A big tick for more transparency! ☑️ That's the message from GWRC candidates who responded to a question about whether they supported the council opening up its currently closed-door workshops and briefings in line with most other councils. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/greater-we...

Local Aotearoa reached out to Kāpiti's six mayoral candidates to give them an opportunity to share their views on Kāpiti's role in any possible amalgamation of councils in the Wellington region. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/three-kapi...

Greater Wellington's CEO and Chair kept a warning letter from the Ombudsman secret from councillors and their risk committee, raising questions about the commitment of GWRC's two most senior figures to basic principles of transparency and accountability. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/councillor...

Investing in professional development is a positive thing, but with public money it comes with transparency and accountability. So what's with a Kāpiti Coast councillor launching a Trumpian attack on their "political enemies" over a LGOIMA request? localaotearoa.substack.com/p/councillor...

The key thing about a joke - perhaps its most important defining element - is that it’s funny. We'll leave it up to you to decide if a candidate joking about te reo Māori is funny and what doing so instead of answering an easy question says about them. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/act-candid...

I mean, if even King Charles III can use Aotearoa to refer to our country… 🤷‍♂️ localaotearoa.substack.com/p/act-counci...

Another day, another dumb campaign policy to call out. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/candidates...

Despite early setbacks, Wayne Brown has used the profile, powers, and resources of Auckland's mayoralty in a way that his predecessors were unwilling to embrace. He now looks set to win an even bigger electoral landslide than he achieved in 2022. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/from-flood...

As we've been saying...

The reality is rates capping is a choice between investing now or leaving our kids and grandkids to pick up the tab for our short-sightedness. It's almost as if we've learnt nothing from the decades of under-investment in three waters infrastructure. 🤦‍♂️ localaotearoa.substack.com/p/rates-capp...

It’s easy to talk up alternative visions when the people floating them aren’t paying. The real challenge is delivering realistic, funded proposals. If someone’s colourful kite flying doesn’t come with a price tag and a plan, you’re right to be sceptical. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/colourful-...

In politics, some kites take off and become real, useful projects. But others are cynically intended to muddy the waters, spike actual realistic proposals, promote unviable pet projects, or are used to distract from the real issues. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/colourful-...

Candidates often promise to freeze or slash rates increases while somehow not reducing core council services or infrastructure. Yet if you want to know how they'll achieve this, you'll usually only find vacuous statements rather than transparent costings. 🤨 localaotearoa.substack.com/p/promises-t...

Watching the reactions of NIMBYs lately we can safely conclude that they're deeply unserious people, saying deeply unserious things, about a deeply unserious ideology. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/deeply-uns...

While most councils are currently using AI tools in some form to boost their productivity, nearly half of councils are yet to adopt formal AI policies or guidelines to manage risks around this transformational technology. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/councils-e...

“I’m over our local NIMBYs. They say they want to preserve Kāpiti’s character, but the character they’re wanting to preserve carries higher economic, social, and environment costs than intensification. It’s a character that ends up locking people out of housing.” open.substack.com/pub/localaot...

Calls to shut down local govt are nothing but libertarian brain rot, devoid of any understanding of the impacts of such a move, and made by those living a life of privilege whose money would shield them from the societal costs of their twisted fever dream. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/calls-to-s...

Sorry ranting LinkedIn reply troll from last week, Wellington City Council's business rates aren't to blame for the city's economic woes. You'll find the people responsible for the city's economic downturn are those currently occupying the Beehive. open.substack.com/pub/localaot...

With reforms shrinking local govt's sphere of influence and creating a greatly constrained operating environment with all of the blame and none of the power, the personal and professional costs for those serving on councils may now be too high for many. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/local-gove...

"All the ingredients that would normally lend themselves to providing solid campaign platforms for candidates should be there. Yet there’s a sort of general malaise about it all and I can’t put my finger on why it is." localaotearoa.substack.com/p/2025s-loca...

Once again we find ourselves discussing the question of whether local government is fit for purpose. Once again the catalyst for this is another attempt to reform the Resource Management Act.... So are regional councils really facing the axe? localaotearoa.substack.com/p/are-region...

Despite the Ombudsman warning two councils that their actions might be contrary to local government legislation, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Upper Hutt City Council are still refusing to open their secret workshops and briefings to the public. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/greater-we...

If voters don't want political parties in local government then why do they keep electing party candidates? Contrary to Christopher Luxon's latest rant, it seems plenty of electors are pretty comfortable with party aligned councillors in local democracy. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/dont-want-...

Starting to notice a theme from the Prime Minister…

Andrew Little can disagree with Wellington City Council's Golden Mile project all he likes, but he's wrong in claiming there's something not "ethically correct" about the current council signing contracts for a project that they've consulted and voted on. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/andrew-lit...

If you’re reading that water and Resource Management Act reforms are leading to a need to also reform the structure, funding, and role of local government, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve woken up back in 2020. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/amalgamati...

