2010: Supercity

August 3, 2020

By AHNZ

As of November 2020 it has become a a full decade since Auckland became a “Super City.”

At this clip (see below) shows, not so very long ago, there were 27 Mayors of Auckland! One big push and they could have all been dunked in the drink! What an opportunity!

The further back in time we go, the more local and diverse and represented and community-driven New Zealand was. The trend is to be more globalist, more concentrated, power more centralised. One Ring to rule them all, one Supercity.

‘Long ago the country bore the country-town and nourished it with her best blood. Now the giant city sucks the country dry…’- Spengler

It is now 10 years since National 5.0 Minister of Local Government, Rodney Hide, turned Auckland into one big Supercity. This involved combining the last of the independent blocs into one big blob on 10 November 2020.

“The Auckland Council took over the functions of the Auckland Regional Council and the region’s seven city and district councils: Auckland City Council, Manukau City Council, Waitakere City Council, North Shore City Council, Papakura District Council, Rodney District Council and most of Franklin District Council.”- wiki

Libertarians, including supporters of Rodney Hide’s own ACT party were confused at the time as to why this great concentration of monopolistic political power was taking place. It seemed to go everything against what a free-market economist who who had read Human Action by Ludwig von Mises would advise. It was swimming in the opposite direction from the Public Choice economics lessons being taught in our universities. Yet, here was Rodney Hide, leader of ACT with a Masters in economics, a lecturer of Lincoln University, leading the way in growing The State!?

“I hope that local government minister Rodney Hide, who has lectured in economics and ought to know Tiebout, has thought this one through. I’ve not yet seen the case made where any serious weight is put on the loss of Tiebout competition. The Royal Commission Report makes no mention whatsoever of Tiebout.”- Offsetting Behavior (2009)

As Municiple Darwinism advances, are we really better off?

It seems clear in hindsight that Hide’s energetic accomplishment was for political, not economic or moral reasons. This somewhat confusing as the inheritors of the Supercity have not been right-wing. Future inheritor of Hide’s ACT Party, John Banks, lost the first Super City Election to a Lefty, Len Brown, in 2010. Next came Labour 5.0 gang member, Phil Goff. So if melting down the last independent municipalities of Auckland into a political gift for The Right was the plan it failed very badly.

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Note: At the time, fellow ACT MP, Roger Douglas (or, his young researcher anyway (No, it wasn’t me)) did put out a paper opposing the Supercity on economic (if not moral) grounds. Nobody was listening.

Image ref. 27 Mayors of Auckland! One big push and they could have all been dunked in the drink! What an opportunity!; Beyond the Bombay Hills (1986); NZ on Screen

Ref. 1947: The waters of the Waitemata

Ref. Localism

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