The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Auckland Governance
Terms of Reference Should Allow for the Voice of Every New Zealander

Elaine West, Auckland City Mayoral Candidate says:

“Every New Zealander should be given the opportunity to have their say to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into how Auckland is governed.
After all, local government reform at the level that it affects Auckland, affects the nation as a whole.

These days, certain lobbyists are going to great expense to tell Aucklanders that the region’s economic growth depends on their particular advice. This is not so.

Auckland has been recognised as the commercial hub of New Zealand for at least 100 years.
The Britomar
t station facade, originally built in 1912 as the Auckland Chief Post Office, stood as testiment to the commercial strength of the city and the clear resolve of a young colonial nation.

Over the past few weeks, the same lobbyists kept repeating only one side of their single Auckland solution story - while keeping the other side close to their chests.

And it is reasonable to presume that the Prime Minister Helen Clark and the Leader of the Opposition John Key are both aware that the single Council solution has not been revealed to the public in full.

So we must ask, how can the people of the region - who are effectively kept in the dark about where the One Auckland plan will lead to - make significant decisions about Auckland’s governance?

Having said that, I commend central Government in setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Auckland’s governance with the proviso that well-heeled lobbyists do not sway the Terms of Reference to suit themselves and that the people - of the region and the nation itself - are given real opportunity to key information on which to fully state their case.”

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