Govt ‘asking a lot' of councils
At least two Dunedin councillors are not impressed the government is looking to load more costs on to councils through civil defence reforms.
Implementing new requirements, updating emergency management plans and engaging with iwi Māori and communities disproportionately affected by disasters are expected to have a four-year cost of about $82.8million.
Local Government New Zealand said the government planned to get councils to cover the bill.
Cr Steve Walker was one person to observe this was "yet another example in the continuing trend of loading more costs and responsibilities on to councils and expecting ratepayers to pick up the tab".
Cr Mandy Mayhem has often been part of community responses north of Dunedin, such as providing food when motorists are stranded.
"We've got good people here," she said.
"I think the government is asking a lot."
Mandy Mayhem. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Cr Mayhem suggested it was unfair to saddle councils with extra costs that would have to be covered by increasing rates.
"The government has to stop punishing councils."
A Cabinet paper said proposed changes should make the emergency management system stronger by clarifying roles and obligations.
In particular, there would be clarity about who was in control during emergencies and accountability at the local level, the paper said.
Objectives included enabling a higher minimum standard of emergency management, minimising disruption to essential services and strengthening the participation of communities and iwi Māori in emergency management.
Local Government New Zealand chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said imposition of compliance requirements would come with no additional funding.
Councils would have to increase rates to cover the extra costs, she said.
"Like the government, councils want to keep rates down," Ms Freeman-Greene said.
"But rates are the only way they can cover these kinds of costs imposed by central government."
The government intends to introduce and pass the Emergency Management Bill during this term of Parliament.
grant.miller@odt.co.nz
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Planned return of live cattle export gets held up
Photo: RNZ Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the cogs of Cabinet. The Labour government banned the trade two years ago, after the Gulf Livestock 1 vessel en route to China capsized in 2020 during a typhoon, resulting in the deaths of two New Zealand crew members and more than 5800 cattle . National and Act campaigned during the last election to bring back the trade, and it was a condition of the coalition agreement . The Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) was drafting the Animal Welfare Act amendment to bring back the trade - worth $374 million in 2022 - despite opposition from animal welfare groups, veterinarians and tens of thousands of petitioners. Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard said the reinstatement was focused on the cattle trade, and it was working to lift industry standards. "What will come forward is for cattle only because that is where the market is for." Cabinet would approve the draft amendment before it was introduced to the House, while the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) developed updated regulations. Hoggard said it was working through the Cabinet approval process. "Hopefully soon. But there's a process I've got to go through and get Cabinet approval. So yeah, I'm working on that." In late April, aired in early May, Hoggard told RNZ he expected the legislation to go to Cabinet "soon" in the next month or so. But Hoggard said the PCO was facing a high workload of drafting legislation, which contributed to the current timeline . "There's quite a bit of challenge at the moment with the drafting of legislation. The lawyers are quite busy doing all sorts of things. So that's sort of added time to basically everyone's bills and pieces of work they're doing, just getting stuff done on time. "But I'm at the final stages now. I am hopeful that I'll be able to make some announcements shortly on this." Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson of New Zealand First said it was of high public interest and it was important they got it right . However, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said the government should stop wasting time and money and leave the ban in place. "I understand things have gone to Cabinet but have got stuck at Cabinet, that there is probably some disagreement amongst coalition parties about whether this can be reinstated or not," Boyack said. "I think things are getting a bit sticky for the government." She said the public did not want the trade reinstated due in part to reputational harm it might cause globally . "They have failed to listen to animal welfare experts and vets who have been very clear for a number of years, that there is actually no way to reinstate this with improved animal welfare. It just cannot be done. "So the fact that we've got delayed legislation, I think shows that they have run into trouble in terms of actually delivering on what they promised." Photo: Supplied / Summer Jayne / Taranaki Animal Save Boyack said gold standard animal welfare for livestock on ships for months at a time was "impossible". Green Party agriculture spokesperson Steve Abel agreed, saying shipping cattle for weeks in poor conditions was incompatible with animal welfare . But Hoggard said they had consulted with vets and animal welfare exports to ensure the highest animal welfare standards. He said he was confident they could ensure animal welfare, while boosting jobs and economic growth from the industry. It came as Australia was planning to phase out live exports of sheep by sea to end the trade by May 2028. MPI and the PCO declined to comment. