Neoliberal slogan

We need to put a vital ingredient into the water – democracy

Dennis Wesselbaum ($

May 27) seemed to be on track to a sensible story about how fiscal expansion can fuel inflation, until he came to the point where his logic clearly implied that tax hikes, especially targeted at the high-income high-wealth end of town, could help to reduce inflationary pressures.

Rather than go there, he reached for the Kool-Aid: ‘‘The basic lesson economists have learned . . . is do not try to use fiscal policy to deal with inflation – leave it to monetary policy.’’

Actually, the basic lesson from the past half-century is that monetary policy needs fiscal support and that fiscal tools can play a central role against inflation in certain circumstances.

Wesselbaumwas not actually reporting any ‘‘basic lesson’’ learned by economists in general. He was just parroting a neoliberal slogan that right-wing economists keep shouting at governments. Geoff Bertram, Karori

hile Iwas in being available towarn us. Hamilton It’s a perfect example of indulgingmy what great things can favourite happen when you passion – giving public effectively bring the servants a hard time – community and the another group of public ¯ O agencies together to improve servantswere in Wellington systems. doing a magnificent job protecting I’m not always this jolly. At the my community during the serious end of last year I threw the toys out wave event that struck the ciy’s of the cot, I did my prunes, I did my south coast thisweek. scone, and I got into a cage fight

Wellington City Council, over the lack of progress by Greater MetService and other agencies kept Wellington Regional Council, us informed, supported us with Regional Public Health, the sandbags and removed hazards. Conservation Department and Mayor Andy Foster called me at other agencies involved in the 10pm that evening and the multiparty working group on council’s transport manager, Brad whiro.

Singh, contacted me just after I had realised that, with the midnight to say he was heading commendable exception of down to the south coast and that Wellington Water, which actually his teamwould be there until did some real work in data sharing, danger passed. A five-star effort. engagement, investigations and

The reason those public repair, the working groupwas all servants were able to perform at hui and no do-ey. such a levelwas as a result of the Improvingwater quality in Serious WaveHazard Review the streams and bays of the region was ¯theOwhirocommunityforcedonthethelong-termgoal,with whiro agencies after we were struck Catchment and Taputeranga unawares by devastatingwaves in Marine Reserve as the immediate April 2020, despite the science focus.

Community organiser from whiro Bay, in Wellington. He spoke at theWater New Zealand conference in Hamilton this week.

WThe mantra was ‘‘communityled’’, something Greater Wellington almost tearfully declared at the launch.

The reality was the opposite: a resolute refusal to share plans, project timelines or involve the community in the actual decisionmaking process . . . or, for that matter, to do anything!

Communities want three things that currently are done badly and

Eugene Doyle have contributed to enormous damage to our fresh waterways and the coastal marine environment and have corroded our local democracy.

The same three things apply neatly to other issues we face, like sea rise and adaptation pathways. We want:

■ Better processes with councils and agencies, ones that really empower communities. ■ Better data because knowledge is power.

■ Serious plans, real action, effective progress on these burning issues.

We need to put a vital additive, a vital ingredient, into the water – and I’m not talking about fluoride, I’m talking about democracy. We have to democratisewater.

Real plans, real action, real progress

Above all, I think all of us need to work together to:

■ Create a revolution in the sharing of data with communities. Knowledge is power.

■ Create catchment-based working groups that move beyond simple consultations and head-patting. Theymust be outcome-focused, with clearly defined goals and rigorous reporting to ensure performance actually matches goals.

■ Make councils and water companies accountable for meeting far higher environmental water quality standards.

■ For goodness’ sake, please put lessmoney into PR consultants and queen’s counsellors, and put vastly more funding into communities who that challenge the status quo. Resource those who need to challenge and scrutinise you.

■ Community participation must be baked into the current and proposed big water entities. Democracy can’t be retrofitted later. We need to ensure that affected communities like mine are not left standing with our feet in polluted streams shouting impotently at a giant who is now bigger and further away.

At the heart of everything I do is a belief in the power of bringing communities to the decisionmaking table, to drive real change, disciplined by clear goals, timelines and milestones that are supported by rigorous reporting thatmatches goals withwhat has actually been done.

Eugene Doyle has been active in challenging the local water company, council and regional council over poor performance in addressing contamination issues in our freshwater and coastal marine environment.

Forgotten Prisoners’’ in The Observer, in London, heralding the creation of Amnesty International.

– The charter of the Palestine Liberation Organisation is issued at the start of ameeting of the Palestine National Congress in Jerusalem.

– Burglars break into the Democratic National Headquarters atWatergate in Washington DC, and install telephone bugs; death of the left, formerly Edward VIII, in Paris, aged 77.

– Canadian officials announce discovery of the remains of more than 200

1964

children, some as young as 3, buried on the site of what was once Canada’s largest indigenous residential school.

Birthdays

George I, German-born UK king (1660-1727); Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French doctor and inventor of guillotine (1738-1814); Charles Todd, NZ industrialist (1868-1942); Ian Fleming, UK writer (1908-64); Patrick White, Australian writer (1912-90); Rudy Giuliani, US lawyer/ politician (1944-); Gladys Knight, US singer (1944-); Kylie Minogue, Australian singer-actor (1968-); Carey Mulligan, UK actor (1985-).