“Butt out of our business.”
An angry Auckland Mayor has sent a terse message to Local Government Minister Simon Watts today over claims the government is meddling in the council’s democratic processes.
The government today announced it is moving to ban voting rights for non-elected members of council committees.
Watts said the changes would “strengthen local democracy and accountability”. They would apply to members of Houkura, the Auckland Council’s Independent Māori Statutory Board, he confirmed.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown responded swiftly this morning, firing out a press release accusing Watts of “picking a fight” with the council and breaching promises made to elected members earlier this year.
He also released a letter he sent to Watts in July, in which Brown warned any such move would be completely unnecessary and “counter to the principles” of the Auckland Deal agreement.
Any move to ban voting rights for Houkura members could result in Auckland Council walking away from the Auckland Deal arrangement, Brown warned in the letter.
“This is another ill-thought-through policy that will wind up costing the ratepayers with no real benefit to Auckland,” Brown said today.
NZ Herald
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Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown responded swiftly, firing out a press release accusing Minister Watts of “picking a fight” with the council and breaching promises made to elected members earlier this year.
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