Category: General

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OIA Request Back from the Auditor General

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And we learn something new

 

After Councillor Cameron Brewer was flinging around assumptions about correspondence between the Auditor General and Auckland Council I decided to file an Official Information Act request with the Office of the Controller and Auditor General to see if there was any correspondence that could be found to substantiate Brewer’s claims.

This was the OIA I sent:

From: Ben Ross

December 09, 2014

Dear Office of the Controller and Auditor-General,

I am aware that Audit New Zealand audited the Auckland Council
Draft Long Term Plan 2015-2025 in which Audit NZ through its audit
has stated: that owing to circumstances it would be prudent of
Auckland Council to push back the City Rail Link start date from
2015/2016 to another date owing to uncommitted funding by
Government prior to 2020.

My information act request centres around correspondence between
Auckland Council and your Office in relation to the audit of the
2015-2025 LTP and/or the City Rail Link start date situation.

What if any correspondence was had between Audit New Zealand, the
Office of the Controller and Auditor-General, and Auckland Council
before and after Audit NNZ carried out its audit of the Long Term
Plan draft.

If there was any correspondence can it be released into the public
domain please as we have confusion coming from Auckland Council
specifically our elected representatives on whether there was
correspondence that either lead to or came as a result from Audit
NZ auditing the draft Long Term Plan.

Yours faithfully,

Ben Ross

……

 

And this is the reply I got back today (which was very fast):

From: Tamar McKewen
Office of the Controller and Auditor-General

December 10, 2014

Kia ora Ben,

Thank you for your query. Auckland Council and Audit New Zealand’s correspondence is part of an ongoing audit process. On 18 December an audit opinion will be issued concluding this process.

The Auditor-General is not subject to the Official Information Act. But as noted above, you will not need it as the opinion will be made public when it is finalised.

Ngā mihi,

Tamar McKewen
Communications Advisor (media)
Reports and Communications Group
Office of the Auditor-General Te Mana Arotake and Audit New Zealand Mana Arotake Aotearoa

 

——

Source: https://fyi.org.nz/request/2312-correspondence-between-auckland-council-and-the-office-of-the-controller-and-auditor-general-in-regards-to-the-2015-2025-long-term-plan-including-around-the-city-rail-link#incoming-7503

 

And there where have it in that I learnt something new insofar as I can not OIA the Auditor General.

 

In any case though my OIA was answered satisfactorily and we will see that opinion on the 18th – the same day the Governing Body meets for the final time this year.

 

My thanks to the Auditor General’s office for a very prompt reply 🙂

 

City Rail Link Start Date Set to 2018

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Governing Body Agrees Finally

 

Just In:

After debating – well relitigating four years of previous debate the Governing Body in an extraordinary session of Council has agreed by a vote of 14-6 (one absent) for the main City Rail Link project to start 2018. That is Option Two of the recommendations per the agenda (below).

As for the Notice of Motions I called for well they didn’t happen (was to be expected but tried) so will try again in the Long Term Plan submission rounds early next year.

 

The debate itself which dragged from 1:30 to 4pm and should have realistically taken 45 minutes was absolute torture and shows the lack of capacity some of our elected representatives have in that Governing Body. The sole purpose of that debate today was to vote for Option Two and work out funding arrangements to satisfy the Auditor General’s concerns she has raised over the situation. NOT to push a personal barrow from the last four years and especially since the Government has agreed to the City Rail Link in the first place.

 

So yep again the Governing Body did screw up a debate and continue on its history path of being ineffectual as a collective. Which is a damned shame as we do have some fine and smart individual Councillors in there.

Bring on 2016!

 

Reference Post and link to agenda

Amendment to CRL Start Date in the Long Term Plan

 

Otara-Papatoetoe Area Plan Approved – And Ruled by Technocracy?

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A Shame

 

As expected although one had to try (see: Council Fails South Auckland – Again) the Auckland Development Committee has adopted the Otara-Papatoetoe Area Plan into operation this afternoon.

While disappointing as the Area Plan is now nothing but platitudes backed up with very little funding for most of the projects listed in the ‘5-year’ project lists any how.

 

I will evaluate the situation in a podcast tomorrow as well as other happenings that came of the Committee today including this:

 

Ruled by a Technocracy we are….

 

One thing I will say though, if I do ever serve as an elected representative in the Auckland Council Governing Body technocracies is something I despise and that Area Plan would be fully reviewed and rebuilt – properly!….