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Speaker 1: The government though, is going to appoint a Crown observer

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Speaker 1: to Wellington Council. The local Government Minister's worried about dysfunction

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Speaker 1: and financial management, particularly with regards to paying for fixing

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Speaker 1: for the pipes. That, of course is Simmy and Brown.

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Speaker 2: Who's with us A samn good evening.

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Speaker 1: Have you heard from Tory yet?

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Speaker 2: Oh? I spoke to her earlier today, prior to announcing

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Speaker 2: my decision, and I informed her that I'd be putting

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Speaker 2: an observer in and outline the process to her. She's

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Speaker 2: to her obviously. We've now written to her. She now

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Speaker 2: has ten days to respond based on under the law

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Speaker 2: on the terms of reference.

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Speaker 1: Was she surprised?

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Speaker 2: Oh, I didn't get the sense of that. I thought.

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Speaker 2: I think it was. It was a professional conversation. I

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Speaker 2: informed her of the decision I'd arrived at based on

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Speaker 2: a number of reasons, one of the dysfunction, two financial management,

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Speaker 2: and three how they've been how they're using their balance

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Speaker 2: sheet to invest in water infrastructure, which of course Wellingtonians

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Speaker 2: now is a significant issue for the city.

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Speaker 1: How explained to me how you've come to the conclusion

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Speaker 1: that rate payers are being overcharged by seven hundred million well.

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Speaker 2: One of the pieces of advice that I received from

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Speaker 2: the Department of Internal Affears is in regards to how

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Speaker 2: they are utilizing their balance sheet to effectively invest in

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Speaker 2: water infrastructure, is based on their long term plan. Effectively,

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Speaker 2: of the one point one billion dollars, well one point

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Speaker 2: one six billion dollars that's been proposed to spend on

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Speaker 2: what cap X, ninety four percent of that has been

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Speaker 2: funded through rates revenues and only six percent through debt financing.

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Speaker 2: And effectively, these are intergenerational assets, the long term assets,

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Speaker 2: and that's highlighting that they're not utilizing their balance sheet

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Speaker 2: appropriately in order to invest in these long term assets.

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Speaker 2: And so that's an issue which has been highlighted. And

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Speaker 2: again Valingtonians well know that what infrastructure Wellington is an

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Speaker 2: incredibly poor state. And so again it's just another of

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Speaker 2: the reasons why we've taken this step to put an

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Speaker 2: observer in place as they redo their long term plan.

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Speaker 2: As we know this is an incredibly important issue for

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Speaker 2: the city.

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Speaker 1: So I mean, because this use of the balance sheet

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Speaker 1: has not come up before, there is now some speculation

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Speaker 1: that you are using this to reverse engineer a decision

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Speaker 1: and basically justify a decision you have already made.

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Speaker 2: No, not at all. I mean we ask for advice

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Speaker 2: in regards to the situation in Wellington. I think, as

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Speaker 2: you and your listeners know, there's been increasing concern over

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Speaker 2: the governance of Wellington City Council for some time now.

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Speaker 2: We ask for advice. The advice covered a range of

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Speaker 2: issues in relation to not only the decision made around

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Speaker 2: the long term plan a couple of weeks ago to

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Speaker 2: effectively relitigate it, but looked at other issues the council

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Speaker 2: as well. So that advice came to me and on

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Speaker 2: the basis of that, we've chosen to put an observer in.

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Speaker 1: Is the Crown monitor that you will appoint basically just

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Speaker 1: going to watch and report or do you expect them

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Speaker 1: to be more active providing guys and advice and so on.

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Speaker 2: Well, they will be able to provide guidance and advice

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Speaker 2: not only to the Mayor and the counselors, but also

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Speaker 2: to council officers as well. And I think that's really

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Speaker 2: important because ultimately those council officers have a huge amount

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Speaker 2: of power and influence in terms of the decisions that

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Speaker 2: are made by the council. Have been very clear though

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Speaker 2: to the meyor end in my public statements, this Crown

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Speaker 2: Observer will not be undertaking any of the democratic decision making.

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Speaker 2: That democratic decision made again, accountability sits fairly and squeally

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Speaker 2: with the mere end Who counselors.

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Speaker 1: Okay, do you need some names, because I've got some

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Speaker 1: names for you, Because what you need, I understand is

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Speaker 1: a lefty who can understand books.

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Speaker 2: Well, look, I'm getting advice from the department in regards

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Speaker 2: to some proposed names and then we'll be going through

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Speaker 2: that process.

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Speaker 1: So that's you telling me gently that no, you don't

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Speaker 1: need the names that I've got because I've got Steve

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Speaker 1: mahari I for you, fran Wilde, Rob Campbell, and who

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Speaker 1: there was somebody else as well. I can't remember, but

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Speaker 1: Peter Dunn. Those are good names, aren't they.

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Speaker 2: No, No, those are all good names. We appreciate the feedback.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you. I'll pass that on. I appreciate

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Speaker 1: yet at Simmy and good luck with us shimozzle that

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Speaker 1: you're dealing with now, Simmy and Brown the local government minister.

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Speaker 1: They for more from hither Duplessy Allen Drive listen live

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Speaker 1: to news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, or

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