RICHARD NORTHEY, WAITEMATA LOCAL BOARD

Te Wananga downtown public space RICHARD NORTHEY: WAITEMAT A LOCAL BOARD CHAIR

The Waitematā Local Board met on 18 May. We heard from and formally expressed thanks to Sally-Anne Kerr, the retiring executive director of The Auckland Performing Arts Centre (TAPAC) about the great work they are doing for community development and community arts.

We debated and agreed to detailed submissions from the Board on the Regional Land Transport Programme with us advocating major changes to reduce carbon emissions from transport in Auckland, more provision for public and active transport, better urban design and streetscapes and quality consultation with the community on their projects.

We made grants to many worthwhile locally based organisations either to help them with the costs of their accommodation in our area or for valuable community work and projects they intend to carry out.

We recommended the local business associations’ targeted rates and commented on council’s draft economic development plan: the 10-year Recovery Budget.

The Downtown carpark is subject to redevelopment, and we sought the right balance between it providing for a choice in transport modes, and appropriate activation with office space and a mix of residential accommodation.

We unanimously resolved to oppose the rezoning and sale of pocket parks at 45 Georgina Street and 60 Cooper Street in favour of retaining them for public use and enjoyment.

We reviewed our Waitemata Local Board portfolios and created a portfolio of Maori outcomes to reflect what is a new outcome in our recently released Waitemata Local Board Plan. We appointed member Kerrin Leoni of Ngati Paoa as the portfolio holder. Our other portfolio holders were reaffirmed. We thanked Kerrin Leoni for her work and support to the Board and community as she stepped down as Deputy Chair and welcomed member Alex Bonham to her planned succession to that position until the end of the Board’s term next year.

It is intended to reopen the forest on the eastern side of the Western Springs Lakeside Te Wai Orea Park in a few months now the aging pines have been taken out. Then the regeneration and planting of a native forest, with community participation, will be progressed.

I enjoyed a number of the events and presentations at Auckland’s wonderful Writers’ Festival in May.

There was also the celebration of the commencement of the Community Recovery and Recycling Centre in Western Springs, the opening of Freda Barnes Plaza in Wynyard Quarter, and the launch of the Dame Whina Cooper tunnelling machine to bore out the Central Rail Link tunnels. I went on a tour of the new downtown facilities at the bottom of Queen Street: Te Komititanga Square, the new Quay Street lined with mature p ohutukawa trees; Te Wananga, the new plaza on the seaward side of Quay Street and the new ferry wharves.

Thank you for all of you who gave feedback on the Auckland Council’s proposed Long-Term Plan and Budget. The Waitemata Local Board members and staff carefully read the views and ideas coming from you the people, and organisations we represent in this area.

On 4 May we had a special meeting to decide on what to advocate to the governing body on 12 May. There, we took your views into account in our presentation, supporting greater action on climate change, more spending on cleaning up our harbour and streams, action to make our roads safer, particularly around schools, and an early restoration of the Leys Institute Library and Gymnasium for the public, and creation of a public plaza and park at 254 Ponsonby Road.

Our next Board Meeting will be on Tuesday 15 June held at the Waitemata Local Board Office at 52 Swanson Street, Covid willing. People can take part either in person or by Skype. (RICHARD NORTHEY)  PN

I can be contacted at 021 534 546 or at richard.northey@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.

JOHN ELLIOTT: WHAT DOES THE NATIONAL PARTY STAND FOR IN 2021? HOW DOES IT MAKE A COMEBACK?

National is not the first major political party in the democratic world to be in the doldrums. Nor will it be the last.

The countries most like us are Britain and Australia. Each has two major parties, historically called left-wing and right-wing.

Along with New Zealand, all three have a “Labour Party” left- wing. All have similar right-wing parties; in Britain it’s the Conservatives, in Australia it’s the Liberals and in New Zealand it’s National. We three all come from the British “Westminister tradition” of parliamentary democracy.

In all three countries the political pendulum has swung gently left and then gently right for a very long time.

Take New Zealand - National was formed in 1935, as an amalgamation of the Liberal and Reform Parties. Labour was already a contender and it achieved power in 1939, governing throughout the Second World War and crucially introducing the “Welfare State “ to New Zealand. National first took power in 1949.

For the next 35 years National and Labour alternated as Government, without either party dismantling the welfare state. National tended to support business and farmers, Labour was wedded to the unions and to protecting workers’ rights.

Drastic change came to New Zealand in the 1980s, when Labour, with Roger Douglas as Finance Minister, introduced neo-liberalism to the country. Followed assiduously by National’s Ruth Richardson, the ‘State’ became a dirty word, and we were told by neo-liberals that the free market should rule. State assets were sold off, including energy companies and New Zealand Railways. Inequality and poverty exploded in New Zealand, as it did in the USA, Britain and Australia. (see The Spirit Level, by Wilkinson & Pickett). Right-wing governments had a field day while the social implications bit hard.

Now, in the 2020s, neo-liberalism has been discredited around the world. Read Frenchman Thomas Picketty’s, Capital in the 21st Century.

So, in New Zealand up until the 1980s we had a fairly benign pair of parties who fought out issues within a firm set of democratic parameters, and were never poles apart. That must auger well for a National Party comeback relatively soon surely. Not necessarily.

Times have changed, and the 2020s sees the Labour Party strengthened by younger, mainly women, and a vigorous ethnic mix. National is still saddled with too many older white males who are on the wrong side of history on many 2020 issues, including climate change, oil and gas versus renewable, roads versus rail and public transport. But what about the influence of leadership on democratic parties?

Britain still has a right-wing government, although a gentler one than before. This was partly because Corbyn, the Labour leader, was seen as unelectable. Similarly in Australia, Labour had a leader perceived as very weak and thus virtually unelectable, Bill Shorten. Scott Morrison won almost by default. So if National can sort out its leadership problem, could it romp back to power?

But remember Norman Kirk; a charismatic leader, who led Labour to a stunning victory in 1972, promptly died, and left a weak successor, Bill Rowling, who rolled over submissively to Robert Muldoon in 1975. National has discussed leadership succession. John Key just suddenly upped and left, leaving Bill English right in it. English, like Cullen and Palmer was an excellent number-two-man, but without real leadership qualities or ambition. Lange dropped Palmer in it too. Helen Clark groomed no successor, and Labour had every David in the phone book as leader until they settled on Jacinda Ardern.

But it’s not just about Collins versus Bridges versus Luxon versus a comeback Key. It’s about what the National Party stands for in the 2020s. The leadership issue will sort itself out. That’s all about timing.

Where’s the talk about policy, or principles or philosophy for that matter. Do they still believe in equal opportunity for all, a fair and just society? Do they still have the mantra used prior to 80s neo-liberalism that National believes in: private enterprise but will look after “ the old, the young, the sick, and the underprivileged”. What role do they see for the State in the 2020s? Should it help to curb excessive inequality, and to root out poverty?

Labour has a huge task post-Covid to reduce inequality and poverty. It has made a start. A budget out by the time the Ponsonby News reaches you may help, but National has shown little attempt to join in the fight of producing a more equal society - where the 1% isn’t running away with all the cream while many cannot put a decent meal on the table for their tamariki. Are National capable of forming a well functioning social democracy?

Listen to The Right Honourable Sir Edmund Thomas, retired judge of the Court of Appeal, who said just a few years ago, “New Zealand will never again be a fair and just society until it rids itself of the last vestiges of neo-liberalism.”

Can National help to do that? (JOHN ELLIOTT)  PN

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