Fees show costs blow out without democratic say

new-zealand-labour-party

Wed Jun 10 2009 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Fees show costs blow out without democratic say

Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 9:16 am
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

Fees being paid to members of the Auckland Transitional Agency show that promises of efficiencies in the new super city are unlikely to be kept, Labour’s Mt Albert candidate David Shearer says.

Members will be paid a thousand dollars a day, and the chair will be paid nearly six hundred thousand dollars a year.

David Shearer says elected local representatives are never paid that much.

“Not even the prime minister is paid as much as the unelected officials.

“Good strong local representation ensures members who are responsive to the community and who reflect its make up.

“But because the government has taken away the right for Auckland to have a say, the National government can pay Transition Agency whatever it wants, and there is nothing Aucklanders can do about it. We just have to pay the bill.

“I talked to an economist from Auckland University who crunched the numbers. She put the transition costs at between $574 and $753 per household.

“National hasn’t costed the transition. Just about the only numbers you will find in the National Party proposal are the page numbers. National is spending lavishly on the Transition because there is no democratic accountability.

Unless you are very careful about representation, the bigger an organisation is, the less responsive it is. I’ve just come from the UN - if there’s one thing I have had experience with it’s managing people in large organisations. I have seen how large organisations can easily produce waste and inefficiency.

The promises National is making of gains are far in the future but the bill is arriving already,” David Shearer said.

ENDS

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