Lianne
DALZIEL
Earthquake Recovery Spokesperson
MP for Christchurch East

3 July 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT

Time for council and government to act like consenting adults

Labour is repeating its call for Christchurch City Council and the government to form a collaborative partnership in the wake of news today that the council has asked for a Crown manager to step in and that its chief executive is on leave.

“The council has finally had to face up to the fact that this is a breakdown of governance and management and that it needs help,” Labour’s Earthquake Recovery spokesperson Lianne Dalziel says.

“This is not about whether the government forces a Crown manager on the council or the council requests one; the result is the same.

“It should never have got to this stage without someone noticing. CERA was set up to facilitate and co-ordinate the recovery. We have a Minister dedicated to the task.

“Yet yesterday that Minister, Gerry Brownlee, admitted he had not been briefed about a September 2012 report - which should have had alarm bells ringing late last year - until June 7.”

Lianne Dalziel said that the council had been plagued by a culture of business as usual, and that the silo behaviour within the council was part of a wider problem.

“Despite the creation of CERA, we have different departments and agencies doing different things and not joining the dots. There are too many silos, within and between these different arms of government.

“This debacle could be the opportunity for both the council and the government to start behaving like consenting adults.”

ENDS

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