Council is out of its depth and out of money

• Published date: 18 June 2022
• Publication title: Weekend Herald

You know what I mean. That commonly occurring line that poor performance has occurred “because of COVID”

One of our champion “COVID blamers” is departing Auckland Super City mayor Phil Goff. As seems to be the norm with local body politics, his latest budget for the city has had hardly any coverage. But I have tried to follow it and “COVID blaming” seems to be at the forefront of his commentary.

A couple of weeks ago, the mayor was interviewed by Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB. The topic was the city’s budget. That discussion was where the mayor chose to let slip that he had decided to accept the Government’s Three Waters bribe and in doing so, hand Auckland’s water assets over to the Government’s confiscation programme.

When the broadcaster asked him why, he said: “On behalf of the people of Auckland, if I am offered $508 million by the Government, am I going to say no? No, I am going to accept that money and use it for the benefit of Aucklanders”.

Ah, excuse me Mr Mayor, I suggest that controlling the resources that deliver and manage a city’s water assets is something that already benefits Aucklanders.

Besides, while the mayor was glossing over the details of his $500m decision, there were a couple of things he didn’t mention. First, that those assets he’s handing over are valued in the council’s books at something in excess of $10 billion. Second, that the council didn’t vote on the Three Waters decision. Rather, it was wrapped up in the approval of the council budget.

But there was a bigger issue in the mayor’s comments. And irrespective of what you think about the Government’s Three Waters agenda, I urge you to put that to one side for a moment.

Instead, first consider that the council is selling assets it has valued at or near $10b, to the Government for $508m. My understanding is that the Government is assuming debt related to Three Waters and of course future costs. According to Watercare’s 2021 annual report, the debt was around $4b. The Government may or may not be picking up all of that. Either way, that’s still quite a discount. Payment will be received in two instalments: one this year at $127m and another “promised” payment, the details of which seem sketchy, of $381m in July 2024.

Second, consider that these are long-term assets which have been built up over 100 or more years. So that’s bad enough. Now also overlay the fact that the first proceeds from the sale, reflecting a quarter of the sales value, are to be spent on...