Speech notes at Local Government New Zealand Conference, Rotorua, 29 July 2008
Local Government
Mihi
Acknowledgments
- Parliamentary Colleague, John Carter
- Mayor of Rotorua, Kevin Winters
- Basil Morrison, President Local Government New Zealand
- Carl Wright, Secretary General of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum
- Guests from Fiji and Australia
- Mayors and chairs
Sustainability and Local Government
Yesterday the Prime Minister emphasised this Government’s commitment to sustainability and the broad range of policies and initiatives to take us there. I will focus on local government’s role.
My message is three-fold. First the values of our system of local government are sound and will serve us well on the path to sustainability.
Second, our intention is that the relationship between central and local government will continue to develop and mature.
And third, we must all realise that many of our traditional ways of looking at the world are no longer helpful and the comments made in this morning’s presentation provided some pointers of the things that need to be considered.
It is clear that forces of change are acting on us; it is less clear how the world might look as a result of those forces. But we do have some clues; we will need cleaner, less damaging forms of energy. The way in which we design many of our cities, communities, and services will need to change, both to promote sustainability, and to deal with the unavoidable consequences of earlier decisions.
Some of the practical things we can do right now are reasonably easy, like better insulating our homes, recycling where we can, being mindful of our power and water use.
But our future is not about preparing for days of hair-shirts and cold showers. It’s about using our resources combined with our intelligence to do things smarter and differently.
New Zealand of the future will still be a good place to live and bring up our kids.
Some of the bigger changes will be demanding and challenging – this will require leadership at both the central and local level. Not just in local government but across our communities.
We will need to continue to put that ‘can do - number 8 wire’ attitude in play. We have moved from being dependent on a few markets to having a truly global perspective in a comparatively short space of time.
We must continue to lift our ambitions to regionalise our growth opportunities to deliver high value products and services that will in turn contribute to a better quality of life for our citizens.
On one level, an example of this, is the work being undertaken by the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs, Ministry of Social Development, the Tertiary Education Commission and the Ministry of Education to better meet the challenges of channelling young people to meet labour market needs and contribute to regional growth objectives.
Retaining young people in the regions and building their skill base will not happen by chance, Local government, industry, and business have made progressive change on this front with a good story to tell, and the momentum needs to continue.
Elected representatives will still have to make final choices on competing priorities, but political decision-making will become an even more open and participative process, especially for communities that may currently not feel fully engaged.
Determining what is truly sustainable is not easy. Good science and research will be vital but will not always give us all the answers. We must do our best to foresee the consequences of our actions, set our strategic goals and pepper it with a good dose of common sense.
So the judgements that elected councillors will be called on to make, will be pivotal. Be they about levels and forms of development, of investment in infrastructure and services, or ultimately about what kind of places their communities will become.
All this makes meaningful community involvement in decision-making essential.
For those who have been involved in central or local government for a while, one of the inescapable trends has been the amount and quality of information that is available to almost anyone who wants to find it.
Many industry and sector groups now support their own small policy units often with links to similar groups overseas. We take this for granted, but it wasn’t that long ago that it would have been the exception.
And not that long ago it was governments that had the competitive advantage in information; now that is much less so. In fact, it’s not unusual for dedicated community and interest groups to have more up-to-date information and be better informed on some issues than Government departments, especially it seems on what is happening in other countries.
This trend will only go one way as the price of information and competing analysis falls and the world becomes more connected.
So we find that communities increasingly expect government, central and local, to also provide high quality, timely and accessible information so they can participate meaningfully in decision-making and hold us to account. They will test what we provide against the wealth of other information they now have access to.
Accurate and timely information is at the core of planning model built into the heart of the Local Government Act 2002 and is one of the bedrocks of accountability of our local government system.
I read with interest then the recent report of the Controller and Auditor-General on his review of the 06/07 council audits and noted his comments on the trend on the timeliness and quality of some performance reporting - which concerned me.
I’ve asked the Department of Internal Affairs to keep a watching brief on this. And if the problem looks like it will be on-going, I’ll need to look at what steps might be needed in response.
The need to make sound judgments based on imperfect knowledge and information is something I also face as Associate Tourism Minister. Tourism is said to be the world’s largest industry and it is a very fickle business. But to date as a nation we’ve done well as a preferred high quality destination – through the 100 per cent Pure marketing campaign.
People all over the world like us and want to come here.
But we are seeing stress points, particularly in some of our more popular tourist destination areas. This was part of the reason the Government provided $11 million in financial support for smaller communities whose infrastructure was being strained by the number of outside of district visitors.
And of course in the last Budget we provided for a further $40 million for the Sanitary Works Subsidy Scheme.
Local Government New Zealand can rightly take credit for encouraging the creation of the Tourism Demand Subsidy Scheme, the Drinking Water Assistance Programme, and more recently the further funding for the SWSS scheme.
