Tauranga’s Mayor Needs To Collaborate, Not Amalgamate

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling out Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale for pushing amalgamation across the Bay of Plenty, as combining councils means less local control and higher costs, not more efficiency.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“Amalgamation is always sold as a cost-saving silver bullet but the Auckland Super City resulted in the opposite. Bureaucracy grew, accountability reduced, and ratepayers now pay more for less.”

“Local control gets replaced by centralised committees, local voices get drowned out, and local residents lose the ability to hold the ease of holding their representatives accountable. It’s not reform it’s consolidation dressed up as progress.”

"Tauranga residents already face a Crown-appointed commission with no democratic control. Bigger bureaucracies don’t deliver better outcomes, they just get better at wasting money.”

"The real solution is cutting waste, a greater use of shared services and capping rates, not stripping local communities of their say."