On Monday 10 August we attended a Labour Party meeting where Kapiti electorate candidate Sophie Handford and Labour Party spokesperson for Local Government, Tangi Utikere, spoke about amalgamation.  We came away with some important questions — particularly for Kapiti.

🔹 Labour is not opposed to amalgamation. It opposes the Government’s current process and its speed, arguing the process should be slowed down — not stopped.

🔹 Labour says it wants to “get this right”, particularly where there is no clear agreement on the way forward.

🔹 Labour is concerned that, in the rush to create new entities, important regional council functions could be lost or left behind.

But here is the key issue:

Labour was asked repeatedly whether it supports a residents’ referendum on amalgamation, and whether a future Labour Government would force an unwilling council into amalgamation it did not support.

There was no clear answer.

While Tangi Utikere referred to Labour’s longstanding position of not forcing amalgamation, he would not categorically commit that a future Labour-led Government would continue that position.  There was no commitment to a referendum.

This means that Kapiti cannot be assured that a future Labour-led government would not force Kapiti into a merger with Wellington, Hutt, Porirua and Wairarapa councils, even though KCDC strongly opposes that option. 

We spoke to Sophie Handford directly after the meeting ended.  If elected to Parliament, either as the local electorate MP or through the Labour Party list, she said that she would fight hard “from the inside” to stop a forced merger, if a Labour-led government went down that path.  But as a new backbench MP, it is an open question how much influence she would actually have.

We have sometimes wondered if KCDC’s approach to amalgamation has been based on the hope that a future Labour-led government will not force Kapiti into an amalgamation with Wellington. Based on what was said at this meeting, Kapiti has no such assurance. 

DISCLAIMER:  CRK is not aligned to any political party. Our focus is solely on how Central Government decisions affect local democracy, local government and the people of Kapiti.

We’ll be attending other party candidates’ meetings and will report back on their positions on amalgamation and other local government issues.

Kapiti deserves to know where every party stands.