I spoke with Tom Rutherford National Party MP For Bay Of Plenty at his electoral office on Domain Road, Papamoa. Tom was first elected in 2023. He was formerly on the Justice and Governance select committee (which includes local government), and the Transport and Infrastructure select committee. He is currently on the Justice select committee. I have collected his thoughts on a few issues.
Tom loves his job, especially the people side. He is in it for the long haul and intends to stay in politics. He has a house in Papamoa East with his partner Hannah, and really enjoys the Papamoa lifestyle. Tom plays cricket, and is a volunteer fireman.
On the Local Government Act (the LGA). The coalition government has removed the four well being clauses from the LGA. There are no other changes to the LGA planned by the government.
I queried Tom about the co-governance clauses in the LGA. They remain in place.
I pointed out to Tom that there are problems with the local government governance model, and the requirements that central government is placing on councils. Most of the councils in New Zealand seem to be having problems. There is no plan for change.
On the Treaty Principles Bill. Tom pointed out that the bill is badly worded, but that it is starting a discussion which needs to be had. National and New Zealand First coalition partners are not supporting the bill past the first reading and party members will be voting against the bill. ACT is the only party supporting the bill, which means that the bill is dead.
It is not clear what if anything the coalition government is proposing to do about the Treaty of Waitangi issues raised by the bill. In my opinion there are very important sovereignty issues involved which need to be honestly addressed for the good of the country and to ensure the survival of our democracy. It is a pity that the coalition partners could not have negotiated a more robust strategy that they could have all agreed on. Instead there has been a huge waste of time and resources on a dead end bill. Many New Zealanders, including myself, have put in submissions to the bill. It is a pity that we are not being heard.
The good news is that as Tom said, the issue has been raised in the public space for people to think about.
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