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay (National) had nothing to add to Hoggard's comments. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to Editor: inquiry, 1080, airport
Today's letters to the Editor include discussion about the inquiry into the government response to the Covid-19 pandemic, 1080 drops by DOC, and an airport in Central Otago. It is reported that former ministers have refused to attend a Royal Commission of Inquiry hearing. (ODT 14.8.25) That is probably well advised, as we have seen the venom expressed by a few members of our society who sometimes have anonymously created a web of hatred and misleading theory over the actions of the Labour government trying to protect us from the effects of this new and unknown pandemic. Yes there were mistakes made, and some suffered the emotional loss of not being with their dearest as they died. Some found the mandates offensive, and some were concerned about loss of personal freedom. The hearing will give some more insight into the causes and effects of a worldwide pandemic such as this. The steps taken were, I believe, in good faith and given that this pandemic was a new and unknown viral variation, the government under advice, took the only steps it could. It is worthwhile reading the article "Analysing past pandemics to inform future responses" (ODT 13.8.25). This outlined just how quickly the Spanish Flu of 1918 spread; and remember, no commercial airlines. It was estimated that worldwide 50 million people died. New Zealand lost 9000 in six weeks. That is equivalent to 40,000 today. Preparedness and survival during the next pandemic will depend on readiness and mandates such as vaccines and movement control, so we should be grateful for the work that our epidemiologists are doing. You may be alive and angry, but please consider those who survived because of strong mitigation by our leaders who tried to do the right thing. David Blair Port Chalmers [Abridged — length. Editor.] Take care I have observed that for some time there has been a crashed car down the bank on one of the corners of Three Mile Hill. There is a temporary speed limit of 30kmh on a section of the corners which has now become semi-permanent, with the recommended speed signs being replaced by circular 30 signs. The question arises as to why the crashed car has not been removed? On the subject of the temporary speed restriction, I have endeavoured to reduce my normal speed and stick to the limit. This has inevitably caused some impatient motorists to tailgate and on one occasion, the person passed me on a blind corner with another car coming the other way. My message is to drive with care over Three Mile Hill, especially in winter. John Batt Wakari Surcharge woes This government is not spending wisely, as they claim. Telling thousands of retailers that they are not allowed to add a surcharge for credit and contactless etc payments will result in employing lots of people to administer/prosecute those that don't comply which is wasteful. By telling banks that they can't charge retailers extra for that service when there are very few of them to check up on is much better. Banks make huge profits: they can carry that extra cost. Retailers that are struggling won't have to increase their costs to cover what the banks are charging for that service, thus not increasing the pressure on the cost of living. What is the government afraid of? Robert Morey Dunedin Centenary North Otago Rural Women New Zealand will be celebrating the centenary of the founding of the organisation with a luncheon at the Brydone Hotel on August 29. Guest speaker will be ODT business and rural editor Sally Rae. Registration of interest from current and former members: Judy Kingan jaydeekgn@ The reason why use of 'super toxin' opposed RE the ODT article "Doc claims predators bigger threat than 1080" (9.8.25). Having monitored several 1080 poison drops, one in particular defies all the robust science I have read and what I have witnessed. In 2002 Ecological Networks carried out, at the request of Doc, a study on the effects of 1080 poison on tomtits in the Waianakarua Scenic Reserve. Three days after the drop I and a few others had a casual walk through the poisoned area and picked up 16 dead tomtits along with dead brown creeper, a grey warbler and blackbirds. More decomposed bird carcasses were found in