- By Laura Kvigstad, Auckland Council reporter funded by New Zealand on Air
Councillors are backing major reforms to council-controlled organisations (CCOs), disbanding Eke Panuku and shifting responsibilities to Auckland Council by mid-2025.
At the Auckland Council’s Governing Body meeting on December 12, councillors voted in favour of structural changes for the CCOs.
Under the changes, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited’s economic development functions will be brought into the council and Eke Panuku will be disbanded and its responsibilities absorbed by the council.
The changes will take effect in July 2025.
Reforms to Auckland Transport (AT), however, will depend on enabling legislation being prepared by the Government.
Councillor Chris Darby seconded by councillor Josephine Bartley put forward an amendment attempting to save Eke Panuku’s operational functions.
The amendment would have allowed the planning, strategy and property management functions to be transferred to the council while structural change on urban regeneration and marina management would be paused until more information was available.
Darby expressed concerns about the adequacy of information provided to councillors, stating that time constraints had hindered the process.
“We do need to do further work on this if we want the very best outcome because this is going to last for a long time,” Darby said.
“There is major risk at this stage of dispensing with a very successful entity.”
Council staff and chief executive Phil Wilson strongly advised against delaying a firm decision, arguing that a clear resolution was necessary to provide certainty to affected staff.
Howick councillor Sharon Stewart said not everyone around the table had positive experiences with Eke Panuku.
“I know in my own community we’ve had buildings that were really good community buildings that unfortunately were left to decay and that was why they were sold,” Stewart said.
Councillor Andy Baker opposed the amendment, emphasising the potential for reform to improve council services.
“I’m comfortable with the reason for [reform] and that is to enhance what’s already something that is very good – this is about us having the ability to enhance what we as a council offer,” Baker said.
The amendment was lost 13 votes to seven.
Councillor Greg Sayers supported the reform, criticising the lack of council control over operational matters in CCOs.
“The tail is wagging the dog,” Sayers said.
“We’re entitled to talk about policy but are not allowed to influence it.”
Councillor Mike Lee said the reform was a necessary step to address the legacy of neoliberal reforms that had stripped councils of democratic oversight.
“[CCOs] have come out of the neoliberal reforms. They’re meant to make the councils deliberately less democratic and more business-like.
“Well, they’re certainly less democratic but not necessarily more business-like when it comes to efficiency and rigour and getting the job done,” Lee said.
Despite supporting the reforms, Lee raised concerns about the lack of public consultation.
“We have been talking to ourselves on this – the public has been shut out of the process.”
Councillor Shane Henderson criticised how CCOs had removed decision-making from the electoral cycle, stating that it undermined accountability.
“A situation has arisen where a majority of the public purse is governed by unelected boards directly,” Henderson said.
He said the duplication of work between CCOs and the council was costing every ratepayer money and time.
Bartley defended the independence of CCOs, arguing they delivered more efficiently than the council could on its own.
“They’ve been able to achieve so much in the community because they are nimble, because they’re independent, and they don’t have to go through the same political processes that we go through just to get anything done,” Bartley said.
She contrasted town centre upgrades led by Eke Panuku with those handled solely by the council, describing the latter as “pretty uncoordinated, slow, and ineffective”.
All councillors voted in support of the substantive motion, but several noted their opposition to transferring some of the responsibilities of Eke Panuku and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.
