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Speaker 1: Very soapers here with our senior political correspondent for news talks.

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Speaker 1: It'd be very good afternoon aftern Ryn.

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Speaker 2: You really didn't have to give me the title. Wow.

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Speaker 1: I feel it's important to do that. Some people enjoy

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Speaker 1: it more than others exactly. He speaking of titles. The

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Speaker 1: Prime Minister has been speaking alongside Local Government Minister Simon Brown,

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Speaker 1: Yes he has today.

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Speaker 2: What essentially they're trying to do is to make local

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Speaker 2: government more accountable to the rate players. And you will

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Speaker 2: remember not long after Chris Luxton took over the job,

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Speaker 2: he said that the nice to have shouldn't be there,

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Speaker 2: and he cited the convention center, the new Convention Center

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Speaker 2: in Wonnington, which seems, I've got to say, to be

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Speaker 2: going quite well. It's right opposite the Topapa, which is

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Speaker 2: a convention center in itself. But look, being the capital

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Speaker 2: city you probably get a bit more sort of mileage

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Speaker 2: having a big convention center like that. But anyway, what

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Speaker 2: they're doing is they've an outs today and it'll come

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Speaker 2: out before the low body elections next year. They want

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Speaker 2: basically the local body governments to get back to the

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Speaker 2: basics and the removing from the Act the four well

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Speaker 2: Beings and of course they were the babies of Grant

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Speaker 2: Robertson in most legislation that labor passed and that's social, economic,

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Speaker 2: environmental and cultural. When it comes to the councils what

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Speaker 2: that means, goodness only knows. But nevertheless that's going to

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Speaker 2: be removed now the local government ministers Simeon Brown. He

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Speaker 2: says there'll essentially be competition between councils to see how

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Speaker 2: well they're doing for the rate payers.

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Speaker 3: The Department of Internal Affairs will publish a yearly report

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Speaker 3: on key financial and delivery outcomes, helping ratepayers hold councils

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Speaker 3: accountable and compare their council with other councils. Modernize outdated

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Speaker 3: rules and clean removing requirements for newspaper notices to drive

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Speaker 3: efficiency and cost savings in local government. The first benchmarking

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Speaker 3: report in local councils we released in the middle of

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Speaker 3: twenty twenty five and six, expected to include a number

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Speaker 3: of key council performance metrics rates so that ratepays know

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Speaker 3: the amount of rates leavied per unit, the change in

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Speaker 3: rates since the previous year, and the forecast change in

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Speaker 3: rates over the next ten years compared with other councils.

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Speaker 3: We want to make it clear that our expectations of

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Speaker 3: the local government are the same that we have of ourselves,

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Speaker 3: which is to get back to the basics and do

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Speaker 3: them brilliantly.

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Speaker 1: Sounds like a good idea, Barry, But are you who

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Speaker 1: is going to go dub dub dub dot DIA, dot

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Speaker 1: gov dot NZ and look up a whole bunch of

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Speaker 1: metrics at the government.

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Speaker 2: How much did my rates pay for the potholes?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, versus and the cargol I mean, is this going

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Speaker 1: to actually.

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Speaker 2: Look I don't. I think the notion of competition between

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Speaker 2: the councils I've shown in the past, and you don't

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Speaker 2: have to look at tar Honor an absolute failure of

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Speaker 2: the council there a few years back, and look at

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Speaker 2: Wellington at the moment the failure of the council there.

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Speaker 2: So I don't think councils are particularly worried about how

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Speaker 2: they look compared to other councils. I think they're more

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Speaker 2: concerned about whether they're getting on and doing the job.

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Speaker 2: And I guess this report card will tell us where

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Speaker 2: the councils are performing the way they should perform.

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Speaker 1: Slightly ironic as well, because this used to be the

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Speaker 1: job of the media.

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Speaker 2: Yes there was nobody.

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Speaker 1: Left in the media exactly, but you know that was

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Speaker 1: one of their jobs.

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Speaker 2: Yes, exactly.

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Speaker 1: Goodness to me, the fairies. The deal's being done. If

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Speaker 1: you listen to Luxon it goes.

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Speaker 2: On forever, this one, doesn't it. And this really for

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Speaker 2: the end of the year has been a nightmare for

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Speaker 2: this government. Like I said to you last week when

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Speaker 2: I was in Wellington, you could have cut the ear

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Speaker 2: with a knife around Parliament. So many people were hosed

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Speaker 2: off about what had happened. Now it would seem if

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Speaker 2: you listen to the Prime Minister today that essentially the

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Speaker 2: deal on the fairies had been done, and that's if

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Speaker 2: you listen to him. It's now over to Winston Peters

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Speaker 2: to improve on it.

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Speaker 4: We need to make a decision around procurement by the

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Speaker 4: end of March this year. We've got a really good

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Speaker 4: option on the table with two rail compatible fairies, which

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Speaker 4: is the default position. Minister Peters has up until the

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Speaker 4: end of March to see whether he can improve on

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Speaker 4: that offer and improve and get a better solution in place.

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Speaker 4: But then we're locking loading and moving forward with those

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Speaker 4: two fairies.

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Speaker 2: Tell you what, there's a hell of a lot of

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Speaker 2: pressure on Winston Peters, isn't it. And the thing is,

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Speaker 2: you can't tell me. People around the world who builds

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Speaker 2: fairies don't know what this government is now prepared to

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Speaker 2: pay totally, So the bargaining ability I think even for

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Speaker 2: Winston Peters, who you know is a bit of a

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Speaker 2: wide boy when it comes to these things, if he

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Speaker 2: can't get a better deal then it's going to be

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Speaker 2: a egged on his face. If they fall back to

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Speaker 2: the position that the Prime Minister is now talking about, well,

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Speaker 2: well and good, they should have announced it last week.

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Speaker 1: And also what's the different price between now and March?

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Speaker 2: You know, yeah, to the very Debarkle's just been terrible.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Debarkle's the right word. Hey, very quickly. Should those

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Speaker 1: cops have gone to China? Do you reckon?

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Speaker 4: Well?

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Speaker 2: You know, I mean the point is that Andrew Little

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Speaker 2: has come out said thirty three cops. They went on

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Speaker 2: their own volition. But once they got there they paid

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Speaker 2: their way there, which was interesting. They went through a

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Speaker 2: tour company. I'm sure they've got a pretty good deal

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Speaker 2: once they got there, though, they were looked after by

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Speaker 2: the Chinese and I don't feel insecure about cops being there,

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Speaker 2: but it isn't really a good lock when you've got

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Speaker 2: people in authority going to what is, you know, a

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Speaker 2: communists country, and I'm sure they had no secrets to spill,

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Speaker 2: but nevertheless I think it was none wise thing for

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Speaker 2: them to do.

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Speaker 1: It certainly sounds like it. Barry Soper, thank you very

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Speaker 1: much for.

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Speaker 2: That's for more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive.

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Speaker 1: Listen live to news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,

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