Viewpoint – Pitching for better performance

It was only a few months ago an under-strength Indian cricket team shocked the cricketing world by humbling the super confident Australians. Fast forward to the recent World Test Championship and it’s our very own Black Caps who were crowned world champs (and deservedly so)! The day after their historic win coach Gary Stead was on the radio. What impressed most was his incredibly humble and grounded attitude – just like captain Kane Williamson.

They won a world title that was two years in the making and did so with a fraction of the resources and investment of larger cricketing nations. In sport, as in life, it’s not always about spending the most money – it’s what you do with what you’ve got that counts and as with the Black Caps, the quality of personnel calling the shots.

Talking of money and investment, every three years Auckland Council decides its priorities and what it will rate people to help pay for them. I voted against the 5.3% rate increase (so did Cr Wayne Walker) largely because of the growing accumulation of costs on people – increases to general rates, water rates, targeted rates, regional fuel tax and asset sales of an unprecedented magnitude. For some communities it’s worse – in parts of our ward residents were hit with average 16% to 30% rate increases, advanced on the dubious premise they should be paying more for council services they don’t actually receive (and which there are no plans to provide in the future). That’s just not fair. While others were happy to vote through such exorbitant increases with scant regard for those on the receiving end, we were not.

In my view, the ‘borrow, sell and rate’ model of the Super City has run its course – at $10.2 billion in debt, the borrowing capacity is now severely constrained. There are only so many public assets that can be sold off, at which point all that remains is year-on-year rate increases (this dilemma well in train long before Covid-19 came along).

To be fair though, our area has done well in the allocation of projects through both this Long Term and Regional Transport plans. That is partly good luck in terms of timing and partly the result of hard work over many years that has finally come to fruition. In amongst everything else that’s worth acknowledging and being grateful for. All that said, and with the rumour circulating that the current mayor will be tying a knot in his swag and heading off overseas to a diplomatic post, I just wonder if Gary Stead and Kane are up for a bit of part-time work in the off-season?