North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Council staff told to stop spending in leaked email New cuts revealed
Auckland Council staff have been to told to stop spending on a wide range of activities including some projects already under way, the use of consultants, travel and entertainment.
A leaked email obtained by Stuff shows the latest steps in council’s attempt to wrestle a forecasted $295 million deficit in its next budget, which starts in July.
The email was written by chief financial officer Peter Gudsell. Council has verified its authenticity and been asked for comment by Stuff.
Gudsell said on top of that $295m, council was still working out the financial impact of the Auckland Anniversary floods, as well as Cyclone Gabrielle, but action was needed now.
‘‘We must reduce our spending so that the council has extra financial buffer to cover some of the impact,’’ Gudsell’s email said.
The list of no-go areas includes any new operational or capital spending not locked in with contracts, and to pause work which has started, if possible.
Spending on ‘‘professional services’’ and using money unspent in existing budgets is also not allowed. Most training, other than basic job training, along with travel, catering and entertainment is off, and, a review will be carried out of the number of staff with council expense cards.
The list of spending that will not be touched is short. It covers contractual commitments, health and safety, and anything required by legislation. Ironically, spending that must continue includes anything which advances the ‘‘substantial savings programme’’ looking to cut $130m of running costs as part of next year’s proposed budget.
The email fleshes out messages given as part of preparing the budget, which is now out for public consultation until the end of this month.
Councillors in a split vote had previously directed the organisation to consider stopping or limiting ‘‘discretionary spending’’.
An early unexpected consequence for some, was finding out there would be no lunch provided at the Planning, Environment and Parks committee, after its chairman Richard Hills deemed it ‘‘discretionary’’.
The level of restraint on spending is unprecedented, as the council faces the consequences of high global inflation and rising interest rates.
The budget as proposed by mayor Wayne Brown includes the full or partial sale of the council’s $1.9 billion stake in Auckland International Airport and $20m cuts to a wide range of community spending.
Big funding cuts would change the shape of the council’s economic and culture agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, which could lose $44m, all but ending economic development and major event work.
The budget will be finalised in June.
They came, they saw, they conquered. After a two-year hiatus, more than 20,000 people created a sea of colour along the Waitematā Harbour’s stunning bays, taking part in New Zealand’s largest fun run – Southern Cross Round the Bays.
The Covid pandemic forced the iconic event to cancel hours before the start in 2021, and again in last yeaer – so the crowds loved being back on Tā maki Drive on Sunday, March 5.
From babies in prams to people in their 90s, famous sportspeople, tutus and even an over-sized squirrel – the energy on the course was electric, says Round the Bays event and sponsorship director Henry McLernon.
‘‘It was fantastic to see Southern Cross Round the Bays back in-person for our 51st year. It’s a highly-anticipated event, so we were thrilled to be able to watch thousands of people pounding the pavement and getting out and being active.’’
While most of the participants are there for the fun, those who take part for the run were competing in the first-ever Under Armour Elite category. The first man across the finish line was Jacob Priddey, who set a new course record of 24:48 in his first time competing in the Round the Bays. All three of the first men to finish were faster than the 2015 record of 25:09.
Taking out the top time for women was Clara Lachurie, with a time of 30:36, and wheelchair competitor Lee Warn – wearing his trademark squirrel suit – completed the 8.4km course in 31.06 – beating his 2020 result by more than 5min.
Among the celebrities handing out finisher’s medals were Dame Sophie Pascoe, Dame Lisa Carrington, and para canoeist Scott Martlew.
The high-achievers were across the finish line before most participants – joggers and walkers – had even started in Auckland’s CBD, such is the size of the ever-popular event.
Southern Cross Healthcare chief executive Chris White said: ‘‘We are enormously proud to support Southern Cross Round the Bays, a great event that encourages thousands of people to get together, be active, and have fun. The Southern Cross group has a vision of healthier years for more New Zealanders, and . . . event that attracts such a wide range of participants is a great example of how we can achieve that.’’
ANALYSIS: The return of Auckland’s Pasifika festival to its traditional Western Springs venue marks the end of a remarkable four weeks for Tā maki Makaurau.
From the twin shocks of the January 27 flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle a fortnight later, three big events in four weeks have put optimism and vibrancy back in the headlines.
The kapa haka festival Te Matatini got the ball rolling, making a comeback after four years of Covid-related disruption.
Thousands braved sometimes rain-soaked sessions to cheer on the biggest Mā ori cultural event on the calendar.
The upbeat displays of pride and confidence have continued through days of what’s billed as the world’s largest secondary school cultural competition, Polyfest, at the Manukau Sports Bowl.
The multicultural performances by 181 groups from 55 schools were a celebration of the city’s diversity.
The month-long multi-culture extravaganza winds up with the two-day Pasifika Festival, back at the undulating park at Western Springs, always one of the biggest crowd-pullers in the city.
The events are vitally important, not only because of their optimism, but also their future focus as prominent platforms for younger people to immerse themselves in or connect with their cultures.
The festival season is also a reminder of ‘‘normality’’ as the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic fade. Auckland – and in Te Matatini’s case, visitors – strut their stuff before joyous audiences.
They are events that don’t happen in a vacuum and it should be hoped that this month of celebration does not become a brief normal between periods of ‘abnormal’.
The question of a ‘‘new abnormal’’ arises as Auckland Council pulls together its 2024 budget, with the starting point having to close a forecast
$295 million deficit, even before adding storm recovery.
