Posted on 13-1-2002
Auckland
City - Alternatives
Before Christmas, 40 people attended a public meeting called
at short
notice to discuss action against the cutbacks in the role and
function of
Auckland city Council as proposed in the Bill Birch report.
A further
public meeting is planned for TUESDAY 22 JANUARY, 7.30pm to
9pm at the
Freeman's Bay Community Centre in Hepburn St.
The purpose of the meeting is to continue discussion and networking
on
action to resist these changes and to support democratically
developed
alternatives that are in the interests of all Auckland City
citizens and
residents.
You will recall that Birch recommended that the Council withdraw
from all
services except those that can't be charged for - street lighting
and
parks. At its meeting on 19 December, the Council accepted the
general
approach of the Birch report while not accepting all the detail.
These
decisions are currently being analysed and this should be available
at the
public meeting. On 21 December, John Banks justified these decisions
in the
NZ Herald by saying they are necessary to avoid a "mountain
of debt". You
may recall that this was the excuse used by the 1984 Labour
Government for
cutbacks to Public Services, the 1988 Labour government for
privatisations
especially Telecom, and again by the 1990 National government
to justify
cuts to welfare spending and other social security measures.
Surely we
don’t intend to let them have a fourth drink from that particular
well,
especially when Auckland City Council is well within the now
legislated
limits for local government debt.
|