I know that you feel that is not enough – but we are the 57th richest nation on Earth - not the first. I would say though what has been provided to date is a significant advance compared to 10 years ago when there was no such funding.
The point has been made throughout this conference that the case for generalised assistance is not preferred by the Government. Instead our approach of providing targeted assistance will deliver outcomes to communities most in need on infrastructure requirements.
The Government has agreed to develop a framework for central government’s investment in local authority infrastructure. This will reflect the Government’s objective for such investment to target small, poor communities.
The framework is set to be completed by the end of the year.
The framework will also be used to assess significant gaps in infrastructure assistance that has been identified by LGNZ.
I know I often make this point, but it is worth repeating, that central government funding to local government has been the fastest rising component of council income in recent years and now accounts for some 13 percent of council revenue.
Something I have been working towards has been to increase the understanding of the importance and role of local government in the tourism sector.
The New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015 recognises the importance of the tourism sector, local government and communities developing strong partnerships and working together for mutual benefit.
It is underpinned by two important values – kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga. These concepts have been summarised as ‘guardianship’ and ‘hospitality’, however we know their full meanings have a wider range and depth. Kaitiakitanga refers to our responsibility for the preservation and promotion of our environment, people and culture. Manaakitanga refers to the care, engagement and hospitality we show our visitors.
One of this Labour-led government’s key priorities is to build pride in the unique national identity of Aotearoa/ New Zealand, while continuing to strengthen and foster greater opportunities which not only benefit our economy, but our communities.
The involvement of Maori in council decision-making processes continues to evolve. But it would be fair to say that while the over-all relationship has improved, and there is much good will and a willingness to deepen it further, it is still variable. The Local Government Commission made a similar point in its summary report on the Local Government and Local Electoral Acts.
My own view is that the Commission’s suggestion that there needs to be a good hard look at the effectiveness of local authority engagement with Maori is timely. On the horizon will be the challenge to lift the elected representation of Maori; of Pacific; of ethnic and young people on councils. Compelling this move are the changing demographics and for some Councils in particular, a need to better engage citizens to participate in local decision-making.
Youth Affairs is also part of my portfolio responsibilities and a particular priority for many councils. While it has always been the case that those aspiring to council or Parliament have tended to do so in later life, it is something to ponder that about 5% of councillors are under the age of 40 - and this trend is likely to grow if councils and governments don’t respond to the changing demographics and those subsequent needs.
In terms of participation in government, throughout much of the world the trend is that young people don’t tend vote as much and don’t tend to be as active in political and community issues. This is not just compared older age groups but also compared to their parents when they were their age.
We need to involve young people more in building sustainable communities.
One day the generation that doesn’t read newspapers or get its news from TV, that has 100s of friends they never meet in countries they have never been to, and has never really known significant unemployment will take our place as leaders and participate in conferences like this.
So I would like to acknowledge the Growing Active Citizens project co-ordinated by LGNZ and its focus on the young. I’m told that over 8,000 school students cast votes as part of the Kids Voting programme in last year’s elections. We know from research that if people vote when they first are eligible they are much more likely to keep voting.
Those who participated said that it helped to take the mystery out of voting and emphasised the importance of voting to make their voices heard.
I was here in Rotorua in February to launch a National Youth Council Network; responding to the overwhelming number of youth councillors that talked about the need for youth councils to network across the country and develop a national identity.
The Youth in Local Government conference is set down to take place in Christchurch later this year. I want to thank those mayors and councils who have supported this initiative.
I’ve made a lot of references to the role of elected members, and we have been given an important role to play in our communities.
But without dedicated, professional staff, who also have a sense of vision we can achieve almost nothing. Effective implementation of programmes and projects requires committed and experienced staff – and, in turn, retaining staff requires fair and sustainable work practices, such as pay and employment equity.
Programmes such as the Government’s Pay and Employment Equity Plan of Action can help local government to provide sustainable work practices. This programme, which is based on a partnership approach, aims to ensure that remuneration, job choice and job opportunities are not affected by gender. Two councils referred to yesterday have already agreed to undertake equity reviews, and I encourage other councils to also consider participation in the programme.
The Prime Minister also talked about the developing relationship between central and local government – something I’d also like to comment on.
Our small size as a nation gives us an advantage over larger countries, in that we can adapt faster than larger countries to changing circumstances.
But being a smaller nation means we don’t have the luxury of working separately.
A strong relationship between the two tiers of government is vital to the wellbeing of us all, especially our future well-being. Of course there will always be tensions, but the trick is managing those in a productive and creative way.
The Prime Minister talked about the central and local government forum as a key part of the relationship at the most senior level. Another example is the Central and Local Government Officials’ Group on Sustainability – where our senior officials meet face to face to bring their combined perspectives to bear on the strategic questions affecting us both.
We also have moved more directly to achieve sustainable community social wellbeing outcomes alongside councils, through MSD and other government agencies as community priorities require.
