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Speaker 1: So having looked at every council in the country and

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Speaker 1: depending rate rises, we're all going to have to pay

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Speaker 1: a couple of inescapable conclusions are to be drawn. One

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Speaker 1: we need central government to cap rates. Two we need

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Speaker 1: fewer councils. If you were to roughly use inflation as

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Speaker 1: a guide, which is what they should be doing. Why

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Speaker 1: Tomo is the only council in the country, of all

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Speaker 1: the councils, seventy plus of them, the only council in

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Speaker 1: the country to get under the wire at two point

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Speaker 1: nine three percent, So congratulations. Now, I'm sure every council

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Speaker 1: could and would mount an argument as to why whatever

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Speaker 1: it is they've come up with, whether it be the

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Speaker 1: twelve point nine percent in Taranaki or the fifteen point

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Speaker 1: five percent in Hamilton, is in some way, shape or

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Speaker 1: form justifiable. A lot of it will be historic, they

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Speaker 1: will tell you. In other words, of previous councils have

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Speaker 1: done their job and fiscally prudent. The work being undertaken

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Speaker 1: today would not be the current burden it is, but

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Speaker 1: a lot of it, if you are doge like or brutal,

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Speaker 1: would not in fact be needed at all. Councils have

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Speaker 1: become fifdoms. They have entered areas they have no business. But,

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Speaker 1: like so much in life, once you've ventured, there is

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Speaker 1: no turning back. Apart from the specific like the Oto

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Speaker 1: hung A nine point seven Sex or the Central Otago

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Speaker 1: twelve point four, you also have the more general impact.

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Speaker 1: In other words, you are adding cost to the economy.

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Speaker 1: You were charging fixed income folks who don't have the money.

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Speaker 1: What you were doing is inflationary. None of us had

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Speaker 1: the ability to simply add more charges. We don't simply

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Speaker 1: get the pay rise we want, or up our hourly

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Speaker 1: rate to the poor sap with servicing. Life isn't like

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Speaker 1: that we cut our cloth. Could we buy more? Do more?

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Speaker 1: Spend more? Because we could, but we can't unless you're

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Speaker 1: a council. And even if a council, any council could say, oh,

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Speaker 1: look look at what all that money got you look

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Speaker 1: at the gold plating and the shiny baubles and tens

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Speaker 1: of thousands who were flocked to our region because of

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Speaker 1: our expenditure. But they can't say that because none of

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Speaker 1: that's happened. Fifteen percent doesn't buy you utopia. It merely

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Speaker 1: sets you up for another fifteen percent next year. Because

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Speaker 1: councils know a sucker when they see one, So cap

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Speaker 1: those rates, can those councils. It might well be the

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Speaker 1: most popular thing the central government does in three years.

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Speaker 1: For more from The Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to

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Speaker 1: News Talk SETB from six am weekdays, or follow the

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