surveys; and objections. ].' ; In a nutshell, the bill seeks to give the Local Government Commission the power to impose binding reforms on local authorities with even less room for the governed [to have their say than they enjoy now. By this bill the Government will remove any pretence of democratic . principles j in Iqcal government reform. The all-knowing, all-wise Big Brother has the only solution; or so the Government thinks. [ , J " ■ i' 11 I Some reorganisation' of local government is i overdue in many places, More rational local body’boundaries lin Christchurch are a case in point. The arguments in favour of this reform: are. just as cogent and even , more pressing today than they ever were. There is a vast difference, however, between reform that springs from within, because the people most directly affected desire it, and change imposed from without in complete disregard for what those people think, j ; ; Most people today live). undeq local government systems and within boundaries which they had no pajrt in determining: the past, and often) the distant past, determined the present. At least, in the past, the' arrangement of local government was devised and changed with some regard to the wishes of the people governed. An inherited scheme is! not Inecessarily thjebest scheme, but it has histoijical validity. Impatience for a renovation is not universal, though it may be well founded.) Impatience, should not, however, I be [ translated into arrogant insistence., Worst of all,, the .insistence should not be direction from the capital [ city on matters of local concern. The Government] may properly give the impetus and machinery for change, and little] more; though the j. machinery ■ should not; accommodate lethargy and indifference to change.. > j . ; . . 1 ' I The autocratic nature of the bill should nbt come as a surprise. Dr Bassett has shown himself intent on central direction for local body reform with every step he has taken. He will brook no opposition from those who have the temerity to question the Government’s designs. I The present Local Government Commission — its activities suspended while the Government settles on new terms of reference; — has greater powers than any commission before it.lt has,an obligation to reform in accordance’with the principle that amalgamations i should occur and that the number of local bodies should be reduced. It has legislative j backing for a procedure that absorbs dissent from the commission’s rulings without giving; the dissenters . a 1 realistic

’ ■ = ’1 I ’ •' chance of success. In spite of opposition to its for some regions, its inevitable dbminance seemed assured. Even this was ho[t certain enough for Dr Bassett, j 1 i The result is this fast-track legislation to impose whatever shape of local government the Cabinet decides on. The local efement is almost entirely removed, and survives only jin J a [requirement on the commission, befbre completing a reorganisation scheme, Ito give a once-only hearing to every local authority touched by its schemes. Individuals will have njoT such right, I Ito a hearing, and the commission j will be | absolved from any obligation to; grant local authorities a further phlance to be heard, even if the proposal, is extensively I modified ; after their initial submissions.; The bill also clears the) way |for the commission ' to ; receive it? rising instructions directly from the Cabinet, by way of II 'an Order in Council, and for these instructions to override any other duties and function contained in. the existing act. i|j | This bill, if passed into law, will’ give |the Cabinet carte I i blanche to i impose amalgamations, reform local bodies, and {mould local government as it deems] ‘fit {without further ado. Behind the rhetoric [' of greater efficiency and accountability yith [which Dr Bassett has draped his proposals, in ’previous references, a less savoury] to Centralism is emerging as each step unfolds. The Government has made it clear that local bn regional: government shall be responsible in the' new deal only for those functions that cannot be I placed elsewhere. Given the Government’s grab for control oyer local bqdy reform contained in this bill, this stipulation can be taken as a prescription {for transferring more of the. business of local [government’ to] |institutions more directly ’controlled by central government. I | The release last month of a discussion j'dqcument on local government reform, ong after IDr Bassett had spelled out | what he intended for local government, seemed a cart-before-fhe-horse way of proceeding with trie issue. When only six weeks .were allowed tbl prepare: and present submissions on this document, people alarmed by, the' pace or direction of the proposed' changes could ;but wonder whether the document ] and the 'discussion it was meant to provoke) were not something of a charade. The document has provided a; convenient diversion while this bill has been prepared. The bill will provide the necessary vacuum into which [the Government can launch its new j term >; of reference. By separating the philosophical and ’ the ; procedural approaches,. [the Government: might hope that its plans seem [less nakedly dictatorial than they| are. The illusion is all but shattered now. 11l The commission will not be constrained •by the existing {form of local government; w'hen it is. presented with the ) Cabi let’s instructions, it need not have regard to any other provisions of the existing: act; lipservice' will be paid to the democratic processes of consultation and consensus. The •Jill will ensure this. Not many weeks have passed since the Deputy Prime, Minister,f Mr Palmer, spoke of the'risks of a Government seeming autocratic and riding roughshod over ttiose Who question its purpose. This bill [is a | perfect example of just how far a bnce j avowedly “consensus Governme it” can .spay.