I know there are still some concerns about the input of local government into the central government policy process, and Basil reminds me from time to time that there is more work to do and that is true. Central and local government may not always agree, and it would be odd if we did, but look back and you’ll see considerable progress has been made.
Two areas I’d like to pick out as examples of co-operation are waste minimisation and the Waste Minimisation Bill and the Sustainable Water Programme of Action.
All industrialised countries produce a lot of waste – New Zealand is no exception. Getting the incentives right to ensure that we minimise waste and not just end up putting it in a big hole is complex – but if we can’t properly deal with waste we can’t call ourselves truly sustainable.
This Labour-led government focused on waste minimisation for some time through the New Zealand Waste Strategy. We are now starting to see the results.
The volume of waste being disposed of in landfills has been stable in recent years, despite an increasing population, good economic growth and rising living standards.
Much of this progress has been thanks to the hard work of local government.
The effort has been appreciated and is making a difference.
Landfill management is now much improved and large numbers of small and often poorly run landfills have closed which concentrated disposal in only 60 landfills. The bulk of disposal is now to large, well-engineered landfills.
However, to move towards zero waste, we need a more concerted effort. The Waste Minimisation Bill currently before Parliament will help (and I must acknowledge the Green Party for its contribution on this front)
Effective product stewardship provided by the Bill should also lift some of the burden of waste disposal from councils by more effectively avoiding difficult wastes from needing to be being disposed of through local government systems.
The revenue from the levy provided by the Bill will be used to help communities and businesses with waste minimisation. Half of the funding will go directly to support territorial authorities’ activities to minimise waste. The remainder (minus administration costs) will be allocated on a contestable basis to initiatives that will reduce, reuse, and recycle waste in New Zealand. This contestable fund will allocate funding to the best projects. The projects could be developed by community groups, individuals, businesses or councils.
I’d like to acknowledge the assistance that the local government sector and LGNZ have played in the development and shaping of the Bill. I know there have been different views from the sector and the waste management industry on the Bill, especially the levy concept – but with good will, we have worked these through.
Waste minimisation fits with the government’s aspiration for our country to be the first truly sustainable nation, and I look forward to continued collaboration between central and local government.
The Government’s Sustainable Water Programme of Action is another case study of the themes I’ve been covering. Clean freshwater is a key imperative for New Zealand. Being able to use and enjoy it is part of the Kiwi way of life.
Everyone knows we need better ways of managing our water resources, both its use and what we put into it. But getting these better ways bedded in was also going to be more of a challenge.
Under the Sustainable Water Programme of Action for Water a suite of national environmental standards and a National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management provide the overarching framework for water management in New Zealand.
The proposed national environment standard for on-site wastewater systems proposes a warrant of fitness in hotspot areas that will be designed to confirm the waste system is functioning properly and is being properly maintained. Under the proposed standard, regional councils will be able to decide who needs to hold a warrant of fitness. This reflects their local knowledge and they are the best placed to know where the risks are.
The cornerstone of the Sustainable Water Programme of Action will be a National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. This will identify and address fresh water quality and how we manage the increasing demands on freshwater. It will provide direction and more certainty to local government and the public in terms of improving integrated freshwater management. Councils will be required to set forward-looking water quality targets for New Zealand.
Freshwater management is a complex issue. Getting it right can only be done by acting co-operatively to move values and change practice.
The work that councils and LGNZ have contributed to the Programme of Action has been much appreciated.
And finally to Basil Morrison. I’d want to personally and publicly thank you for all the work you have done as President of Local Government New Zealand and to acknowledge the generous public service you have given for over 30 years.
Your eight years as President has seen the relationship between central and local government develop into an effective, progressive discourse. I wish you all the best for the remainder of your term as Chair of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and of course for whatever you do next.
I started out saying that our system of local government is basically sound. That the sustainability principles that underpin the local government and other legislation set us up well to confront the challenges we now face.
We will continue to improve and innovate - government is always a ‘work in progress’ - and the relationship between central and local government will evolve as a consequence.
New Zealand is a small nation, but we have long had a reputation as being innovators in social and environmental policy.
I want to thank you for your tireless commitment to your local citizens who often see solutions to the challenges you confront on a daily basis, as very simple. As the Prime Minister pointed to yesterday taxpayers and ratepayers continue to put pressure on central and local body politicians to provide more efficient services and contribute to quality of life outcomes in our communities.
There is no silver bullet, but our commitment to deliver the best value and sustainable solutions to citizens through better collaboration, thinking smart, prioritising our investment, co-ordinating our efforts will go some way to delivering value to those citizens, and more sustainable outcomes.
For that to happen the channel of communication between central and local government is a two-way street and those who ignore that reality do so at their peril.
I am pleased to offer my first speech to your annual conference and have welcomed the frank discussions that I have had.
No reira
Teenaa koutou katoa.