Bill Dalton

Ever since Winston Peters, the untrustworthy clown prince of New Zealand, was drummed out of politics, there has been a vacancy sign hanging outside the Beehive.  It has now been taken down.  Rodney Hide has the job.
 
Not since Winston Peters’ days, have I heard a politician spout so much rubbish as I’ve heard from Rodney Hide in recent times.

Rodney wants local authorities to go back to basics – Water, Roads, and Sewerage etc and therefore lower the rates burden.  Sounds good doesn’t it, but think what our town, Napier, would be like to live in.

Libraries are not essential and are non-profitable so they would have to go.  The Municipal Theatre, the War Memorial Conference Centre are not essential and not profitable so they would go.  The Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery is not essential and costs Hawke’s Bay Ratepayers so that would go.  Private enterprise will never pick those ones up because they don’t make any money.  Private enterprise would pick up Kennedy Park because it is very profitable – but hang on – we use the profit from that facility to offset losses in other community assets.

The Sailing Club and the Offshore Fishing Club would dwindle and die because the Napier City Council would not guarantee their borrowings. We provide that guarantee because these clubs can not borrow over their assets because they are on council land.

No more New Years Eve fireworks display, no funds poured into McLean Park to improve the facilities – the list goes on and on.

Without the measured and prudent input from the City Council, Napier would become a backwater.  Tourism – and we are very definitely a tourism town – would die.

Is that what Rodney Hide wants? To concentrate the power in the Auckland Super City.
 
If Rodney Hide was serious about easing the burden on ratepayers across the country, he would have a look at the intolerable layers of bureaucracy and administration imposed on local authorities by central government.
 
Then we might start to see some efficiencies.

Then we would see rates held in check.