Finally, someone is asking Local Government Minister Rodney Hide to explain why Auckland Transport will be cloaked in secrecy, with no public meetings, no public input, no publicly released agendas.
The answers he gave are starting to take us into some bizarre surreal world.
Remarkably, or maybe not surprisingly, the minister insists, that this makes the new super-powerful transport body “have increased transparency and accountability on what we have now.”
Hide, in an interview with TV3′s John Campbell was asked how this could be so:
Hide: Because we are requiring them to account quarterly to the (new super) council.”
Campbell: And their meetings won’t be held in public?
Hide: No -and they’re not now. ARTA’s meetings are not held in public.
Campbell: Except they don’t have $650m worth of power now, do they?
Hide: You have nine transport agencies now, reporting to 8 different councils. You have a very complicated process. There’s no transparency and accountability, and that’s why transport isn’t working in Auckland. What the government is saying is we’re going to fix this. We’re going to have an elected council. We’re going to have elected local boards. They’re going to set the strategy. They’re going to set the direction for Auckland. on top of that, we’re going to have CCOs like we have but we’re going to rationalise them. They’re going to be following the direction and the policy and vision that the Auckland council sets, and the transport agency and the other CCOs are going to be held to account for service and delivery. That’s what the people of Auckland want.
Reminded of the number of mayors, Auckland interest groups and some government departments who have in fact expressed opposition to the CCO set-up, Hide said he wasn’t surprised as they are the ones that have “given us the mess” that we have now in Auckland.
Campbell: Are you really going to tell us that unelected group of people with $630m a year of ratepayers money to spend and the only time we are going to hear from them – because we’re not allowed to attend their meetings , we’re not allowed to speak at their meetings, there are no minutes from their meetings… The only time we hear from them are quarterly reports. That fits your definition of proper transparency?
Hide: Absolutely, because they will be responsible for service delivery for transport services in Auckland and the politicians will be responsible for setting the plan and the direction and the vision and we will have a clear separation. We’ll know who is responsible and who to hold to account and the councillors, and the council, at any one time, can sack one or all of that board. They will appointing that board, just like what’s happens now. Except what we’ll have is a more streamlined, transparent and accountable service to Auckland. I can promise you John, that’s what the people of Auckland want and that’s what this government is committed to delivering.
Feb 12: This site said these secret powers must not be allowed
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7 Responses to “Hide in Wonderland: Super-Secret Transport Agency “Increases Transparency!””
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Is anyone else reminded of the lead up to the Iraq war? Same double-speak and outright lies.
“That’s what the people of Auckland want” – really? I wonder which people of Auckland Rodney has been talking to? I’d like some names, or at least some groups/organisations that support the Super City. Are there any? Comments on the Herald website are running 98% against it in its current incarnation.
The transport authority should have a website with goals, objectives, current projects and planned. time scales… Completely transparent. And everyone should get behind them when they do a good job and say GOOD JOB! Like the NZ Herald, where’s some update on how well the Newmarket railway station is working? If it’s all negative the media is all over it.
“should have a website”
Ummm, how is that going to make them public or accountable? They can put some spin and nice pictures on the page and we are where we were before.
No, we need public agendas and minutes, at the very least. People who are afraid to even TELL us about how they spend our rates money and change our city should not be given that money and power in the first place.
Mike Lee called it taxation without reptresentation. It’s worse.
I think it’s a great idea to get public transport in Auckland moving, maybe my problem is a normally see the potential in things rather than pick at the small details, but in whole I think the proposal is great, and good on hide.
The only thing I would suggest is making the Minutes availible, although I would be carefull even with that, as what this really means is it gives a minority an opportunity to turn down, or put pressure to turn down a good project.
They should be re-appointed by results and not attempted to be influenced by public to gain most productivity and if the council can reappoint staff then I see that as the most effective way of getting what the public wants.
“The only thing I would suggest is making the Minutes availible, although I would be carefull even with that, as what this really means is it gives a minority an opportunity to turn down, or put pressure to turn down a good project.”
And how is that a problem in a democracy? Auckland’s problem with transport delivery was fragmentation, NOT public input being too divisive.
A democracy without public input into it’s most society-changing aspects is not a democracy. It is a buraucracy.
Joshua I’d suggest you might like living in an African democracy if you think that “the public getting involved in decision making can stop good projects”, the public making decisions IS what democracy is, it is our rates money being spent…
Jeremy – Yes you are right, but why should the minority get their way over a majority. What I’m saying is we have already chosen, if it doesn’t work we can tell them to piss off next time. The common Working week is from Monday to Friday, the common time to have sport and other organised activity is on a Saturday. I would, like the majority of us, also like a say, however when the opportunities come, we are commited to other things.
So how do we get our views expressed, with everyone else at election time. Thats democracy, everone having a say, not the minority dictating the views as what is commonly happening these days.