It’s a proposal currently including big cuts to community programmes, which directly or indirectly link to these showcases of the city’s multiculturalism.
At a superficial level, while mayor Wayne Brown has promised the city’s staple events like Pasifika, Diwali and the Lantern Festival are assured, the deep cuts proposed for the economic and cultural agency Tā taki Unlimited may undermine its ability to attract and support future events like Te Matatini.
That festival, which moves to a different town or city each year, was secured for Auckland with backing from public and private sponsors, including $1.2m in cash from the council and ‘‘in kind’’ backing worth $400,000.
In addition to the spectacle value, an economic impact report being compiled by the organisers is expected to show a financial benefit to the city.
Mā ori and Pasifika communities are predominantly based in the south and west, which would be hard-hit under the budget as it currently is.
The most vulnerable in the poorer southern communities have been helped by the council’s Southern Initiative (TSI).
That began life as a strategic priority in 2012, but has slid to a ‘‘nice to have’’ at high risk in a budget proposal focussed on balancing the books, without any weighing up on impact.
While Pasifika has in the past been targeted as an event that could grow to become a visitor attraction, the communities it represents could be big budget losers in 2024.
Te Matatini, Polyfest and Pasifika are not ‘‘nice to haves’’ – they are ’’must have’’ manifestations of strong and vibrant communities.
Declaring Auckland ‘a city with culture’, as Brown did in December, assuring the future of the headline annual events needs to be more than supporting a few days of public celebration.
OPINION: When Christopher Luxon outmanoeuvred Simon Bridges, taking the National Party leadership in a seemingly clean contest in 2021, the commentators were certain on one count: Luxon would break from the Judith Collins era and its chaotic, often random political management and deliver corporate polish.
Luxon is a CEO’s CEO – he can deliver a proficient soundbite, he closely manages his team and his self-confidence mostly manifests as a winner’s vibe rather than arrogance.
But what the commentators were less certain of is whether the incoming National Party leader would maintain the political ideology of the Collins era. Would he adopt Collins’ punitive style? Yes (think of ‘‘bottom feeders’’, ‘‘South Auckland garages’’, etc . . .) and no. Would he adopt Collins’ fixation with the academic discussion document He Puapua? Well, no.
Instead, the Leader of the Opposition is firing shots – or blanks – at ‘‘co-governance’’. In a wide-ranging interview with Moana Maniapoto, he reinforced his commitment to abolish the Mā ori Health Authority, explaining, ‘‘I believe a single system with innovation and components around targeting people on the basis of need and partnering through devolution and through localism with iwi . . . to actually get better outcomes’’.
That’s a perfectly reasonable and sensible position. It’s also an accurate description of what the Mā ori Health Authority actually does. It targets a subset of the population on need.
On almost every measure Mā ori experience worse health outcomes than any other ethnicity. On most measures this holds when controlling for other factors like income and wealth as well, meaning that Mā ori do not just experience poorer outcomes because they’re poor – although they mostly are – they also experience poorer outcomes because they’re Mā ori.
But within that sound bite is a far more interesting reflection. Luxon believes in ‘‘partnering through devolution and through localism with iwi’’. That’s an accurate description of what ‘‘cogovernance’’ is, whether Whā nau Ora (which devolves funding and delivery decisions to kaupapa Mā ori health and social service providers) or Kō hanga Reo (which devolves funding and delivery decisions to Mā ori-speaking family and hapū communities).
What’s interesting and tantalising here is that, on the one hand, Luxon opposes ‘‘cogovernance’’ in the delivery of public services and, on the other, he provides an accurate definition of what it is and offers two examples of it that he supports. Only a politician could maintain this contradiction. Yes, they oppose co-governance in theory, and, yes, they support cogovernance in practice.
The most generous commentator might argue that the National Party leader is simply illinformed. He’s an unusually green
MP, having entered Parliament in 2020 and assumed the leadership a little over a year later. Some MPs spend a decade or more auditioning for that role.
But a less generous commentator might accuse Luxon of cynicism. David Seymour’s ACT, Winston Peters’ NZ First and Luxon’s National are fighting over the 5% of New Zealanders who care enough to commit their vote to whichever party opposes co-governance.
For ACT, an additional 5% increases its leverage in postelection negotiations with National. For NZ First, 5% is enough to breach the threshold and return Peters to Parliament. But for National, the benefit isn’t quite so clear.
What does Luxon gain from opposing co-governance in Opposition when he’s almost certain to maintain that same cogovernance – whether in the form of Whā nau Ora, Kō hanga Reo, Treaty settlement redress or the dozens of other forms of cogovernance – when in government?
This isn’t quite clear. But it’s a strategic and tactical departure from the approach of his predecessors. When John Key took as National’s leader after the distracting, divisive Don Brash years one of his first acts was to abandon Brash’s racist rhetoric, recommit to policies like Treaty settlements, and attend Waitangi Day commemorations in the spirit of reconciliation.
On winning power, he invited the Mā ori Party to sign a confidence and supply agreement and take up ministerial positions.
Likewise, Bill English continued in the same tradition, citing his relationship with the Mā ori Party and the Iwi Leaders Forum as one of the most productive and rewarding from his time in office.
Luxon had two choices: he could identify with the tradition that Key and English established, working closely with iwi leaders and Mā ori politicians inside and outside his party. Or he could continue Judith Collins’ bizarre obsession with He Puapua and ‘‘co-governance’’. He opted for the latter.
But it’s not too late to change course.