Beware of Greeks [candidates] bearing gifts [pledges of zero rate increases]. The local government election silly season is underway with one Wellington group of candidates promising "zero rates increases" with zero specifics on how they'd achieve that. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/beware-of-...

Two wins for Local Aotearoa's transparency advocacy efforts in less than a month! The latest being that the Ombudsman has now backtracked on their initial ruling that would have let KiwiRail keep its $8m spend with McKinsey a secret. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/another-lo...

With residents living in fear that the road cone epidemic might see the silent orange sentinels appear on their street next, Local Govt Minister Simon Watts has announced that from 1 April 2025 councils are required to appoint a Road Cone Commissar. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/councils-r...

GWRC's Kapiti constituency faces one of the worst and longest running under-representation issues in local government. Despite saying for years it needed to be fixed, the Local Government Commission has refused to change things in a bizarre determination. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/bizarre-lg...

The Local Government Commission has locked in one of the country's worst and longest running under-representation debacles, with the weighting of Kāpiti's representation on GWRC being on average at least a third less than the region's other constituencies. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/bizarre-lg...

To paraphrase Joni Mitchell’s famous song Big Yellow Taxi: you don’t know what you got till it’s gone. Without effective sector-wide advocacy from the likes of LGNZ, local government could well find its relevance buried beneath a parking lot. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/lgnz-isnt-...

The Serious Fraud Office has announced that they're investigating allegations around the fraudulent allocation of public funding by a former employee of Kāpiti Coast District Council. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/sfo-invest...

When 61 out of 78 councils have already opened up their workshops and briefings, you have to question why the remaining 17 councils still keeping them secret are so scared of the same public scrutiny that the majority of their colleagues are welcoming. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/local-aote...

The call has gone out for Local Govt Minister Simon Watts to make changes to the LGOIMA and force councils who are still thumbing their noses at the Ombudsman and their local communities to finally open up their secret workshops and briefings. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/local-aote...

It's becoming increasingly difficult for the likes of Greater Wellington to pretend they can still keep their briefings and workshops hidden behind closed doors now that the Ombudsman has chased up those councils who haven't made these open to the public. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/ombudsman-...

A nice win for Local Aotearoa with the Ombudsman finally answering our call for him to chase up the 17 laggard councils who are still holding their workshops and briefings behind closed doors despite his recommendation for these to be “open by default”. www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/543...

Seeing as talk of a Remutaka road tunnel is gaining traction, here’s a piece we published on Local Aotearoa last year that detailed some of the nearly 60 year history of the idea. 🏔️🚗 localaotearoa.substack.com/p/carterton-...

These local government elections please remember that you're electing politicians to a democratic institution, not directors to a corporate board. They'll agree some of the time. They'll disagree at others. Things will get political. That's democracy. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/councillor...

Kāpiti Coast District Council's Chief Executive has finally apologised after initially doubling down on his Kool-Aid comment that was caught on a live microphone during a council meeting. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/kapiti-cou...

Wellington City Council's award winning transparency and accountability tool Mātai Manapori - TrackDem now has tracking across amendments, motions and votes so you can follow over time who's voted for what and when. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/wellington...

Kāpiti Coast District Council is doubling down after its CEO was caught on a hot mic saying people were drinking the Kool-Aid during a council meeting, even going so far as to suggest it was a compliment, despite the phrase's long established derisory use. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/council-ce...

While Kāpiti Coast District Council is yet to respond to our request for comment, Councillor Liz Koh has weighed in and dismissed concerns over the Chief Executive's hot mic "drink the Kool-Aid" comment as petty while demanding people stop talking about it and that the topic be deleted from Facebook

Remember, treat every microphone as live! localaotearoa.substack.com/p/council-ce...

New year, new local government minister - so what does it mean for the sector? Our read is given the big substantive decisions have already been made, and Watts was part of developing those policies in the first place, don't expect any major departures. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/what-does-...

New year, new local government minister - so what does it mean for the sector? Our read is given the big substantive decisions have already been made, and Watts was part of developing those policies in the first place, don't expect any major departures. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/what-does-...

Aotearoa is not alone in having a local government sector that's struggling with financial sustainability, with local authorities in the UK, Canada, Australia, and the US all facing funding and financing issues. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/the-sorry-...

Prime Minister Luxon has once again been caught out making claims about local government without having the evidence to back it up. This time it's over his demonstrably inaccurate claim that cycleways are responsible for recent high rates increases. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/luxon-misl...

For years government entities have publicly released under the OIA itemised spends for consultancy work, which makes the Ombudsman's bizarre decision to let KiwiRail withhold its consultant spend fly in the face of long accepted transparency practices. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/ombudsmans...

"All I can hope is that the next time a Government of either persuasion finds the political courage and leadership to initiate a review of local government... it learns the lessons from the ill-fated Future for Local Government Review process." localaotearoa.substack.com/p/118-millio...