Phil Goff’s slow throttling of Aucklanders on low incomes
When “user-pays” water charges were proposed for Auckland back in the day, their biggest cheerleader was Labour MP Phil Goff.
Goff used the clever, cynical argument that people on low incomes should not have to subsidise filling swimming pools in Remuera. It sounded plausible but Goff knew it would result in shifting the balance of council costs away from the rich and onto tenants and families on the lowest incomes.
It’s has been the same with the rest of Goff’s political career. This is the same person who had previously, as part of the Lange/Douglas government, championed the introduction of GST and forcing students borrowing to pay tertiary education fees previously paid by the community as a whole.
He has worked hard for the wealthy throughout his political career.
And he’s still at it.
In the last few days Auckland Council has not only decided on large rate increases (5% now and an average 3.5% per year into the future) but even bigger water charges which will more than double the cost of water over the next 10 years.
And it is those on the lowest incomes, who already pay a much higher proportion of their incomes in rates and council charges than anyone else, who will shoulder the heaviest burden.
Goff will say that people who face genuine hardship can apply to a piddling pool of money if they really can’t pay their water bills but we all know that’s just a political veneer covering an ugly reality.
As Labour MP, and now as Auckland mayor, Goff has had his hands around the throats of our lowest-income citizens, slowly choking the life out of them. He’s still squeezing.
If you feel some sympathy for Phil Goff, don’t bother, he has a knighthood coming.
It can be argued that Watercare has been undercharging for the last decade because their revenue hasn’t covered essential infrastructure projects. We pay about $40 per month for water in Auckland and I could reduce it if I could be bothered with some recycling. Is that too much for first class drinking water and sewage treatment? I think not.
But wait! There’s more! The latest initiatives from central government will greatly reduce the number of water authorities so that small town NZ gets their aging systems maintained. Just you watch: This will mean that city dwellers will be paying for capital projects outside their city. It’s likely that Watercare will take over all of Northland’s water reticulation and Aucklanders will be paying to clean up the Hokianga.
As you say this government are taking water and sewage away from councils and doing away with local hospital boards. This will lead to control authorities set up by the government chaired by ex Labour MPs like Goff AK and Daziel CH. and soon Mallard will be looking for a cosy role.
There are a few moving parts in this Trevor:
We are seeing the results of decades of underspending on capital infrastructure in New Zealand. Last I heard we were a quarter of a trillion behind on infrastructure projects. The reasons are historic. Decades of maladministration at local level (e.g. councils that prioritize ‘wind wands’ over sewerage) plus a dysfunctional RMA process since then has put a handbrake on construction and made that investment inefficient and sometimes misdirected.
In many rural areas there has been virtually nil maintenance and reinvestment in water and wastewater for 30 years. This is because of a general loss of rates revenue by councils. There are two reasons for this. Firstly the migration of people to the cities means that these towns are slowly dying. Secondly in regions where there is Maori tribal land, councils are unable to extract rates from people living on that land because they have no recourse to recover the debt (they cannot put liens on tribal land). The result is northland where about half the rates are unpaid and the Hokianga is full of sewage because the council doesn’t have the money to maintain the treatment works.
So the proposed changes hope to paper over this problem by replicating the Watercare model into the provinces (Not because Watercare is particularly wonderful, but because it’s the least worst option). This will take decision making and revenue out of the hands of feckless councils, which may be a good thing, but it won’t fix the core governance issues.
As if most of Northland has water reticulation.
Yup, never did like the guy. Speaks with the same forked tongue the Douglas cabal did of which he was an eager part of. The neo liberal fish and chips brigade, – can a leopard change its spots? He’s certainly proven that it cant. I’m surprised he’s lasted this long,…and that the people still keep voting for the little right wing fool.
Or should I say the little Blairite third way fool. There , that’s more PC for the tribal Labourites.
At least I softened it a bit ,.. for their sakes only.
Well, the one thing we know, knighthood etc have a very low bar, just think Key and Shipley.
We purchased 2x second hand water tanks and no more water bills.
Ratepayers pay more rates while overseas businesses and the rich get millions of freebies.
Water is big business to those who control it. NZ neoliberals love to give it away for free or cheap especially to overseas businesses (like power, Rio Tinto) while driving up the utility prices for it’s people.
We are heading in this direction…
The scandal of millions of Americans deprived of running water
https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/jul/02/the-scandal-of-millions-of-americans-being-deprived-of-running-water-podcast
What happens to locals as the councils and governments give the water away to private firms…
The fight to stop Nestlé from taking America’s water to sell in plastic bottles
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/29/the-fight-over-water-how-nestle-dries-up-us-creeks-to-sell-water-in-plastic-bottles
Coca-Cola sucking wells dry in indigenous Mexican town – forcing residents to buy bottled water
Bottling plant ‘consumes more than a million litres of water a day’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coca-cola-mexico-wells-dry-bottled-water-sucking-san-felipe-ecatepec-chiapas-a7953026.html
Coca-Cola Charged With Groundwater Depletion and Pollution in India
https://www.thoughtco.com/coca-cola-groundwater-depletion-in-india-1204204
https://waronwant.org/media/coca-cola-drinking-world-dry
Chinese company approved to run water mining operation in drought-stricken Queensland
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/28/chinese-company-approved-to-run-water-mining-operation-in-drought-stricken-queensland
IN NZ
Consent granted for Chinese water bottling giant to purchase Otakiri Spring
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/104695650/consent-granted-for-chinese-water-bottling-giant-to-purchase-otakiri-spring
Chinese water bottling plant’s proposal to take water from Whakatane aquifer ‘sustainable’, court hears
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/chinese-water-bottling-plants-proposal-take-whakatane-aquifer-sustainable-court-hears
Canterbury water on way to Chinese market as bottling plant starts production
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/107721548/canterbury-water-on-way-to-chinese-market-as-bottling-plant-starts-production
Whakatane locals outraged on government’s encouragement of Chinese water bottling investment
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/whakatane-locals-outraged-governments-encouragement-chinese-water-bottling-investment
NZ Government Secretly Funded Water Bottling Companies
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1904/S00055/nz-government-secretly-funded-water-bottling-companies.htm
Green Party members revolt over water bottling decision
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104668519/green-party-members-revolt-over-water-bottling-decision
Who has had the control and power in our local councils, and really the same could be said about our nationally three yearly elected governments. And with this power comes inaction cause they want to be re-elected, right. And no owns the water but our council under their bylaws can issue permits to overseas companies to take water and bottle it. Yet no one owns the water cause the water like the airwaves and the foreshore belongs to all of us. ( bullshit) Can you seem the irony in this especially now that water has become the new liquid gold and all of a sudden we have water issues.