When is a stadium core business? Is it when you blatantly offer up your council’s social housing to central government to help pay for a rugby stadium. Is that what the LGF is on about below, not quite but you get the drift…
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### NewstalkZB 30/03/2009 8:00:25
Councils told: stick to basics
Councils are being told to stick to their knitting. The Local Government Forum – a group lobbying on behalf of businesses – has released a report that tells them to steer clear of forming social policies to even up the distribution of wealth. It says that is the government’s job, and it should stay that way. Mr Finny says local councils should focus on providing public services. Read more
The link to the newly released report will be posted here when available.
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### Business NZ 14 Mar 2007
Business groups launch Local Government Manifesto
Business groups say local government needs to be more focussed on its core business, to ease the disturbing growth in the country’s rates bill.
Read more
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Download: Local Government Forum (2007), Democracy and Performance: A Manifesto for Local Government, Local Government Forum, Christchurch.
[First published in November 2008 by the Local Government Forum, Christchurch.]
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
What if? Dunedin... 
“steer clear of forming social policies to even up the distribution of wealth”
An Ideological stance, one which, thankfully in the New Zealand Social Democratic imagination, doesn’t hold much water. Unfortunately there is a group of Ideologues whom wrap their social and political thinking around the laissez-faire / Libertarian political thinking of the likes of Rodney Hide who actually believe in this rubbish.
“councils generally do not have the information necessary to put such policies in place.”
No Council’s have no idea where the social housing needs in Dunedin are. That is so better left to bureaucrats in Wellington. Wellington knows what the make up of a South Dunedin library council service centre should look like.
“social meddling” – isn’t it nice when we can phrase the basic social responsibility of caring for others as “meddling”.
The link is of course from that bastion of right wing broadcasting NewsTalkZB, don’t be surprised if the biggest bigot/git in broadcasting Leighton Smith has this guy on for an interview.
Further it doesn’t even look as if NewstalkZb has done their own work on this, it seems to be taken from a TVNZ article in which the discussion was about the new structure for Auckland City. But good old Newstalk ZB they’ve put their nasty right wing spin on it.
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/mixed-reaction-plans-auckland-2592783
All I can say is that the social and economic fabric of New Zealand would be vastly different for the worse if we have this thinking dominating Local Govt.