Summarised by Centrist
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has sharply criticised Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) for prioritising a left-wing agenda over essential services. Citing a report by the Institute of Economic Research, Brown called out local councils for their focus on speed limit reductions, speed bumps, and cycle lanes, rather than core services.
Brown said, “Local Government needs to do what the central government has just done—go line by line through their expenditure and find savings to stop passing on significant rate increases to ratepayers.”
Brown further noted, “They need to get their priorities in order, focus on core business, and stop wasting ratepayers’ money.”
He told NewstalkZB that LGNZ is opposed to a form of localism he believes in: letting local communities and individuals make decisions through the ballot box.
“And so they’ve literally lost touch,” he said. Citing the increasing number of municipalities giving up their LGNZ membership, Brown said:
“I mean Auckland’s not a member, Christchurch is not a member, a bunch of other councils have left Local Government New Zealand and they’ve gone woke on a number of issues. They actually need to reflect the priorities of New Zealanders, focusing on core business, rather than simply just trying to advocate the left wing agenda of the last government.”
