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Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Councillors call for meetings with ministers

Veteran Auckland councillors Christine Fletcher and Mike Lee see the benefits in more regular meetings with Government ministers. Photo supplied Unsplash.com Josiah Kemp
  • By Laura Kvigstad, Auckland Council reporter funded by New Zealand on Air

Some Auckland councillors are urging the restoration of regular meetings with Government ministers, highlighting their importance for addressing critical regional issues.

At a recent Auckland Council Governing Body meeting, councillors agreed to the mayor submitting a proposal for a regional deal with central government.

Regional deals aim to improve infrastructure, increase affordable housing, and enhance collaboration between central and local government.

Councillor Christine Fletcher requested for a formal and urgent invitation to be extended to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and senior government ministers in hopes of restoring regular meetings between ministers and councillors.

“We would not have got the Central Rail Link across the line unless we had those meetings,” Fletcher said.

“The ministers came here, and those ministers saw that on the majority of issues council was completely united.”

She said regular meetings would help the Prime Minister and ministers understand the plethora of issues facing the council and the tools the Government had to address them.

“Whether it is passing legislation to enable a visitor levy, whether it is the Auckland Future Fund legislation – it’s about looking at the infrastructure going forward and frankly, god knows where we are with plan change 78.

“It is about getting that dialogue going,” Fletcher said.

Councillor Mike Lee agreed that regular meetings with councillors and ministers, which formerly took place for six years under former mayor Len Brown, should be restored.

“[Ministers] all used to come because they considered the Auckland Council and the problems of Auckland serious enough for the Cabinet to come and discuss it kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face),” Lee said.

Mayor Wayne Brown said meetings with the Government were ongoing and appeared to dismiss the request from Fletcher.

“I am going to be forced to fly down [to Wellington] to spend half an hour with someone who lives in Auckland which seems to me to be nuts,” Brown said.

Eventually, Brown agreed and said the issue appeared to come down to mutual respect which he suggested was lacking from the Government.

“Nevertheless, we will earn mutual respect.”

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