Mike's Minute: Council amalgamation – something else this Govt didn't deliver

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The Mike Hosking Breakfast 1 min 1 speaker 5 chapters transcribed 2 hours ago

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What criticism does Andrew Little make about the government's council amalgamation plan?

Mike Hosking 0:00

Andrew Little had a very good crack at the government yesterday over council amalgamation, got interrupted by an alarm, which was quite funny, but he did make his point. His disappointment is well founded. My major criticism, you know, of this government is they said a lot of stuff they simply didn't deliver on. Someone like Luxon, I guess, would argue, Oh, it's aspirational and better to fall short trying hard than not trying at all.

How does the host compare the government's delivery failures to other broken promises?

Mike Hosking 0:20

Little is rightly ropeable about council amalgamation being delayed until after the election. If the government flips, of course, it's never actually going to happen at all. And maybe, given the submissions made by various councils against the plan, that was what they wanted all along, stall until it's possibly too late. Unleashed chaos was a good line that Little used yesterday, but then I actually thought it was a good policy. I mean we're hopelessly over counseled in this country, and too many of them are run by a collection of knobs.

Why does the host argue that council amalgamation may have been deliberately stalled?

Mike Hosking 0:46

Well meaning, I'm sure, but complacency and mediocrity litter the council left. Landscape, the fewer of them the better. Some got on with it, some formed groups, some kind of had a crack, but some outright refused, and you knew they were holding out until the bitter end. But like all top-down restructuring, it causes time, energy, and money to be spent on things that, as it turns out, might well be off. An irony, I thought, given wastage was in fact one of the reasons the idea was being profit in the first place.

What are the perceived costs and ironies of top‑down restructuring like council amalgamation?

Mike Hosking 1:12

I like Little. He walks a fairly decent Line between being a Labour wonk and a council rep, but also a guy with vast experience who plays the game and is professional with it. So when he says this is poor form, he means it, and I believe him, and he's right. From 500 police that didn't happen, to the reviews that never got to the cabinet, to the LNG deal that's run out of time, to the council amalgamation that's wasted a lot of hours, this government wasn't quite as sharp at delivery as they might have led you to believe when they showed.

How does the episode conclude on the government's overall performance and future outlook?

Mike Hosking 1:40

You the tin. It won't switch any votes, of course, but you would want to hope for a slicker, more well oiled machine after November seventh. For more from the Mike Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks Ed B from 6 a.m. weekdays or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.

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Chapters

5 chapters

1 What criticism does Andrew Little make about the government's council amalgamation plan? 0:00–0:20 2 How does the host compare the government's delivery failures to other broken promises? 0:20–0:46 3 Why does the host argue that council amalgamation may have been deliberately stalled? 0:46–1:12 4 What are the perceived costs and ironies of top‑down restructuring like council amalgamation? 1:12–1:40 5 How does the episode conclude on the government's overall performance and future outlook? 1:40–1:56

Speakers

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Mike Hosking 2 min

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Topics in this episode

iHeartRadio 1 government 4 News Talks Ed B 1 The Mike Hosking Breakfast 1 Christopher Luxon 1 Andrew Little 5 Labour 1 council amalgamation 3

Source

Recorded24 Sep 2026

Publisheromnycontent.com ↗

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Show notes

Andrew Little had a good crack at the Government over council amalgamation. He got interrupted by an alarm but made his point and his disappointment is well-founded. My major criticism of this Government is they said a lot of stuff they simply didn’t deliver on. Someone like Luxon would argue it's aspirational and it's better to fall short trying hard than not try at all. Little is rightly ropeable about council amalgamation being delayed until after the election. If the Government flips of course, it will never happen at all. Maybe, given the submissions made by various councils against the plan, that was what they wanted all along: stall until it's possibly too late. "Unleashed chaos" was a good line he used. But then it was a good policy. We are hopelessly over-counselled in this country and too many of them are run by a collection of knobs. They're well-meaning I'm sure, but complacency and mediocrity litter the council landscape. The fewer of them the better. Some got on with it and formed groups. Some kind of had a crack and some outright refused and you knew they were holding out until the bitter end. But like all top-down restructuring, it causes time, energy, and money to be spent on things that, as it turns out, might be off, which is an irony given wastage was one of the reasons the idea was being proffered in the first place. I like Little. He walks a fairly decent line between being a Labour wonk and a council representative, but also a guy with vast experience who plays the game and is professional with it. So when he says this is poor form he means it, and I believe him, and he is right. From 500 police that didn’t happen, to the reviews that never got to Cabinet, to the LNG deal that’s run out of time, to council amalgamation that wasted a lot of hours, this Government wasn't quite as sharp at delivery as they might have led you to believe when they showed you the tin. It won't switch any votes. But you would want to hope for a slicker, more well-oiled machine after November 7th. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.