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Speaker 1: Now, the outgoing mayor of Uturohunga has had a crack

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Speaker 1: at central government, saying it needs to stop using local

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Speaker 1: government as a punching bag. Max bac Max Baxter rather

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Speaker 1: says his twelve year term has been enjoyable, but he's

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Speaker 1: sick of the government dumping unfunded mandates on local authorities

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Speaker 1: with no financial help. And he's with us now. I'm Max,

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Speaker 1: your cured to Heather, what have you not loved?

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Speaker 2: Look, it's just getting incredibly challenging out there, and I

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Speaker 2: think the rhetoric that's been thrown at local government in

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Speaker 2: recent times is doing way more harm than good. I

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Speaker 2: think it's about time that central government and local government

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Speaker 2: work together rather than throwing barbs at each other. And

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Speaker 2: we've got elections in a few weeks time here now,

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Speaker 2: and I've seen a lot of elected members, mayors, fellow

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Speaker 2: elected members that have been under a lot of pressure,

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Speaker 2: a lot of criticism. There's been death threats, violence threats

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Speaker 2: against people, and it's not helped by the rhetoric that's

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Speaker 2: thrown its local government elected members by central government.

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Speaker 1: I mean, look, we all want fights to stop and stuff,

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Speaker 1: but they're going to it's going to happen, isn't. It's

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Speaker 1: going to continue. So what is it that they I've

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Speaker 1: ordered you guys to do that's unfunded? That's really got

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Speaker 1: your goat?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we talk about a lot of legislative

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Speaker 2: requirements and look at a couple of things here that

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Speaker 2: I think about big brother playing party with us. You know,

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Speaker 2: stormwater contents alone for us this year are going to

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Speaker 2: be three hundred thousand dollars for a Toronto District council.

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Speaker 2: Our auditing fees are two hundred and eighty thousand dollars

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Speaker 2: for this year. And we keep on looking at those

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Speaker 2: costs and legislation that comes on us. And I know

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Speaker 2: the government is talking about it, Minister Bishops talking about

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Speaker 2: cutting a lot of the red tape and I get that,

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Speaker 2: but you know, these costs you think about a small

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Speaker 2: community in a small district, they're incredibly prohibitive when we're

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Speaker 2: just trying to get things done.

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Speaker 1: Sounds to me like this local water done well business

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Speaker 1: is going to be a bit of a stuff up,

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Speaker 1: is it.

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Speaker 2: Look Gosh, let's wait and see. I mean it's I

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Speaker 2: think if a lot of these things, if the money

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Speaker 2: was actually just given to us to do the job

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Speaker 2: rather than all the money that's spent setting up new entities,

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Speaker 2: we can get a lot done. And I think if

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Speaker 2: we go back to the storm water and can send

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Speaker 2: for seawalls and the likes of the money was there

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Speaker 2: available for us to actually just do the work, wouldn't

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Speaker 2: we get a lot more done?

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Speaker 1: Okay? Now what do you think of the political parties

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Speaker 1: coming to local government like actors just announce they're going

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Speaker 1: to be standing candidates.

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Speaker 2: No, I don't agree with it all. I mean, this

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Speaker 2: is about local democracy we're talking here. We're talking about

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Speaker 2: citizens that really care for the communities in which they live,

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Speaker 2: that want the best for their communities. And the last

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Speaker 2: thing we need is some central government political overload and

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Speaker 2: local government system.

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Speaker 1: Isn't it, don't you think? I mean the problem that

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Speaker 1: we've got is not a lot of people vote in

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Speaker 1: local government anymore. And I think part of the problem,

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Speaker 1: Max is because we look at this list of people,

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Speaker 1: go I don't know who this is, I don't know

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Speaker 1: what they stand for, and it just feels just like

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Speaker 1: too much mental load. So if you have a blue

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Speaker 1: box or a pink box, or a red box or

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Speaker 1: a green box, at least you know kind of roughly

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Speaker 1: what they stand for. It's shorthand it gets us involved again,

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Speaker 1: what do you think?

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Speaker 2: No, then you ask the question why do we have

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Speaker 2: local government? I mean local government is they're about caring

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Speaker 2: for the communities. And we've heard a lot of rhetoric

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Speaker 2: around getting rid of the well beings, you know, the social, economic, environmental,

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Speaker 2: and cultural aspects of what we do. If you get

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Speaker 2: rid of those, who's going to deliver on that? And

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Speaker 2: what's left once you take away those well beings in

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Speaker 2: a community? That's what people get up for. They get

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Speaker 2: up for to be locked after they're there for vibrant communities,

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Speaker 2: So somebody has to deliver that. And with the erosion

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Speaker 2: or potential erosion of local government, you'll get to the

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Speaker 2: point where who is actually going to deliver on those

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Speaker 2: because it's certainly not been delivered by central government. Currently.

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Speaker 2: Local government is the last man standing, so we need

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Speaker 2: to be there.

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Speaker 1: What about the argument that a whole bunch of stuff

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Speaker 1: that we actually just used to do for ourselves and

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Speaker 1: each other, like our neighbors and our family and our friends,

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Speaker 1: we now expect these authorities to do for us. You

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Speaker 1: shouldn't be relying on an authority for your well being,

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Speaker 1: you should just be doing it as a community.

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Speaker 2: I think we are local government some of us. If

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Speaker 2: you look at a council, we look at ourselves as

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Speaker 2: anchor institutions and we're there to facilitate the opportunity. Well,

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Speaker 2: somebody's got organized communities to do this, So we don't

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Speaker 2: actually have to deliver as councils, but someone has got

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Speaker 2: to facilitate the opportunity.

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Speaker 1: What about some communities just organize the street barbecue themselves.

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Speaker 1: Why do we need a local government body to do that?

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Speaker 2: Come on, Heather, it's a bit bigger than a barbecue,

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Speaker 2: you know that is. I mean, we've got roadstock after it,

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Speaker 2: rubbish to back up, we've got.

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Speaker 1: But that's not well being.

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Speaker 2: That's just your job, are they Aren't they really well being?

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Speaker 1: That's infrastructure?

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Speaker 2: Oh come on, you know the road that you travel

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Speaker 2: on that hasn't got potholes. There's a well being for

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Speaker 2: a farmer that there's exactly what he needs to be

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Speaker 2: able to get to town. So yeah, come on here,

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Speaker 2: in a small community like ours, we're not building events, censors,

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Speaker 2: we're not building anything fancy. We're looking after our communities

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Speaker 2: so they're vibrant.

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Speaker 1: No, no, I agree with that as we. Okay, Well,

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Speaker 1: if that's your wellbeing, that's the well being that I like. Max,

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Speaker 1: Thank you very much, appreciate it. Max Baxter all sort

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Speaker 1: of hungers mare.

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