later months. The only dead predators found were half a dozen possums: no rats, cats, mice, ferrets, stoats, hedgehogs or weasels but plenty of dead deer and birds. All tomtits were offered to the Doc for autopsy: they declined saying 'we only have funding for one autopsy a year'. Sometime later I was invited along with other interested parties to a Maf biosecurity meeting in Christchurch to discuss a pest management strategy in Christchurch at which Doc didn't turn up. I took to the meeting a map of all the grid-referenced dead birds found in the Waianakarua Scenic Reserve to show a senior Landcare scientist in attendance and asked him to extrapolate the total bird deaths in the 4000ha reserve. He said he had heard of that operation; he came up with a figure that astounded me — 10,000. Is it any wonder I and many others continually oppose the use of this poison known as a super toxin? Lewis Hore Oamaru Plot loss It seems Dunedin City Council has more interest in creating playgrounds in George St than in creating essential parking or drop-off areas for hospital staff. Have we not lost the plot here? Graham Kitchin Oamaru Common sense hoped for in airport debate There has been quite a lot of plotting to build a new international airport somewhere in Central Otago. Christchurch City Holdings seem hell-bent on a new airport at Tarras. But when you land there you would require a bus to Queenstown which would take 90 minutes or more. Not acceptable. It is my contention that these plans are seriously flawed. Firstly the government, I'm sure, would possibly like fewer airports in the South Island not more. I doubt if it would support this pie-in-the-sky plan. Secondly it would seem to me to be far more practical to expand the Dunedin airport, particularly internationally, and then arrange domestic flights to Wanaka, Queenstown or anywhere. If you fly into San Francisco and want to go inland this is achieved with a domestic service rather than building a new international airport inland. I hope common sense prevails. Andrew Burton Lowburn Letters changes The Otago Daily Times welcomes letters. They are a vital part of the newspaper, and an important forum for readers to express their views. To make it easier for us to receive your letters we have created a new email address — letters@ — for you to write to us at. The old system, whereby letters were sent to an "editor" address, meant that letters were being missed due to the sheer volume of emails received. Letters will receive an automatic reply to say that the ODT has received your submission and that it is under consideration. Letters longer than 250 words may require abridgement; in some cases they will be rejected because they are too long. Our letters rules are at the bottom of the page. Rest assured, all letters sent to the ODT are read. However, we will seldom enter into discussion about selection or editing. We look forward to receiving your letters at letters@ — Editor
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
O'Malley would have put hearing outcome at risk: lawyers
Jim O'Malley. PHOTO: ODT FILES The Dunedin City Council would have been vulnerable to a High Court challenge if Cr Jim O'Malley had not recused himself from a hearing about a cycleway, its lawyers concluded. Cr O'Malley had made a series of comments that were critical of businessmen who fought the potential loss of carparks in the Albany St Connection project and this led to questions about whether he could consider consultation feedback with an open mind. The council asked law firm Anderson Lloyd for its advice after property owner Greg Paterson took issue with Cr O'Malley's involvement in the hearing. The councillor accepted the law firm's recommendation he recuse himself and Cr O'Malley then went further and quit altogether as hearings committee chairman. Anderson Lloyd said if Cr O'Malley had chosen to stay involved on the Albany St matter, this would have created a moderate level of legal risk a challenge to the High Court about the council's process would have been successful. "This means such a claim should be expected to succeed, resulting in council's decision-making process being found to be invalid." The Albany St project has been a stop-start affair, which has been hampered by funding uncertainty and criticism about inadequate consultation. In the end, nine carparks were added back in and an additional round of consultation was run about limited aspects of the project. Yesterday's hearing went ahead but with Cr O'Malley not taking part there was little decision-making headway, as the two other panel members, deputy mayor Cherry Lucas and Cr Mandy Mayhem, were split about what to recommend to the council. Anderson Lloyd's assessment was Cr O'Malley had made repeated public statements indicating he was frustrated with where the process had landed. His comments "strongly indicate that he is unlikely to alter the view he formed when making his first decision on the project and gives the clear impression he is not prepared to fairly consider feedback from consultation from those who seek further carparks on Albany St".
