Mahuta faces more at home than abroad

Much of the initial attention on Jacinda Ardern’s new Cabinet focused on Nanaia Mahuta’s role as Foreign Affairs Minister. Undoubtedly, she has some tough situations to negotiate — not least China bristling at our involvement with the Five Eyes alliance — but she faces some testing times lie ahead in her Local Government portfolio.

High-profile Tauranga City mayor Tenby Powell quit last Friday after the council voted to bring in a Crown manager over disunity among elected members. Powell’s resignation speech called for commissioners to replace the council, claiming a “DNA of incompetence” among elected members needed to be “cauterised”. Mahuta was expecting to be briefed tomorrow before making a recommendation to Cabinet next month.

In last month’s election National declared a need to review Auckland Council, its leader Judith Collins vowing to run a rule over the authority’s performance and singling out Watercare and Auckland Transport for special attention.

A leaked email from National’s Auckland Council spokeswoman Denise Lee scuttled the attempt to focus on the SuperCity’s apparent failings. But, frustratingly, many Aucklanders would share Collins’ concerns.

Local government tumult is more visible in the information age. Emotions range from mistrust to full-blown anger at local bodies the length of the country.

An Internal Affairs review found increasing problems with Invercargill City Council and said veteran mayor Tim Shadbolt was unable to fulfil his duties, a claim he dismisses. Wellington mayor Andy Foster is engaged in a heated dispute with several of his own councillors after being photographed apparently helping protesters occupy disputed Shelly Bay land, which the council had voted to pass on to developers.

One of the issues vexing many is the provision to establish Ma¯ori wards. Until recently only three of NZ’s 78 local bodies had Ma¯ori wards — Wairoa District Council and Bay of Plenty and Waikato regional councils. Mahuta has promised to remove the requirement for public polls before wards can be established. She expressed such a wish in the previous Government but was apparently stymied by NZ First.

While the desire to improve representation for tangata whenua is admirable, it’s questionable whether this will improve overall efficiency, particularly in councils already displaying post-Covid symptoms of malfunction.

Mahuta has earned her place in Cabinet. Negotiating through the international tempests while steering councils into a better delivery of services would be an achievement indeed. —